Dan2020 Posted February 18, 2019 Share Posted February 18, 2019 I've seen plenty of STI DVC Opens at the matches, but I'm the only one I know shooting a DVC Steel (9mm). I love it. Moved up from a CZ AccuShadow to shoot Steel Challenge Open division. I would like to share my experiences and hear from others that are shooting it. Mine didn't shoot factory ammo out of the box. The closest I came was WWB with 1 failure out of 100. WWB OAL is about 1.165. Other shorter loads would fail much more frequently. I don't like shooting WWB because it's so dirty. I sent it back to STI and they shot 80 rounds of WWB through it and said it was fine. Back to the drawing board. Got MBX mags, extended safety with shield to keep my thumb off the slide, Wolff 7, 8, 9# springs, no luck. Found some long loaded 147 grain 9mm (OAL 1.17) that shot 100%. That was a temporary fix because it was expensive and I want to shoot 115 to get some benefit from the comp. I noticed that all my failures were FTF pointing up. Some had the jacket penetrated by the sharp edges on the top of the chamber. The answer was to knock down the sharp edges with a dremel and polish the crap out of the inside and top of the chamber and the feed ramp. Now with plenty of FP-10 and an 8# spring it runs 100% with Blazer Brass 115 which is OAL 1.16. Still won't run shorter ammo but that's fine. 2 guys at my club needed the same chamber treatment to get their DVC Opens running (also 9mm). I'm wondering if this is par for the course or a coincidence. Like I said I love the gun and the learning experience. It shoots flat and I'm moving up faster than I was in production. I often get comments on the gun and hear "yeah and it shoots factory ammo out of the box". Any comments/shared experiences welcome. Oh yeah - I expect to hear why aren't you reloading like the rest of us? Personal choice, for the savings in 9mm I'd rather spend my time dry firing. Thanks, Dan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted February 20, 2019 Author Share Posted February 20, 2019 No other DVC Steel shooters on the forum? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NamesNotMike Posted February 21, 2019 Share Posted February 21, 2019 STI gets beat up pretty good on here due to problems they have had. I have an open and limited DVC's, the limited 40 has run great however the open is back to STI with a cracked comp. Which I knew would be happening because of how the comp was cut and the problems others have had with that same cut. When I get it back it will be all new except the grip. How old is the guns you are talking about? I have not read anything on the chamber issue that you and the other two are experiencing but maybe they all were manufactured round the same time. I haven't had any problems with FTF pointing up mine were nose diving and I had cause that problem be tuning the mags to the wrong specs. As soon as it was called to my attention that I was using the wrong numbers and tuned the mags again the problem disappeared. The idea of the steel open gun was to shoot factory ammo, since there is no PF required, the longer OAL is just something that 2011's are known to like. I load my rounds to the 1.16" for major that you have found to work in yours. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted February 22, 2019 Author Share Posted February 22, 2019 Thx NotMike, it’s a 2018 model I bought new last June. Mine and the the 2 opens are all running well after the chamber treatment. My theory on why they like longer OAL is the platform was designed for 45 1.2+ OAL. No problem now, it’s shooting fast as hell and I’d rather have it than a Czeckmate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 I shoot an STI DVC Steel in both minor and major power factors. Runs like a scalded dog. I load 1.167 or 1.169 both major and minor. If I shoot minor loads I run a 6 pound spring with a shock buffer. 8 pound with major loads (shock buffer also). The DVC Steel was an STI replacement for my Steel Master. The Steel Master shot a little flatter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mlussoro Posted February 24, 2019 Share Posted February 24, 2019 Are you running a spacer in mags? What followers? Could be a mag issue. Have a buddy running 9mm and had same issue added spacers and Taran followers no problems since Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k1llapanda Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 (edited) i am running a sti steelmaster. i picked it up for DIRT cheap out here from a local guy since we have a lot of matches with no PF. it runs ANYTHING except aluminum cases. I have had great results with 5.1 CFE at 1.13 OAL. WWB works about 99% of the time, but i use PRECISION AMMUNITION 115s and have had 100% great results, including high open overall at THE BAD BEAT SHOOTOUT a couple weeks ago. #minorthreat but yeah, its my favorite gun. i run an RTS2 with a PT grip and SV trigger. besides that, stock. OH and i use only MBX mags Edited February 26, 2019 by k1llapanda Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gerritm Posted February 26, 2019 Share Posted February 26, 2019 My buddy has been shooting one for