Jump to content
Brian Enos's Forums... Maku mozo!

STI DVC Classic Single Stack Reviews?


arnettcw1

Recommended Posts

4 minutes ago, STIboy said:

I don't have an USPSA box to put it in, but by eyeballing it with a ruler it seems to come in under the 8 15/16 length limit.  However, the real problem is it's overweight.  I tried my gun on two different digital postal scales; the first time the gun plus magazine weighed 43.9 ounces, and on the second, 43.6 ounces.  Unless I'm missing something, it's not Single Stack legal as delivered.

I wonder if replacing the stock guide rod and plug with a G.I. short guide rod with trim off enough weight to get under the limit.  Don't know, but I'm going to have a conversation with STI about this this week.

 

I would check, but the dawson aluminum FLGR might be lighter than a steel GI setup. I'm sure someone here knows that information.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 92
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

43 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

I would check, but the dawson aluminum FLGR might be lighter than a steel GI setup. I'm sure someone here knows that information.

Thanks, I'll check that out.

I need to weigh the various components, like the guide rod, that can be switched out for something lighter and see where I can get the best return.

Shouldn't have to do this, though.  It should have been legal in the first place.

Edited by STIboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, STIboy said:

Thanks, I'll check that out.

I need to weight the various components, like the guide rod, that can be switched out for something lighter and see where I can get the best return.

Shouldn't have to do this, though.  It should have been legal in the first place.

Yea, I totally agree there. It is totally silly to advertise something as division legal and then it not make weight. The things you could look at lightening in my mind would be an Al guide rod, grips, and potentially the MSH.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

13 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

Yea, I totally agree there. It is totally silly to advertise something as division legal and then it not make weight. The things you could look at lightening in my mind would be an Al guide rod, grips, and potentially the MSH.

Ordered the aluminum guide rod...

Unfortunately, I like the VZ grips; they're what I would have put on if they hadn't. ;)

Okay, talk to me about the MSH.  What can be done there?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I was thinking not change them as much as hog them out on the inside. You might be able to grind out a channel in the inside of the grip and earn a bit of weight.

Well I said maybe because I'm not sure, does it currently have a steel MSH or Al? Cause Dawson sells an aluminum one that is a fair bit lighter, and still has the proper locking thing for their magwells.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk

Link to comment
Share on other sites

29 minutes ago, Gooldylocks said:

I was thinking not change them as much as hog them out on the inside. You might be able to grind out a channel in the inside of the grip and earn a bit of weight.

Well I said maybe because I'm not sure, does it currently have a steel MSH or Al? Cause Dawson sells an aluminum one that is a fair bit lighter, and still has the proper locking thing for their magwells.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 

Ordered a polymer main spring housing.  I think between that and the aluminum guide rod I can drop at least an ounce from the gun.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hogging out a set of VZ grips will save you about 4/10 of an ounce in my experience.  I have to do it on my 9mm STIs.  If the stock MSH isn't aluminum, that's definitely a way to save several ounces if it's steel.  I suspect it is already aluminum though.

Edited by TheSandMan491
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, STIboy said:

Ordered a polymer main spring housing.  I think between that and the aluminum guide rod I can drop at least an ounce from the gun.

The aluminum is supposed to be 1oz lighter than an equivalent steel FLGR. Do they make a plastic MSH that will mate up with their magwells? Don't they require special ones that can key lock onto the magwell?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

my sti 1911's have a crap-ton of excess metal in the lower part of the frame, (covered up by the grip). If it wasn't a brand-new gun you could certainly grind on that to make it a more normal profile. I did that with my 9mm to save 3/4 oz or so.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

24 minutes ago, TheSandMan491 said:

Hogging out a set of VZ grips will save you about 4/10 of an ounce in my experience.  I have to do it on my 9mm STIs.  If the stock MSH isn't aluminum, that's definitely a way to save several ounces if it's steel.  I suspect it is already aluminum though.

It's definitely metal; don't know which, and won't until I remove it.  Either way, I assume polymer will be lighter than either.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

6 minutes ago, motosapiens said:

my sti 1911's have a crap-ton of excess metal in the lower part of the frame, (covered up by the grip). If it wasn't a brand-new gun you could certainly grind on that to make it a more normal profile. I did that with my 9mm to save 3/4 oz or so.

I'm hoping to not have to do any grinding myself.  Hopefully the other mods will get my the ounce saving.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, Gooldylocks said:

I would check, but the dawson aluminum FLGR might be lighter than a steel GI setup. I'm sure someone here knows that information.

Isn't the DVC Classic GR longer than a for a Govt model?  Will the govt. FLGR being just a little short, work ok?  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AlphaMutt said:

Isn't the DVC Classic GR longer than a for a Govt model?  Will the govt. FLGR being just a little short, work ok?  

