zipollini Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm a noobi just starting to get into IPSC shooting. So I am just wondering as to what the general consensus is as to the best open class guns. I realize that everybody has their favorites but is their one particular brand or model that just stands above the rest in most peoples opinions. STI ? SV ? Tanfoglio ? etc ? etc ? Thanks in advance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Qstick Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 If you are just starting out I think you find them all to be on a somewhat even playing field initially, since you won;t have much to compare them too. Once you start shooting your competitor's guns, etc... IMO the best will be something by a custom builder that can take your experiences and feedback and deliver a gun that will do what you want it to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMike Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) . Edited February 2, 2015 by JMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipollini Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 I work as a full time RSO/instructor on a high end pistol and rifle range. Shoot 6-7 days a week and practice like a dog. Am working hard on my production class shooting at the moment (HK VP9) using Ben Stoeger's books but could see trying my hand at open class shooting in a few years. I shoot a lot of high end precision rifles so am just trying to get some info on high end open pistols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMike Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) To start, pick one, any of the ones you mentioned and you should be good. Good luck to you. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Edited February 2, 2015 by JMike Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redwoods Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 SV if you have the money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 2011s are the most popular by far. I have STI, Tanfoglio and CZ Open guns, the big advantage of the STIs are all the comps available and the light weight of the plastic grips. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dafdov368 Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Try to find a used trubor, shoot the heck out of it. I really like open, I'm new at it and it's easier to find out what you like, or would want in a gun and go from there. If you can get a deal, the more money you have for ammo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipollini Posted February 2, 2015 Author Share Posted February 2, 2015 Am wondering. Do many folks in the US shoot Tanfoglio ? http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/sport-amp-competition/gold-custom-eric-2010.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aircooled6racer Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Hello: You will want to stay with the STI/SVI platform or you will end up there anyways. I would not throw a lot of money at your first open gun since you don't know what you really want at this point. Buy a used Tru Bor in 9mm and shoot it a lot. Once you figure out what you like and don't like then get a custom built or another modified Tru Bor. Some have tried open and decided it was not for them, while others just love it. If you can borrow an open gun to try in a match even better. Thanks, Eric Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Front Man Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 A lot of it will depend on how old your eyes are. I want to shoot Limited but can't see ever getting there right now.No pun intended. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 Am wondering. Do many folks in the US shoot Tanfoglio ? http://www.tanfoglio.it/eng/catalogo/sport-amp-competition/gold-custom-eric-2010.html I have a few custom Tanfo Open guns, not because they're better than 2011s, but because I'm sick I like playing around and experimenting, plus I like the ergos of CZ75 pattern pistols, but it's certainly the road less traveled and is wrought with challenges. In my experiences, there are two areas where the 2011s have a distinct advantage: comp innovation and the weight. There are lots of builders coming up with great comps for 2011s, but that's not the case with CZ/Tanfo; also, a CZ/Tanfo Open gun is in a pretty heavy gun and can be lightened, but obviously not to the same extent. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted February 2, 2015 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I'm not in the us but do shoot the current model tanfo Eric gold custom v12. It's a great fun but be under no illusions it has its flaws. The 2011 based guns have so much more parts support and gunsmith support. Look at gunsmiths. There are probably 15 really widely known 2011 builders who build a full custom gun for you. And probably 100 more who are less widely known but still do excellent work locally. Parts makers. Probably 100 companies or more making 2011 parts. You can customize the gun how you want. Now let's look at the cz/tanfoglio type open guns. Probably 10 smiths in the us who work on them well and maybe 5 really widely known. Parts for a tanfo? You literally have 3 choices. Standard parts, henning pars or Eric grauffel/tanfo xtreme parts. Now I shoot a tanfo in open as like kneelingatlas I am a little touched in the head. But my reasons mainly centered around me having shot mainly cz shadow and my stock 2 in production So I liked the pivoting trigger over a sliding one. I liked the grip size and grip angle over a 2011 I really like the slide in frame design that gives a lower slide profile and makes it easy to get a high grip. I liked that it's a bit different. I liked the out of the box reliability. I wanba be Eric grauffel. They have some drawbacks. All the barrel ports make it loud and mean you need a very stout load. Many believe the como could be improved too. I love shooting it though and it's had just 1 malf over many practice sessions and matches and that was after letting it run long without a clean. That's amazing reliability for a race gun. At the end of the day the best open gun is the one that fits your needs, wants, and budget. The most common top line guns though are custom built 2011's from builders like: SVI, Matt Cheely, Shay Akai, Limcat, brazos, canyon creek and many others I've forgotten or don't even know of. What I see most of though tend to be off the shelf sti's with some basic upgrades. There is no doubt a trubore with some tweaks to make it suit you is good enough to compete at a very high level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zipollini Posted February 3, 2015 Author Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just out of curiosity where is the best place to look for used open guns such as those mentioned above (SVI, STI, Tanfoglio, etc.) ? Forums ? web sites ? shops ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
