Sti Open Guns

[BigD]

I am about to purchase an open gun, but money is a factor. I have been trying to read all of the posts on 9mm or .38 super as well as 5" or shorty. One of the questions that keeps coming up is reliability in 9mm major. The answer is usually something to the effect that if the gun is set up right, it will run. I know the difference in what you get in a custom gun over a factory gun (I shoot a custom gun in Limited), but what about the dependability of a factory STI open gun? Do either the 9mm or .38 super have more problems than the other?

Do they run straight from the factory? If anybody has any experience or first hand knowledge of how these guns run out of the box I'd love to here it.

[Harmon]

i just had a custom STI built by virgil tripp..

carefull selection of parts along with not buying things you dont need(for me it was ambi safety, tungsten guide rod, scope mount(i selected a serendipity scope) or a slide racker) netted a gun that costs 2500 dollars chromed.

a local shooter owns a sti grandmaster and its been totally reliable for him..im sure the Trubor competitior would be the same...just a longer break in time.

FWIW i went with a 9mm with a STI frame and slide, brazos custom Trubor barrel with his SX style comp, STI steel guide rod, ed brown single sided safety, dawson ice magwell and long firing pin. extreme engineering hammer, sear, disconnector and a c-more serendipity sight. im also using a aftec extractor and EGW long ejector.

small parts like the slide stop and firing pin stop came from EGW. the grip safety is STI as is the small pins. I think its a Nowlin sear spring with Wollf everwhere else.

Some money could be saved if you went with a STI trigger group and skipped out on the ICE magwell and AFTEC...but i wanted them.

call virgil tripp and see what he can do..

harmon

Edited January 28, 2006 by harmongreer

[smokshwn]

Big D,

Personally I think that many of the things you hear about open guns (esp. 9mm) being unreliable and finicky have to do with the fact that there are a lot of folks who have had them worked on by different gunsmiths over time. The guns I see that were built by one smith (I think this would apply to an STI) and kept in their original configuration tend to be very reliable.

Also +1 on Harmon's post. It may pay to shop around with a few smith's before. I know Dan Bedell builds a very basic no frills open gun for $2000.00 (I don't know of any other smiths even getting close) Dan's guns enjoy a great reputation and mine has been as reliable as a hammer for going on 10k rounds.

Good luck, Craig

[BEDELLCUSTOM]

Craig, we have stopped offering the basic model because most people that wanted one would always end up adding more options to their order which usually brought them up to the top of the line model anyway. thanks for bringing it up though.

[Joe Robinson]

in HOP alot of the problems that are happening with 9mm major guns are mag related. Me and another guy in my club sat down one day and just built my open gun with the parts ( all new) i had . the gun would not run to sdave it's life. had the mags tuned run's like a dream now. As for gun smith'si talked to most of the top one's ( dawson , derek at millenium , brazo's , J L hardy and dan bedell ) All great gun builders and great guy's to talk to realy helped me out when i needed it. i went with dan bedell , him and chuck were great to deal with can not say enough great things about them and ther work.

[blue edge]

First off I own a Bedell 9mm shorty

I am sure STI builds a good open gun and would be a good way to go.

I feel if you go with custom smith they will pay more attention to the details and this is where you get a GREAT GUN!!!

PLUS if you do have a problem and call STI you will talk to someone??

If you have a custom smith build your gun and have a problem you will talk to the man that built your gun!!

As for dependability most everyone in this area has converted there 38 supers to 9.

I would have Dan Bedell build another 9 major gun for me anyday.

[BOGA]

I have a full custom open 38 super and i also have a factory 9 SC. Both are flawless. I didnt experience any problem with both so i am always confused the morning before i leave for a match about which one to use. My factory gun is cheaper so i used the saved money on bullets and powder

[BigD]

Thanks for the input, everybody.

Darin

[AlamoShooter]

What about a used gun? lots of good Iron that needs a home.

If you have not ben shooting for over a year a used gun can be a good start.

And you should be able to shoot it first. Put up a post and go to the matches, ask for help and you will get it. Just let them know you do not want a gun with a bad reputation.