Ed K Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 I just purchased a new STI Lexor (Edge) and am having feed/chambering/extraction problems. Here are the basics. I shoot Winchester 165 JHP ammo. My mags are within specs (.395) and polished. The mags are STI SS w/Grams followers & springs, and Dawson basepads. The gun came with heavy RM system. I've got about 200 rounds through it, so far. 1st PROBLEM I had to do the mag catch modification with a dremel. Otherwise the mags kept falling out after every round shot. Chris at STI is sending me a new one anyway. 2nd PROBLEM I filed down the slide stop because the last round was not chambering and the gun would go into slide lock. I have not corrected this problem yet. 3RD PROBLEM After I insert a mag and rack the slide back, I have to slightly force the slide forward to completely chamber a round. Otherwise it seems to get stuck about 1/2 way into the barrel. This happens while hand feeding rounds, and occurs in about 70% of the rounds, in all of my mags, including the factory 10 rounder that came stock with the gun. I've looked at the rounds afterwards & noticed scatches along the entire length. BTW, I spent a good amount of time polishing the feed ramp. It's smooth. 4TH PROBLEM After shooting 2 stages (36 rounds total) yesterday, I started getting jams. The spent cartridge would not extract from the chamber, and the new one wanted to feed. So I had to drop the mag, manually rack the spent shell & reinsert the mag. I've looked at the extractor and it seems to be grabbing the case just fine. Not to loose or tight. At this point I'm very dissapointed in the gun. I would really appreciate any help or advise that's out there. Thanks, Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Call STI and see if they will fix it. I have a Lexor that has had some routine breakage of a few of the parts, but it has been pretty reliable. Otherwise call Chuck and see what he suggests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 200 rounds up to now, how many precious $$$ did you spend on this gun, call STI and ask questions about quality And it's not only STI, I had serious problems with my SVI in the beginning, barrel-link, ejector, slide-stop etc...nowadays my comp shows cracks... 4000 Euro's + Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precision40 Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Quality control isn't what their famous for. You shouldn't have to start filing on a brand new $1600 gun, but thats a different story. Send it back and tell them to make it right. I'm not sure if S_I test-fires their guns, but the 2 I've owned have been POS's out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 It's all too familair - Factory STI that doesn't work. I've had 3 factory built STI's - Edge that worked 100% ( I got lucky) and an Eagle that was about as bad as you could imagine. My third came by way of Dawson Prec. and Dave worked out all the bugs. His comment was if I had gotten the gun from STI, I would have been angry. However - DO NOT GIVE UP!! Call Bevin @ Grams Eng regarding Q's 1 & 2. For Q's 3 & 4 - Make sure the gun is clean inc. the chamber. I'm not sure if the RM is causing a problem but try a regular guide rod with a 11# spring and see if that helps. You might do a search here in teh forum for Recoil Master and see if there are simalr problems reported. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davidwiz Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Call STI and see if they will fix it. I have a Lexor that has had some routine breakage of a few of the parts, but it has been pretty reliable. "routine breakage" Pray tell, what is that? IMHO, nothing should be breaking on a $1,600+ firearm. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EricW Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 I'm sorry for your troubles. Bob Londrigan, Benny Hill, EGW, Kodiak, Experimental Machining (BrianH), etc. are all in business for a reason. If a factory S_I runs out of the box, it's dumb luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kingman Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Call STI, it should not be like that. Could be alot of problems. Pull the bbl and chamber check some of the rounds going into the bbl. If they all go in then that puts it down to an extractor problem. If they don't drop in then the chamber was never finished properly. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
.40AET Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 It sucks to have to put time and money into a brand new (and expensive) gun. If you are going to try to clean it up yourself, I had similar problems with my factory SV, you can try the following. Polish the inside of the barrel chamber to help rounds go in smoother. You already tackled the feed ramp so polish the breech face next. Buy an Aftec extractor and polish the face and bottom radius of the hook. Leave the hook sharp and untouched. Tuning as Aftec has been covered, just do a search. Don't use any strong abrasive for polishing, you don't want to remove any material. Hopefully that will fix all of the loading and extracting problems. Good luck. SV has fixed everything that went wrong with the gun that I couldn't fix. They even installed an after market safety for free because I was having bad luck with thiers. Hopefully STI will stand behind their gun as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed K Posted December 12, 2004 Author Share Posted December 12, 2004 Thanks to all those that replied. I am going to call both Shooters Connection & STI tomorrow. I checked the barrel by dropping a few rounds into it when removed. They drop fine. I did notice though, that when chambering a round some of the cases come in contact with the extractor. Just barely (a brush) and for an instant. I think that the extractor may have been cut long, or the firing pin stop may be to thin allowing the extractor to sit in further. All feed/extract problems may be because this reason. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigDave Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Are your rounds getting stuck up on the hood? What OAL is your ammo? Some S_I's run fine on factory length ammo, 1.125-1.135". However, some are much more reliable on longer OAL ammo, some as long as 1.250. My 5" SV runs great on 1.190". If you know other shooters, you might see if you can bum a few rounds to test this out. Or if you load, start at 1.160" and experiment. If you can reach the mag release without and OS button, do it. I had a similar problem that disappeared when I removed my button. If you have to have a button, put a strong spring in. When your gun does cycle, how far to the spent cases get tossed? Like you, the first couple of months with my SV (that I also bought from Chuck) was frustrating. It took some time to get the mags tuned right, get the right ammo, etc. But, once I did, I wound't trade this blaster for anything. Good luck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Factory gun's are about $400.00 cheaper than custom ones & now you know why. Send it to a smith, wait about a week, & get back the gun you want that will do it all. Should not cost more than about $200.00 + shipping. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Its a shame that with the guality of the frames,slides and parts these people make they can't build a gun that will run. That gun is supposted to run with factory ammo. Make them fix it. Don't grind or polish on it. Make them fix it. Don't buy parts for it. Make them fix it. Next time call Benny Hill and get the gun you really wanted to start with. I like my S_Is and will have others but they will leave the factory as loose parts in a box and Benny will build them. I went thru that crap years ago with SVI and the only ones ever happy were UPS.-------Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
schmitz Posted December 12, 2004 Share Posted December 12, 2004 Reading all above posts... when one pays more than enough dollars or euro's for a quality gun to me it seems normal then to be the proud owner of a tool that works flawless. Especially in a match and especially after careful deliberation about the question: what gun to buy! I don't want to polish or exchange anything, I already payed for it, didn't I? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
John Dunn Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 David, If you do a search under my name and breakage, you should find an old thread detailing my woes. The list for my Lexor includes a broken rear sight hinge pin (common), broken extractor (not really common, but not rare, either), two broken recoil masters (seems to be less common these days, but very common for a while), front sight shot loose (didn't fly off the gun like the front sight on my Colt 10mm, but I did have to bugger up the slide a bit peening the sight in at Area 1 a couple of years ago), hammer started following (gunsmith replaced the hammer and sear for that one). Had the occasional jam, but those essentilly vanished when I started running an EGW sizing die and the Lee Factory Crimp Die. It was my experience with that gun that convinced me to get a Brazos, which has been flawless. I have a used Benny Hill 6" that runs great and is my back up. The Lexor is now basically a loaner for folks I'm trying to rope into IPSC shooting, and in the future will become a Frankenpistol as I try to become more adept at some home gunsmithing projects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tri Burst Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I just purchased a new STI Lexor (Edge) and am having feed/chambering/extraction problems.Here are the basics. I shoot Winchester 165 JHP ammo. My mags are within specs (.395) and polished. The mags are STI SS w/Grams followers & springs, and Dawson basepads. The gun came with heavy RM system. I've got about 200 rounds through it, so far. 1st PROBLEM I had to do the mag catch modification with a dremel. Otherwise the mags kept falling out after every round shot. Chris at STI is sending me a new one anyway. 2nd PROBLEM I filed down the slide stop because the last round was not chambering and the gun would go into slide lock. I have not corrected this problem yet. 3RD PROBLEM After I insert a mag and rack the slide back, I have to slightly force the slide forward to completely chamber a round. Otherwise it seems to get stuck about 1/2 way into the barrel. This happens while hand feeding rounds, and occurs in about 70% of the rounds, in all of my mags, including the factory 10 rounder that came stock with the gun. I've looked at the rounds afterwards & noticed scatches along the entire length. BTW, I spent a good amount of time polishing the feed ramp. It's smooth. 4TH PROBLEM After shooting 2 stages (36 rounds total) yesterday, I started getting jams. The spent cartridge would not extract from the chamber, and the new one wanted to feed. So I had to drop the mag, manually rack the spent shell & reinsert the mag. I've looked at the extractor and it seems to be grabbing the case just fine. Not to loose or tight. At this point I'm very dissapointed in the gun. I would really appreciate any help or advise that's out there. Thanks, Ed I have a Lexor, well it's at the smith's right know, that worked 100% from Day one. Other than the slide cracking just in front of the breach face, that's why it's at the smith's. On to the problems. 