razorfish Posted February 3, 2015 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Just out of curiosity where is the best place to look for used open guns such as those mentioned above (SVI, STI, Tanfoglio, etc.) ? Forums ? web sites ? shops ? This forum is a great place to find a used open gun. Navigate to "Miscellaneous" and then to the "Classifieds" forum. Keep an eye on the Classifieds as used open guns come up all the time. Another good source is your local USPSA club. Attend a match and let the club members know what you're looking for. By the way, attending a match is great way to put your hands on many different brands and type of pistols. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crotchThrower Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 (edited) To me the easiest way to introduce anyone into the sport is with an open gun. They are just easy to shoot, aim and for most stages only one chance to mess one reload. CZ has an open gun that is just sweet. A friend of mine has one and being all metal just feels right It is affordable, great quality, and has a nice company behind it. Edited February 15, 2015 by crotchThrower Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KOBGT Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 This forum is a good place to start, as mentioned above. If you are going with a well marketed shop/smith, there is obviously going to be more information on them. And as also mentioned earlier, there are a good amount of local or regional guys that do amazing work and their guns run great. If a gun comes up for sale, do a little research and vetting and you will find enough guys who have used those builders to give you an opinion on their work. Just determine "brand" and go from there. Unless you buy SVI, Tanfoglio, CZ, or stock STI, most of the custom builders start with an STI 2011 frame as the foundation. As Atlas said, 2011 is the most popular platform in the open division. Don't be afraid to buy used. A gun with 20,000 rounds may seem like a lot, but in this sport, in my opinion, that's really not a lot, especially if the owner has properly maintained and taken good care of their gun(s). So vet the owner and don't be afraid to ask questions. On that note, if you buy used, I would bet that the original builder would accept the gun for a "tune up". In fact, I purchased a couple of open guns on the forum a few months ago, and the seller agreed to ship them to the builder for an inspection before purchase. After doing some minor work and other than some cosmetic wear from holster and general use, the guns run like new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I have owned a Glock , Tanfoglio and now I have an STI. I have shot a Czechmate as well. My impressions of each are: Glock pros: cheap to build, parts are plentiful and fairly cheap, decent accuracy, drop in parts. Cons: Trigger . Tanfoglio pros: all steel gun, good trigger, excellent accuracy, cheap standard mags, great design for 160pf IPSC major. Cons: parts availability, only a few gunsmiths in the states, ported barrel fogs up cmore lens every few stages even with the blast shield, $150 for 26 round bigstick that is a POS, 9mm major is very hard to achieve. STI pros: parts availability, excellent accuracy, durability, excellent magazines, excellent trigger, lots of support, lots of gunsmiths, STI lifetime warranty, based on 1911 design. Cons: price of admission, plastic grip may not be your cup of tea, mags are expensive, grip not great for wide hands, frame not very thick for threading of optic mount holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 I really liked the Czechmate and it seems to be a good deal Pros: 2 guns in one (Open and Limited), comes with a big stick and 3 more mags, extra barrel, cmore and mount from the factory, grip feels excellent in my hand, decent support, 5.4 inch barrel makes making major easier. Cons: pretty much a unicorn right now, slide stops snap from time to time, not a fan of the recessed optic mount location on the frame. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted February 22, 2015 Share Posted February 22, 2015 Great writeup Mr Postman, I'll just offer one small technical correction for anyone making comparisons: CZ USA and CZC advertise the barrels of Czechmates and TSs as 5.4", but in reality they're 5.1". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BoyGlock Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 STI Cons: frame not very thick for threading of optic mount holes. Sorry, I beg to disagree. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sarge Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BoyGlock" data-cid="2341891" data-time="1424693115"><p><p>Exactly! How thick do you want it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 Great writeup Mr Postman, I'll just offer one small technical correction for anyone making comparisons: CZ USA and CZC advertise the barrels of Czechmates and TSs as 5.4", but in reality they're 5.1". Thanks for the correction. Funny how they do things like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BoyGlock" data-cid="2341891" data-time="1424693115"><p><p>In comparison to the Tanfoglio frame the STI is much thinner in that area, which is why most STI mounts have 5 holes drilled instead of the 4 on the Tanfo. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrPostman Posted February 23, 2015 Share Posted February 23, 2015 <blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="BoyGlock" data-cid="2341891" data-time="1424693115"><p><p>Exactly! How thick do you want it?As thick as it can be to cut down on flex. Just a tiny bit of flex at the mounting point is greatly magnified where the optic is mounted. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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