STI 101

[Wild Gene]

Untill last February, I had never heard of an STI. Now, I am the proud owner of an STI Edge. The gun is as it came from the factory. The only upgrades it has are a drilled and tapped mag button, and a Dawson fiber front sight. It came with a 126mm mag. It is .40 S&W.

Now, I am finding out all these things you can do to them, but what do you NEED to do to them to drive one at a match?

First off, I learned, the STI is not the same as an SV. They are similar, but I believe the magazines are different among other things.

Magazines. The pistol came with a 126mm mag., so before it even arrived, I ordered additional mags. I purchased a set of 4 Dawson Precision Custom tuned mags. They are the 149mm's. I believe they have a +1 base pad, so should hold 18 rounds. Nothing is really simple with these guns, as far as magazines go. There are 120mm-10 round mags, 126mm-14 round mags, 149mm-17round mags and 170mm mags that hold 20+. After that, you have +1 or +2 base pads, followers that will lock your slide back, followers that won't lock your slide back. Brands of internal components that will work in STI mags and others that will work in SV mags, not interchangably and so on. My best advice is to buy a few tunned mags, then figure out how to tune the one the gun comes with if you want to play with something. There is a very good link here at Enos.com covering basic mag tunning. My stock magazine would not feed too well, but after following the directions on the link, it feeds great.

Now, the Basic pistol. My gun is not "tuned". But thus far, I have found two things that I have had to do to it besides cleaning and blowing all the gunk out of it. The first thing I did was to center the front sight. STI says they should be centered. I did this with a small brass punch and a few taps of a light hammer. Before I did this, and at the suggestion of STI, I put a few drops of Loctite in the dovetail. They suggested red or green, I had blue. The second thing I did, and that was purely because it is too windy out to spray weeds, was to really polish the feed ramp. Again, I followed the directions on a link in this forum. I went to an automotive store and purchased some 800 and 1200 wet or dry and went to work. I did add one step, using the all powerful dremel to buff the feed ramp, but was careful to maintain the direction of rotation the same as the sanding. What I have is a mirror finish that oil actually beads on.

The final thing I did, was to bevel the edges of the inside of the grip to match the STI metal magwell. In reload drills, I was catching those edges. I did not do the front, just the sides where the nylon stuck out farther than the metal.

At this time, my pistol is very accurate, and feeds ammo. Now I just need to put a lot of rounds through it.

Now it's your turn.

Could someone add any "nessary" must do items to these pistols? I am not talking all the fancy add ons, just what I should do to go to a match and have fun with it.

When a gun has its action "tuned", what do they really mean?

How important is changing out the stock extractor to a Aftec?

What about ejectors, mainsprings, the nut behind the grip?

Thanks for any advice and corrections.

Good Shoot'in,

WG

[Merlin Orr]

If the gun runs now....Put a 14 lb recoil spring in it and shoot it 10,000 rounds and then worry with the possibility that it might do better with additional work.

[calishootr]

I had an 'edge type' built for me, and ended up changing out damned near everything on it exceptthe frame barrel and slide.... as for an aftec extractor??? hey, if your gun is running with whats in it, why fool with it??? plenty of threads on here of people monkeyin with parts on perfectly working guns that turn them into 2 lb clubs...me personally??? yeah i changed out my junk extractor for an aftec and have never looked back, a lil tricky to put in(work in a well lighted area over somthing white) cuz them springs is small!!!! hehehe

[Corey]

if it aint broke, dont fix it. a lot of people will put after market parts on guns based on personal preferance more than anything. You can get new extractors if your having problems, replace the trigger for your finger length, tune the trigger for a pull weight that suits you, etc....

Put a few thousand down range before you monkeying with too much stuff. I hope to have an STI or two down the road myself

[Chris Keen]

Untill last February, I had never heard of an STI. Now, I am the proud owner of an STI Edge. The gun is as it came from the factory. The only upgrades it has are a drilled and tapped mag button, and a Dawson fiber front sight. It came with a 126mm mag. It is .40 S&W.

Now, I am finding out all these things you can do to them, but what do you NEED to do to them to drive one at a match?

PLAN A: Replace everything inside the gun except the barrel, ejector, and trigger bow. STI's parts are MIM and therefore quite soft. They will wear out quickly.

PLAN B: Replace everything inside the gun as it breaks (one at a time) . This method will take longer, cost more, and be more frustrating (especially when it costs you a win at a major match) but will sound better to the beginner because you aren't forking over $300 at one time.