1) Yes you need a new mag release. And it seems you are getting one. 2) This is a common problem and I have had it happen to almost every 1911 pattern gun I've owned and to every gun I have changed the slide stop on. Just file down the slide stop on the back end of it (The end toward the grip). 3) This sounds like the chamber is tight or there is some roughness in the chamber. You need a good gunsmith to look at it, gauge it and polish the chamber. Do not do this yourself have a gunsmith do it. 4) Buy a Aftec extractor and this problem will go away. The aftec may also help with the feed problem but that really sounds like a tight chamber. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rush Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 the quality of the parts/guns from the S_I groups are a bit noticeable these days... perhaps it also due to the fact that we have forums now where people can "advertise" their problems more quickly.. but i think the S_I guns still run better than most of the guns from other outfits out there... we just get to hear of their problems easier... I wouldn't be to down about it.. give Chuck and Chris of STI a call... they'll fix it... I had a problem with a RM a while back and they fixed that very quickly..... good luck and safe shooting.. Regards, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TDean Posted December 13, 2004 Share Posted December 13, 2004 I'd try switching ammo first. A longer OAL could help (1.18"ish). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ed K Posted December 14, 2004 Author Share Posted December 14, 2004 Thanks All! I has a long talk with STI today about the problems. Chris gave me some good suggestions about loads, feed issues, and breaking the gun in. Lots of help. I'll tweek the slide stop a bit more so that it won't go into lock. I've been thinking about doing that anyway. I dropped in an AFTEC extractor & that seemed to take care of the ejection problem. Whoever posted the question about how far the empties were going..... I heard a comment on a stage that I was shooting on Saturday that NASA was going to classify my casings as sub-orbital space junk. The were flying about 15'. I do agree however, that when that much time & effort is put into buying the gun, not to mention the price, I would expect it to run fine out of the box. Ed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 If you are getting 15' ejection, your gun is getting the s**t beat out of it. Get a stronger recoil spring. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kimberkid Posted December 15, 2004 Share Posted December 15, 2004 I recently bought a Trojan and thus far, am yet to be impressed. The slide to frame fit sucks, it binds and gets tight in several places, and the barrel lock up seems less than right. It sorta kinda runs now, but not 100% If it dont get much better by the time I hit the 500 round mark, its goin back. This is 1 mistake I aint making again. Not when their are enough smiths out there making good, running guns for a marginal amount more. Benny, what is you current turn around time, if you dont mind me asking in a public forum?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benny hill Posted December 16, 2004 Share Posted December 16, 2004 About 13/16 weeks now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Putty Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 13-16 weeks? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Carlos Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 EricW wrote: "Bob Londrigan, Benny Hill, EGW, Kodiak, Experimental Machining (BrianH), etc. are all in business for a reason. If a factory S_I runs out of the box, it's dumb luck." I have to agree with him. While I did not use any of the named 'smiths, I had the same experience with my 1st 1911: an STI Edge in .45 ACP. It never ran 100% for the 1st owner so he decided to sell it cheap and I got it for $1000. Intermitent problems required trip after trip to 3 different friends who are 1911 'smiths to get the thing to run & even then it was never 100% (thank God they are friends of mine or it would have cost a small fortune to fix everything). Among the repairs, the barrel was never throated and rounds would hang up as a result (but only occasionally), the leaf spring allowed the hammer to follow occasionally (& it was a 3 lb trigger), the ejector was oddly shaped & caused jams on occasions, a recoil master I tried broke in fewer than 1500 rounds and after a factory extractor hook broke clean off, an Aftec worked as a drop in part. Current state of affairs seems to be that buying a new S_I is merely the purchase of raw materials that must then be 'smithed into a working USPSA tool at additional expense. I'm OK w/ replacing wear parts as a gun ages but it took a lot to get this thing running at all; & many of these were things that should have been done prior to the gun leaving the factory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mistral404 Posted December 21, 2004 Share Posted December 21, 2004 I was at the range the other day and someone asked my how I like my Trojan. I said it was a great gun but I have replaced everything! It has been back to STI 4 times. STI provided excellent service. But the shipping costs were a real pain. The gun's accuracy was fantastic. Generally less the 1.5 inches at 25yards. After Chris replaced the cracked barrel, it is down to less than an 1 inch @ 25. I still think the Trojan is the best buy out there and there service can not be beat. If I was to buy one again I would go to Brazos or Dawson. If it is an SVI I would go to JP for the purchase and Kodiak for the customized version. I think all new guns still require some type of smith intervention. The ones that run great the first time and every time seem to be quite rare. I agree with Carlos' view point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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