STI 2011 Build

[wyliearms]

This may have been covered here before so please forgive me if it has. I want a 2011 open class gun. I've tinkered with a Glock in open for a while and I just can't get used to it. I was going to buy a Steelmaster or Trubor as it fits my price range which is $2500.00. I'd love to have a higher end model but I just can't right now. I am going to offer a rifle up for trade in the classifieds which would be great if someone would do it but I need a plan B. I've assembled and worked on many 1911's so I think I could build my own 2011 but am unsure of where to start. I see where STI offers a fitted slide to frame combo as a starter and wanted some opinions on what to do and what not to do if I decided to build one. I want 9mm and the gun would be mainly for Steel Challenge.

[EngineerEli]

I'm interested to see where this thread goes... I'd love to build a 2011 myself, but the slide to frame, barrel, and grip safety fitting all made me a little nervous.

[chaosshooter00]

Check out CK Arms, they have complete guns and kits available to help you get started on a build. Good luck.

[EEH]

I'm interested to see where this thread goes... I'd love to build a 2011 myself, but the slide to frame, barrel, and grip safety fitting all made me a little nervous.

Shouldn't be a problem for you,,being as you are an enginear ... Lol

Edited January 28, 2016 by EEH

[tyler2you]

I've built a 1911 from a Remsport slide/frame and I wouldn't recommend building a 2011 unless you are doing it because you love working on guns and want a project. You will most likely end up ruining some parts along the way. I ruined a thumb safety and a barrel during my build. I learned a lot and can now fit thumb safeties pretty quickly (not so much on the barrels). You will also end up buying tools which will cut into your budget.

My recommendation would be to buy the slide/frame from CK Arms and get your other parts from someplace like Shooter's Connection. Then, send them off to a pro to assemble. Doug Jones at Acc-u-Rail did a build for me that turned out beautifully. If you shop carefully, you can hit your budget.

Edited January 28, 2016 by tyler2you

[zzt]

Here is my take. SVI will not sell you a frame. Pheonix Trinity will not sell you one. Ten is their minimum order. Based on the slop I see STI sending out in their 1911 pistols, I wouldn't buy anything from STI. That leaves CK Arms.

Here is my recommendation. Call CK Arms, but not today. Flu emptied the shop. Ask them how well their slide an frames fit, and how much work you will have to do. Ask them how close they hold tolerances, and how parallel the rails are. also, how precisely they locate the pin holes. You might also want to ask them how much material has to be removed to blend the grip safety, slide and frame. If you are satisfied with the answers you get and decide to order a frame grip and slide from them, order the rest of the parts they make or sell. Since this is your first build, I wouldn't try to mix and match parts. That leads to headaches. I learned that the hard way.

If you want to save yourself some time and trouble, ask CK Arms or Brazos Custom to do a slide to frame fit for you. Brazos will use a STI frame, but you should ask for a Caspian slide milled to his Open configuration. If you go with Brazos, also order his pre-fit trigger group. Since you will be ordering the frame and slide from him, he'll hone the trigger group for your gun. Then you won't have to do anything but drop it in. I'd also order his pre-tuned Brazos Pro ejector. That's a drop in. I would not order any other STI parts, because they are mostly MIM. You can get good, made from billet or bar stock parts form SVI, EGW and others.

CK Arms may offer the same services.

As far as ruining a barrel or safety, that would be hard to do. If you accidentally take too much metal off, you can have it TIG welded up and try again.

BTW, if you start with an STI frame and grip, look on EGW for the JEM grip safety. It is s bar stock part they Make for JEM Enterprises and fits STI (and JEM) frame so closely you can blend with an Emory strip.

If you do get stuck, you could always take your parts to a local gunsmith for help. Since you are familiar with building 1911s, you should have no trouble. Just remember that some 2011 parts are different from 1911, so make sure you order the right stuff.

Edited January 29, 2016 by zzt

[BeerBaron]

I reckon you'd get close to getting one sorted for $2500 if you do a lot of the work yourself and have access to a mill.

I would probably go about it like this:

CK arms SDC frame and steel grip kit (this may bump the total up by about $250 over using a plastic grip but personally I think it's worth it).