about a year in minor for 3-gun. Had a few ejection issues. Changed out the C-more & mount to a Leupold DP and because he runs minor all the time changed the recoil spring to an 8# and it runs great with stock STI mags. gerritm Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dcooney77 Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 I have a dvc open gun.....problem I think most people have is it is designed to run factory ammo just like the trubor and steelmaster...I shoot with a few other guys with similar models never had a hiccup...I also shoot with a few that reload nonfactory loads and have nothing but problems Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 On 2/24/2019 at 12:56 AM, Mlussoro said: Are you running a spacer in mags? What followers? Could be a mag issue. Have a buddy running 9mm and had same issue added spacers and Taran followers no problems since I’m running new version of STI mags in practice, MBX in matches. Stock followers and no spacers. Have not seen a difference after the chamber work, they all run fine. I did have to adjust the feed lips on the STI mags a little. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted February 28, 2019 Author Share Posted February 28, 2019 Posted Saturday at 09:00 PM I shoot an STI DVC Steel in both minor and major power factors. Runs like a scalded dog. I load 1.167 or 1.169 both major and minor. If I shoot minor loads I run a 6 pound spring with a shock buffer. 8 pound with major loads (shock buffer also). The DVC Steel was an STI replacement for my Steel Master. The Steel Master shot a little flatter. Mine ran fine with long loaded (1.17) 147 ammo before I did anything to it. Problems were with shorter factory ammo. Now that I have the chamber smooth and polished, it runs well with Blazer 115 (1.16). Still has problems with shorter rounds, but I’m happy now I can finish a match with low cost factory Blazer with no malfs. I do add a little lube halfway through the match. Glad to hear some run factory out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 1 hour ago, Dan2020 said: Posted Saturday at 09:00 PM I shoot an STI DVC Steel in both minor and major power factors. Runs like a scalded dog. I load 1.167 or 1.169 both major and minor. If I shoot minor loads I run a 6 pound spring with a shock buffer. 8 pound with major loads (shock buffer also). The DVC Steel was an STI replacement for my Steel Master. The Steel Master shot a little flatter. Mine ran fine with long loaded (1.17) 147 ammo before I did anything to it. Problems were with shorter factory ammo. Now that I have the chamber smooth and polished, it runs well with Blazer 115 (1.16). Still has problems with shorter rounds, but I’m happy now I can finish a match with low cost factory Blazer with no malfs. I do add a little lube halfway through the match. Glad to hear some run factory out of the box. The only thing I did was put a 90 degree mount on the Cmore and tuned the trigger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted March 1, 2019 Author Share Posted March 1, 2019 Tuned the trigger? Mine’s pretty good but what did you do to tune it? Thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
corny Posted March 3, 2019 Share Posted March 3, 2019 On 2/28/2019 at 9:51 PM, Dan2020 said: Tuned the trigger? Mine’s pretty good but what did you do to tune it? Thx Dropped it from the the 3.5 - 4 pounds to 2.2 pounds. Makes a huge difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
traingq Posted March 15, 2019 Share Posted March 15, 2019 Not a DVC steel, but I still have my first steel open gun, an STI match master. I needed to have it worked over by Venom Customs to get it working, but now its running fine 100%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan2020 Posted April 3, 2019 Author Share Posted April 3, 2019 My DVC Steel trigger was 2.5 out of the box and is fine for SC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvmojo Posted April 28, 2019 Share Posted April 28, 2019 Not a DVC Steel, but an STI Steel Master with Trubor T2 barrel. Doesn't seem to be picky about ammo... Currently loading 145gr Bayou over 3.4gr WSF at 1.13oal. Comp isn't adding much. PF is right at 120. Nice soft shooting with an 8 lb recoil spring & 15 lb mainspring. Trigger is 1.5 lbs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NOSHMJ Posted April 29, 2019 Share Posted April 29, 2019 I have been shooting DVC steel for 2 years, no real issues. Ran WWB perfectly. I choose to reload, and use 147's and the thing shoots super soft. I also changed out the recoil spring to a #10 and ran it major power for a season. Ran perfect, just a little snappy as the gun isn't really made for major. Steel challenge, it gets a #8 spring, with 147s's. A class right away, on the way to Master. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IHMSA15151 Posted April 30, 2019 Share Posted April 30, 2019 Where did you get your long loaded 147gr.? I won a gift certificate from Peak Performance Ammo at the Berry's Steel Open. Thinking about trying their "long loaded" stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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