CrossOut

1st, Those ceramic coatings are technically a polymerization reaction so *some* may hold up to mild solvents. But most will be susceptible to solvents. Acetone or mineral spirits can easily strip most them... 2nd sio2 is a hydro phobic and oileophobic coating. Meaning it will try to repel water and oil making it slippery. It may be easier to keep clean using soap and water but might not have many benefits beyond that. 3rd application for most of these user a wipe on/ wipe off method. Not something easily done with most preferred grip textures. And trust me, if you don't do a good job, the finish it will look like ass. 4th, these automotive coatings offer nothing for abrasion resistance and probably won't do a whole lot for corrosion resistance on your grip. These coatings are generally applied to a car once a year or two to keep it looking good. They advertise once every 6 years but that's horse s#!t. And that's on a vehicle that you are taking good care of using mild soap to clean and keeping it the garage. If you are interested in keeping your grips natural finish i suggest cerakote clear coat. They have both gloss and matte finishes and will work on any material. Otherwise you can look into a wide range of PVD coatings which you may find one that matches the color your are looking for. Additionally, they offer far more protection and resistance than si02 ever will... Check out SAS tactical as they offer a wide range of PVD coatings in different finishes.. PVD America also offers a large selection of pvd flavors and they have a gun finishing price list.

I just ordered a LSI grip from Glenn, said his current lead times are about 2 weeks. I opted to send my gun in for fitting, install, and blending. +$125 extra. He's letting me send it in a few days before he starts my order to shorten out of hand time. After i get it back I'll be sending it to SAS customs for DLC coating on all parts. ($180 w/ 2-3 week turn around). Glen said that he air brushes cerakote to cover any blems made from blending if any. He said you generally can't tell that he did it but if i can tell, I'll might send the frame in for refinishing as well. I'm told he does amazing work so I'm not too worried about it. My gun currently has the extreme innovations plastic grip. It feels alright. No weight to it. Biggest down side is that after a couple thousand rounds the grip has lost a lot of grippyness. When my hands are slightly damp the grip definitely slips so this will be a well welcomed upgrade. i did a little homework and felt a few grips before ordering, PT evo, cheely, svi, and limcat. Of all of them i liked the contours of the pt and limcat the most. Limcat texture fell short, i hate the cheely look. SVI was nice but not as nice as the evo in terms of feel. I'm honestly going into the LSI blind but from word of mouth it sounds like an improvement from the pt evo. I got high hopes.

Thanks guys, ill try shooting starting with longer bullets checking for pressure signs. I know my 2011 can handle major loads but i imagine the pressure increase in completely different from an actual major load... I really don't want to blow up an expensive gun..

2011 will handle the supper short loads? 1.05" i think some of them might have the bullet compressing the powder.. sounds like a recipe for disaster.

Hey guys I'm wondering if it's safe to run poly coated bullets out of a sig mpx given its gas operated.. will poly coat eventually clog up the gas port and tappet? For that matter laugo alien pistol also uses gas Piston delayed system. So I'm assuming there same applies here?

So i was running my 1050 with mk7 last night watching the machine for stoppages, powder, primers, etc. My dumb ass was getting tired and failed to closely examine my bullets coming out thought i was seeing things... My seating die came loose and some how started pushing bullets way too deep which i don't even understand.. usually when they loosen, it doesn't push it deep enough.. anyway i should of trusted my instincts and checked everything. But here we are.. 9mm 125gr RN blue bullets 0.6" bullet length VV n340 4.6gr gets me 128PF Bullets are normally loaded 1.150" for my 2011 My i went through and picked it anything above 1.07 figured id do a little testing I've read ppl loading for CZs this short. (Would like 2nd opinion on this or if i should scrap these to..) I got about 600rds seated between 1.045-1.069. I'm afraid to even test these and will probably end up pulling these as well. Any recommendations on pulling bullets aside from the good ol kinetic puller? Some are seated so deep that only the nose of the bullets are outside of the case. Meaning the entire flat section is inside the casing..

You guys think shock buffers are necessary when dropping spring rates below what comes from factory? Any down side to using them? Are they one of those things that "won't hurt to have on all your guns"?

