Sti Eagle 9mm Or .40

[Joe D]

A friend and I were trying to decide which would be better for IDPA ESP. I contend that the .40 loaded to a 130 pf would be the better gun. I know my Glock 35 shoots softer than my wife's G34 when loaded to the same pf. I would think that the Eagle in .40 would be more reliable too when loaded to a 1.200" OAL.

I don't recall seeing anyone shooting a .40 STI in ESP, but have see a few in 9mm.

[ipscron2000]

A friend of mine shoots a STI in .40 in ESP. He had the gun built with 2 barrels. A bushing barrel for IDPA and a bull barrel for USPSA. He changes the barrel and spring and he's ready to go to another sport. Of course he loads 130 pf for IDPA and 170 pf for USPSA.

He loves it.

RJ

[vincent]

I've seen several .40 cal Eagles in IDPA. The driving factor is one gun for IDPA ESP and USPSA Limited/Limited 10. For Limited 10 you don't even need to change mags.

A pro for 9mm is easy to get factory ammo that meets the IDPA ESP power factor.

I have a 9mm SVI for IDPA ESP and if I was doing it all over again I'd have it built in .40.

[Sgtsvi]

I bought a SV cross comp for IDPA and ordered it in 9mm because I didnt have a loading press. If I had to do it again, I would have ordered mine in .40 and used someone else's press to make ammo until I got my own.

Dave

[vincent]

I built my gun before I started shooting USPSA so I didn't know better.

A G35 with a magwell is also a great dual purpose gun and it doesn't break the bank.

[Bob Hostetter]

I use one of our STI clones in 40 for ESP and find it works very well. The 9's also work well but there is a slight scoring advantage with the 40 and the recoil is soft in both calibers.

[G17raider]

I will chime in and say the 40 would probably be the best imo.

[Harmon]

with most of the top IPSC shooters using a STI or clone in 40 caliber i would think the mags are gonna be more reliable...then again 9mm major is getting alot of bugs worked out of the 9s mags...

harmon

[MikeyG23]

I've bushing Eagles in both.

Love the .40 for versatility but I bought the 9mm after the .40 because it's nice to be able to go buy ammo and shoot. With bullet prices on the rise the 9mm makes sense for an ESP only gun. OTH if you even think you want to shoot USPSA get the .40.

My STI mags for the 9mm have been flawless except for a single instance where the follower bound on the spacer strip. I stripped the mag after the match and checked for burrs on both, found a couple, and removed them and it's flawless since.

.40 minor versus 9mm recoil is an issue for me as well. The minor .40 recoil pulse to me is very slow and screws with my timing. I shot my .40 at about a 150 PF when I was shooting IDPA with it, in fact I even shot a few matches with major PF ammo and didn't seem to do appreciably better or worse because of it. The 9mm is a little "quicker" or seems shorter to me at least.

Edited October 15, 2005 by MikeyG23

[Harmon]

the recoil is all in your head...

i havent seen anyone shooting a minor gun faster(with all A's) than a major gun..

to me the only reason to shoot minor 40s is to ease the pain of recoil...assuming the power doesnt affect scoring(idpa it doesnt) and your truly shooting the sights and not just doubling off rounds..the power factor between 135-165 isnt going to make that much difference.

i did a test with my 45 shooting el presidente with 145, 155, 165,175, and 185 power factor ammo...the lighter ammo didnt make 2cents worth of difference.