CK arms slide

send the slide to binary engineering and have him do his cyborg lightening cuts, popple hole window on top, get him to cut the dovetail for the racker too (possibly extra cost)

Get a binary engineering or CK arms compensator

buy KKM threaded barrel

get all the EGW internals. there are kits with hammer, sear, strut, disconector and leaf spring.

buy a pin kit (CK arms have one with all the small parts needed)

wolf or ismi hammer spring and recoil spring and firing pin spring

get safeties of your choice and slide top of choice

ck arms firing pin (might as well keep it in the family)

ck arms guide rod and reverse plug

CK arms ejector

ck arms barrel link kit (comes with 5 links in different lengths)

need an extractor, either regular or go for an aftec.

The CK arms grip and frame kit comes with ice style magwell, MSH, mag release so you already have those bits.

buy the brazos zig racker (as above get the dovetail cut for it when you get someone to do the slide machining)

To keep costs down go with a regular cmore slide ride on a mount of your choice (mine would be the CK arms 90 mount)

That's about it for parts.

You need to fit frame and slide and fit barrel to slide. Then fit comp to the barrel and ensure it's correctly gapped and clocked. if you do get the slide lightening cuts done at binary he can put the 1 degree cut on the slide for you.

Now you could farm out the frame/slide/barrel fitting, or if you've built 1911's you can do it yourself. Study up on the kunhausen books etc and if possible find someone good to help mentor you. There are some specialist tools that make these tasks easier and more precise, expensive if you're buying them all just for one 2011, perhaps you might be able to rent/borrow from someone.

Or if you do get a gunsmith to at least do the frame/slide/barrel fitting and drill the holes for the scope mount you can still do all the assesmbly yourself to hopefully save a bit of coin there.

at the end you just need to pick a finish/coating and get it done.

for something like $2500-$3000 you should end up with a top shelf open gun.

The one thing to remember is it's easy to overcapitalise on this process. So bear in mind a finished gun from CK arms for instance is $3500...

but you may get more satisfaction out of doing the bits you can by yourself.

Edited January 28, 2016 by BeerBaron

[jcc7x7]

Fusion firearms sells a fitted frame, slide and barrel "Kit"

Says fusion on it but its STI parts from what he has told me in the past.

I've built several 1911's for people when I was full time in the LGS, they call came real good

Fit was good on parts

Might be worth a call to at least see what he will do

He will also do cuts/slide lighting etc

Again might be worth a call

[tyler2you]

As far as ruining a barrel or safety, that would be hard to do. If you accidentally take too much metal off, you can have it TIG welded up and try again.

This wasn't my experience. It's pretty easy to overcut or put the wrong angle on a thumb safety. Unless you've got a buddy with a TIG welder, the cost to repair the safety is going to come close to the cost of buying a new part. As far as the barrel, it's pretty easy to overcut the lower lugs unless you buy a dedicated lug cutter. If you don't have a mill, it also takes some skill with a file to cut the back/sides of the hood straight with proper clearance. Since the barrel to slide fit is so critical to a 1911/2011, it's something I'd leave to a pro unless you've got lots of experience. Since the OP is going to farm out the slide/frame fit and probably the barrel installation, I'd go ahead and farm out the whole build. You also need to factor in the cost of your finish of choice and shipping which is something that may be included with a pro build.

[troupe]

Did STI stop producing the short block? It was around 1300 range with the slide , comp , and frame fitted. I do believe that it was short chambered. Call Dawson Precision or Chuck at Shooters Connection, and tell them Tommy Roupe told you to call. You may be into a new open gun with out alot if you do the work yourself. Any questions, PM me if I can help.

Tommy Roupe

[BeerBaron]

I have a feeling the short block kit is discontinued.

edit: just had a look at brownells. doesn't say discontinued, just says out of stock/special order item. it's $1600 now: http://www.brownells.com/handgun-parts/frame-parts/frames/1911-auto-2011-short-block-kit-prod12442.aspx

[ZackJones]

I can't believe you're being a quitter and giving up on Glock Perfection!!