The guide rod from the Classic is about 4.5" long, while a standard guide rod for a 5" 1911 is about 4".  Don't know if it will work or not.

 

OTOH, a G.I. guide rod plus capped plug weigh .7 ounces, while the supplied Dawson guide rod and uncapped plug weigh 2.0 ounces, so switching to the G.I. setup will definitely get me under 43 ounces total without any other surgery.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The mainspring housing is aluminum from the factory. No real weight to be saved and screwing the magwell into plastic doesn't sound like a recipe for long term success.

 

hogging out grips, frame and an aluminum guide rod are your best bets. I want to tri top mine but the hard chrome looks so good. Oh well. 

 

 

Edited by mach1soldier
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 9/14/2016 at 11:54 AM, motosapiens said:

I presume the folks at STI are aware of uspsa rules. Looks like with the slide cuts it will probably be fine. In my experience it's really only traditional slide profiles that get close enough to require saving a little weight elsewhere (like with an aluminum MSH). My tri-topped STI 9mm has no problem making weight even with flgr and steel MSH.

Apparently STI is not as familiar as we thought with SS rules. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, AlphaMutt said:

I weighed the DVC Classic (mine is in 45), and with an empty Wilson ETM mag inserted there is 1oz to spare.  I used a set of check weights and the scale is correct to within +/- 1 gram.

DVC_Weight_zpslhismabx.jpg

With an identical magazine in 9mm I get 43.5 ounces on two different digital scales.  The supplied magazine would add .4 ounces to that.  Production tolerances?  A smaller bore on the 9mm resulting in more metal in the barrel?  Fairies standing on the scales?  All I know is that mine is just slightly overweight, but enough to throw me into Open if I used it at a major match.

 

I've ordered various replacement parts for the gun to try to drop an ounce in weight, starting with a slimmer magwell.  I'll see what works best, and if I can get it on a diet.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Swinging back around to this. 

I've put close to 2.5k through the gun in the last month-ish and heres my take on it. 


I had a gunsmith install the SVI trigger with their inserts. I had this on my 45 so I kept the same set up for this. I immediately ripped off the grips, magwell and MSH. Sold that stuff on here. Replaced it with the Techwell set up and a Ed brown MSH

 

The gun would not feed any 40 that had 8 or more rounds in the mag. That was frustrating. Sent it off to Tripp and they made magic happen. Gun works awesome now. 

Fast forward to its first outdoor match, Firing pin got stuck in the forward (exposed) position and let a round rip out of battery. It stuck out far enough to let the round get almost into the barrel before it went off. The gun handled it well. The Magazine not so much. The Firing pin has some sort of bump on it that you could feel it dragging on the channel if you manually pushed it in. I took that pin out and put it in my 45 and same thing happened. Leading me to believe it was a firing pin issue. 

Shortly after this (another 500 rounds later) the rear sight came loose in the dove tail. It appears the two allen key screws that hold the sight down came loose. 

To add insult to injury, I call STI and tell them about both of these problems. They didn't much seem to care. Said they will forward me to Tech support but of course no one is available and I have to leave a message. 3 days later still no call back. Called them today to just get the thread pitch for those little screws that hold the sight in the dove tail and not a single person at STI can tell me what they are. All anyone can say is leave a message and tech support will call me back. 

Other notable things. The gun is stupid accurate. 1 hole 5 shot group at 25 yds from a bench. I only have 1 other 1911, a STI Trojan in 45. Compared to that gun: The DVC heats up and stays really hot way longer than my Trojan. I also on the draw, the front sight is constantly low in the dove tail, unlike my Trojan I can get a great sight picture with little effort. 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 4/24/2017 at 1:35 PM, STIboy said:

With an identical magazine in 9mm I get 43.5 ounces on two different digital scales.  The supplied magazine would add .4 ounces to that.  Production tolerances?  A smaller bore on the 9mm resulting in more metal in the barrel?  Fairies standing on the scales?  All I know is that mine is just slightly overweight, but enough to throw me into Open if I used it at a major match.

 

I've ordered various replacement parts for the gun to try to drop an ounce in weight, starting with a slimmer magwell.  I'll see what works best, and if I can get it on a diet.

The additional metal in 9mm barrels makes a big difference. That is basically the reason people ever struggle to make weight with minor guns. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, Gooldylocks said:

The additional metal in 9mm barrels makes a big difference. That is basically the reason people ever struggle to make weight with minor guns. 

So basically STI knowingly advertised a product as Single Stack legal when it wasn't.  How ethical of them.  And the reports of being unable to get any help from them seems consistent with that.

I bought some 10 round 2011 STI magazines to go with my DVC Limited gun.  Interestingly, the two 10 round magazines that came with the gun worked fine, but the four I purchased afterward didn't.  I needed to tune them myself (that you, Dawson Precision tuning kit) until I could get them functional.

Edited by STIboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now



×
×
  • Create New...