Open 9mm STI/ Advice, opinion,thoughts.

[Ken_Bird]

I am ready to build me a new Steel open gun. It will be a wide long STI Frame, STI Alum Grip, STI upper slide, Dawson tool less recoil spring etc. It has a KKN barrel and the normal firing controls etc.

I have pretty much settled on a CMore red dot. Most likely 4 MOA but may go 6. The help needed is with a mount to fit on my frame to hold the dot.

Ok, guys jump in tell me your thoughts.

Thanks

Ken

[yoshidaex]

Does it have to be a Long/Wide frame and aluminum grip?

I thought the preferred steel setup was light weight?

[AZGunut]

Most people want as light as possible for a dedicated steel gun and some even run aluminum comp to that regard. My personal steel gun runs a 6" Tribrid barrel and total weight with a cmore serendipity is 38.5 ounces. I run the TriBrid as I'm going for way sub minor loads (105pf) and they won't cycle a open gun with tradition comp set up.

[Ken_Bird]

Well maybe, but the weight fees good and follow up shots are as quick. So that said I going with this.

[Sarge]

9mm right? A Cmore Slide ride correct? Not a mini. After wrestling with tuning extractors and a lot of frustration I finally went with a 90 degree mount. I don't think it is nearly as sexy as an upright mount but it made my gun trouble free again and the dot is a lot easier to pick up. I use a Cheely 90 degree mount with a 6moa Cmore

[Guest]

Serendipity is the lightest/lowest upright c-more mount I know of. If your ejection system isn't tuned well it can cause issues. I use this on my main guns right now.

As for a mount - The Double Tap is nice and would be my choice for an upright cmore mount for USPSA or steel. . Moves the cmore a little farther back than some other mounts which (for me) seems to help with dot tracking, also it is lightweight, has a replaceable/removable blast shield, is stiff, and looks cool.

Might want to try an 8 MOA for steel, brighter and bigger so you can miss faster! (no, seriously...the 8 moa dot works great on steel)

[Tyshoots]

The Cheely off set mount has been working good for me on my 9 major gun. 10 minutes of dry fire and the off set is no big deal.

[Aircooled6racer]

Hello: Lighter is better for a steel gun because of the transitions. Use a 12MOA dot or even 16. The Cheely setback mount works great moving the dot closer to the pivot point. C-More plastic slide ride with a rheostat. Briley aluminum guide rod and 7lb ISMI recoil spring. Make the slide around 9ozs and you should be ready. Thanks, Eric

[BeerBaron]

+1 to Eric.

my thoughts too. light is the way to go, the last thing you want is the big long heavy dustcover. you want fast snappy transitions. second shot? what second shot? it's steel. steel is all about a gun that moves fast from target to target. I would consider cutting the frame/dust cover back a fair bit to get some weight off the front end.

I also agree 12MOA cmore would be the best bet. nice big dot. minimum would be 8moa that I would want. again, steel is not about precision and it's not about long distance. you just need a shot on the steel somewhere. so a big dot is easier to track and faster to pick up on the draw. not sure I'd go 16MOA right off but at least try a 12MOA. for the $40 it's worth a try.

[Desmo412]

I have never shot Steel Challenge, but I have shot a fair amount of falling steel matches. Just to make a point, I'm young and have slightly better than 20/20 vision in both eyes. The gun I use for steel is primarily built for USPSA open. It is a full size gun with a cheely titanium comp and a standard STI frame. I use a 90-degree mount with an aluminum c-more and 6 MOA dot. If I were to build a gun for JUST steel, I would definitely go as light as possible and with a MINIMUM of an 8 MOA dot. Even though I don't have trouble tracking the 6 MOA, I believe a bigger dot would be much easier to read while transitioning as quickly as possible from target to target. Some manufacturers even offer aluminum framed guns (with tool steel inserts for the frame rails) specifically for Steel Challenge.

Also, I think AZGunNut is on to something with the tribrid barrel and no comp. With ultra light loads you really don't benifit much from a conventional compensator. At most I would use a 1 or 2 chamber titanium comp.

[kneelingatlas]

Another one for a no comp steel gun

[Ken_Bird]

With the fact I am shooting 9mm and Minor there is no purpose for any comp. Would not improve my time and time is what Steel is about. While I do agree light is usually better, but if you weight a STI regular frame with that of the long wide you will see a difference so small it just would not matter. Plus I think without a Comp it looks cool. I am keeing a close watch on weight, but there are some shooting issues if you go two light.

JMHO