Since you've build 1911's in the past why not consider that platform for your steel challenge gun?

Another option is to check out Lone Star Innovations - Glenn does some beautiful work. Give him a call and discuss your needs. You may be able to get something built within your budget.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

ETA: Talk to Daniel Kinsler (DK Triggers) as well. He's been doing some 1911/2011 build stuff recently.

Edited January 29, 2016 by ZackJones

[wyliearms]

I can't believe you're being a quitter and giving up on Glock Perfection!!

Since you've build 1911's in the past why not consider that platform for your steel challenge gun?

Another option is to check out Lone Star Innovations - Glenn does some beautiful work. Give him a call and discuss your needs. You may be able to get something built within your budget.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with.

ETA: Talk to Daniel Kinsler (DK Triggers) as well. He's been doing some 1911/2011 build stuff recent

I can't get used to the grip angle. I like the gun but my first shot is always slower becuase I have to force the gun down from my natural point of aim. I thought about a 9mm 1911 but would not want to spend the money on a 1911 open gun and then decide to shoot more other open sports and have to then buy a double stack. I'm still kicking around my options. I need to quit being cheap and just buy a STI.

[troupe]

Glenn has done short blocks in the past, don't know if he still does. PM me and I will give you a name that may help.

[MrWallace]

I just finished building my second one today, it's by far the best route to go in my opinion (mainly because I'm a tinkerer)

I'd suggest the Phoenix Trinity grip if you're okay with the wait time, I waited about a month for the super aggressive stainless steel one and man is it awesome! That aside, I'd suggest the CK arms frames, they're the same ones made by freedom gunlocks and they've got a different metal that is less prone to cracking (at least that's what I've read). Slides can be had from speed shooters or shooters connection. I like the CK arms ones personally. As for barrel, I highly suggest the Kart EZ fit barrel. Get the barrel fitting kit and possibly a few different bushing cause the one I got from them definitely didn't work.

Aside from that, I'd recommend getting the Jerry Kuhnhausen books if you don't have them already. They are a fountain of information and by far the best reference for if (or when) shit hits the fan. Go slow and always measure everything multiple times. Remember you can always take more off, it's not necessarily easier to put more on.

[36873687]

Ck

[wyliearms]

I just saw this pop back up and thought I would share my experience - and pain - since I typed the original post. So I debated on building for a while, made calls, did some research, followed a lot of your advice and basically gave up. I converted my Open Glock to a Timberwolf frame with a 17 slide and shot it for a while. I thought a 2011 would fit me better (or make me faster) so I picked up on my search. I am a traditional 1911/SS purist so surely I'd be faster with that platform, right? I sold a rifle I wasn't using and worked a deal out on this board for an STI Grandmaster with a 9mm fitted minor bbl and the original 38SC bbl with the Recoil Master setup. The gun is great. I've shot several matches with it so far. But, before this original post, I had spent a year tweaking the Glock to cycle, reliably, as a light of a load as I could which was chronicled in another thread. I shot stages with both guns recently and I am considerably faster with the Glock that I tweaked for a year. It also cycles 100% with a load that is about .6 grains lighter than the STI can due to the ports. It will shoot somewhat minor but not Steel Challenge minor like my Glock does. I know, it's a gas issue and more powder, lighter bullet will fix it, Etc but being hard headed I wanted low recoil so I focused on a 147grn load with TG ( not great for comps). I think I came up with something special with the Timberwolf frame, 17 slide and 4 port carver comp. I use the Carver mount to the forward position and with a full magazine the gun is extremely balanced (and short). The trigger is very light (UAT) and it cycles very light loads like a champ. So, about 3k later I am back to the gun I started this in the sport I compete the most in. The GM will be my USPSA gun when I go back to paper I guess. Everyone who has shot the TW with the 4 port comp using the load I came up with has been amazed. It gasses just enough to cycle and keep the bbl flat and has little to no felt recoil. I'm having an issue finding a holster that fits it well but thats a different story.

I do want to say thanks to everyone who commented. I do still want to build a limited one for fun one day and CK seems to be the way to go.