Thanks Geraldskip, according to others, wait time is around 4 months which is longer than STIs standard wait time.. I've felt and shot the gun at shot show, kinda wish i ordered one then. That said, the gun is definitely a cut above what STI usually produces, fit and finish is a lot better, blending of the parts, tuning of the trigger, extractor, etc all things you can tell they put a lot more work into this pistol compared to their other offerings.. as Daniel Taran said himself he wants the pistol ready to go out of box, not for people to have to spend another 1k getting it blended and tuned. No it's not on the same level as Atlas, Limcat, or svi. But neither of those have the look or flare that the combat Master has, it's a second kind of cool. You go to a local range and pull a svi out of your bag, people will say "it's a pretty gun" or "it's fancy"... Only people who know the name or also own super custom guns can really appreciate them. To your average shooter they're just another gun that you dumped a ton of money into.. if people look at the combat Master they know it's John wick's gun. It has it's own cool to it and that's something you can't order from a custom shop... And I own an Atlas, svi, and a few other guns from small time custom shops, trust me, if i wanted another super custom gun, I'd buy one. But i don't i wanted this one. I'm seeing a gross lack of respect from other forum members.. infact, i find many of you quite immature when it comes to trivial things. I've honestly never seen such attitude or immaturity from other forums.. maybe moderator presence is lacking. I make this topic with honest intention to get some info from other owners.. i never asked for anyone's opinions about my purchases. infact i respectfully asked you take them elsewhere. It's sadly immature of you guys considering this forum was built around knowledge and pride in ownership.. not bashing other people's purchases.. To directly address the haters and trolls, I got money, deal with it.. if i want to spend it on something awesome, or stupid that's up to me. And honestly shouldn't concern you... Get good, learn 2 code. (Insert meme to make the brand elitists butt hurt and act more like liberals) yeah i said it, you're acting like a liberal.. so tolerant of you.

Really? I'm a collector and trader, i have both Atlas, SVI, and other small time custom shop guns that never see the light of day since they don't advertise.. i know quality craftsmanship when i see it, people want to ask what it the better pistol for them i give them my honest opinion.. if they want to know what is the better pistol over I'll tell them my opinion.. this had nothing to do with what i choose to spend for any gun. And i don't need flaunt it in front of others. I'm helping them get the most unbiased answer. Now whenever your ready to take off your troll helmet and dust off your brain I'm happy to have a discussion with you about went my opinions are the way they are.

Yeah it's gonna be a while.. sti said tti had the wrong wait times posted that under cut their standard lead time without the mass ordering... I'm not asking for special favors, discounts, or anything, I'm just looking for a more accurate eta based on others who have also purchased.. If you have nothing to contribute please post your opinions in another topic. Thanks.

That's fair, i may be new here for posting but I've also got plenty of experience both at machining and smithing.. having a tainted record is definitely hard to come back from, but based on what I've seen so far, they might be able to change a few stubborn opinions.

Obviously you didn't read all of what i wrote as i literally mentioned or addressed all of those points...

Quick search through though forum reveals very few major issues with STI.. and of those, most of which happened a while ago. I do seem to hear the same story from everyone, which also seems to have been a isolated incident. Again from a while ago.. STI manufacturing has significantly Improved. They're no svi custom shop but i wouldn't hesitate in buying another given a good price point. I said it before, I'll say it again, if STI really had all the issues the "haters" keep touting about, a lot less than 50% of uspsa national competitors would be running them..

They will both have minor issues, they're both going to need a little extra work here or there. Neither are 100%. But let's be honest here, we've probably seen 5x more STIs fail.. but remember there are 5x more STIs ran in competition than any other manufacturer in limited or unlimited... If STIs were truly prone to failure, or the other brands gave that big of an advantage over STIs then you can guranteed 50% of competitors wouldn't be running STI.. which they are.... From what everyone is saying the combat Master is a significant cut above the traditional STI offerings.. fit and finish is much nicer. Blending is better, tuning and smoothing is better.. is it an Atlas? Not sure no one has compared them yet. Now if you compared an Atlas to a stock dvc3, you'll likely see a number of differences, but remember the dvc 3 is a $3k, the Atlas is $4k.. I'm sure that you can spend $1k on the dvc 3 and have it running as good as of not better than the Atlas.. As for customer service, Atlas probably has a little competitive edge, Atlas will definitely pick up more and respond faster.. if you manage to get a hold of sti they're just as nice as any other fantastic manufacturer. But remember, sti sells a lot more guns and has a lot more ppl contacting them.

I've built guns before, STI is by no means the gold standard in fully custom quality, but their mfct has greatly improved and they are now making their own frames. The main difference now are fully custom built vs semi mass produced. They still hand fit every gun and some of their higher end offerings are nicely blended, and smithed.. Are they a fully custom svi or atlas? No but i do think they are worth the price you can get them at. You're honestly comparing a $2.5-3k gun vs a $4-5k gun.. but like i said get what appeals to you.