STI's are good guns, don't get me wrong ...... I have 3 of them. They just need quality internals.

[lcs]

Could someone add any "nessary" must do items to these pistols? I am not talking all the fancy add ons, just what I should do to go to a match and have fun with it.

When a gun has its action "tuned", what do they really mean?

How important is changing out the stock extractor to a Aftec?

What about ejectors, mainsprings, the nut behind the grip?

Thanks for any advice and corrections.

Good Shoot'in,

WG

STIs "off-the-shelf" are good guns. There are quite a few things that smiths do to stock guns to "enhance" the gun. A lot of work goes into enhancing the trigger components. A basic "enhancement" can run $200-$400 including shipping. If your just starting and the gun functions 100%, do nothing but practice. When something breaks or your skill level advances (and you know what you want) then seek out a known smith who specializes in our sport and have your gun tuned.

Springs-you might want to experiment with different recoil springs to change the feel of the recoil with different loads. A lot of people get rid of the recoilmaster and go with a guiderod to facilitate changing recoil springs.

IMHO, leave it alone and practice, practice, practice.......

[DWFAN]

Plus 1 to Chris's Plan A.

[sfinney]

I vote for shoot as is til the wheels fall off. Once you have done that, you will then KNOW what else you want to do it.

A stock edge will do just fine, thank you.

[G-ManBart]

The factory extractor on mine died pretty quickly...like in 5K or so...put an AFTEC in it and it hasn't bobbled since.

I would contour and stipple the grip, fit a set of better safeties (STI ambis always seem to crack), put a 12.5lb recoil spring in it, add an extended firing pin, and replace the hinge pin on the rear sight with a roll pin. After your custom gun arrives you'll almost certainly want to get a trigger job done on the Edge so that it's at least similar. R,

[jrb06]

Shoot it and shoot it alot then after you are familer with it look at trigger job and hop up parts. Remember all the best parts and pieces will not make you a better shooter but it will make your equipment better and more reliable hence a more improved shooter with more confidence in your equipment

[ajg308]

Shoot the piss out of it! As you do you will discover what YOU want done to it.

[jrguar]

You got it and it runs. Like others said, shoot it until discover what you can and cannot do with it. Then figure out where to make improvements either on yourself or the gun. Take your time and enjoy the learning curve.

[Wild Gene]

Thanks everyone.

Basically all interesting ideas. I am of the school of thought that if it is working, leave it alone, BUT, I found there were a few things that just should be done, like polishing the feed ramp, like grinding the inside of the grip to blend in with the magwell, those sort of things, and I am sure I missed a few things. As in my cowboy guns, I am sure that as I progress, there will be things that I feel must be done, that are meaningless to me right now.

I do think it is funny that the mag I worked on feeds better than the 4 tunned ones I just bought. This is a PERFECT example of things you may have to do. I think it is interesting that these things don't feed that well, or better stated that you have to really watch the magazines the way we do.

G-Man, YEP, I can't wait... I couldn't wait would be a better statement. I will be spoiled, and have tosend this one off after the other one comes in.

Thanks all.

WG

Edited May 3, 2010 by Wild Gene

[BayouSlide]

Gene, the first thing I did to my new-to-me STI was replace the stock magwell with a Dawson Ice. Not only does it feel now like a big ol' magnet is sucking the mag into the pistol, it plants my hand in a better position (higher on the grip) to boot. After shooting an STI with an Ice, it was a must have. As always, YMMV.

Looks like we're both making the transition to the STI platform at the same time...and the learning curve begins.

Curtis

[BillD]

Not an Edge, but a Trojan. I had the Brazo's pckg done on mine. I replaced the thumb safety with an Ed Brown and the magwell with a Dawson Ice. Mine is not locking back consistantly so I'm looking to replace the slide stop now.

[Wild Gene]

Gene, the first thing I did to my new-to-me STI was replace the stock magwell with a Dawson Ice. Not only does it feel now like a big ol' magnet is sucking the mag into the pistol, it plants my hand in a better position (higher on the grip) to boot. After shooting an STI with an Ice, it was a must have. As always, YMMV.

Looks like we're both making the transition to the STI platform at the same time...and the learning curve begins.

Curtis

Looks like we're in the same boat. My Edge's stock magwell seems pretty big already. I know that if I jam my hand up into the beavertail as high as I can, it still hangs down over the bottom of the grip a bit. Are the Dawson's "longer too"?

Haven't made it to town yet to mail the book. I'll let you know.

Thanks,

Gene