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Shorten Sti Dust Cover?


Richie

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After some searching on here with no luck, I'm just wondering what all would be involved to shorten a STI Long/Wide Frame, so it would be suitable to use in IDPA competition for ESP this year? I appreciate all the feedback, I have a single stack in 9mm (Springfield) set up for ESP, but I was thinking i'd like to be able to shoot the STI in both IDPA and USPSA so I only have one gun to get familiar with. IDPA will be the majority of matches I plan to shoot this year. I'm trying to get used to shooting major (controlling the recoil, being able to see the sights at all time while shooting major) in limited class as i'm still very new to all of this. I'd really like to just get to shooting this gun only and sell the springfield but want to get some opinions first on my possibilities first.

Thanks!

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After some searching on here with no luck, I'm just wondering what all would be involved to shorten a STI Long/Wide Frame, so it would be suitable to use in IDPA competition for ESP this year? I appreciate all the feedback, I have a single stack in 9mm (Springfield) set up for ESP, but I was thinking i'd like to be able to shoot the STI in both IDPA and USPSA so I only have one gun to get familiar with. IDPA will be the majority of matches I plan to shoot this year. I'm trying to get used to shooting major (controlling the recoil, being able to see the sights at all time while shooting major) in limited class as i'm still very new to all of this. I'd really like to just get to shooting this gun only and sell the springfield but want to get some opinions first on my possibilities first.

Thanks!

A hacksaw? Band saw? Shouldn't be a big deal.

Make sure you have a bushing barrel and you should be legal for IDPA

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Hopefully P.E. Kelley will read this. He just bought a Jet power hacksaw that would do this nicely. I've never seen a bandsaw that cut that nicely and as square as the Jet he bought. Who'd a thunk it? A Jet!!

You could probably buy the saw and do it yourself for what the gunsmithing bill would be. The professional way to finish the job would be with a mill, but you could certainly go the saw route and hand file to complete the job.

One nice thing about having your own tools is that you can cut it down incrementally and see what you like best.

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I hard Virgil Tripp shorten of my SV's and put the stirrup cuts onto the full profile slide. Had it rechromed and checked out top to bottom at the same time. I don't remember the exact cost, but the work was flawless, the turnaround time was short.

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I want to thank you guys for all the quick replies already! I have access to a mill, so doing the work won't be the problem, just mainly wanted to make sure that I was reading the IDPA rules correctly! Thanks again, the information on this site has been amazing, really helping me out trying to learn a lot of techniques on so many different aspects of practical shooting!

-Richie

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Can you cut one down that has already been chromed?

I believe that you can. I've drilled through chrome plateing before. You then have "fresh" metal on the cut end of the dustcover. Now you must care for that to prevent rust. That is the only downside. You also can have the frame stripped and rechromed after you are done.

Ray

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I hard Virgil Tripp shorten of my SV's and put the stirrup cuts onto the full profile slide. Had it rechromed and checked out top to bottom at the same time. I don't remember the exact cost, but the work was flawless, the turnaround time was short.

SAME HERE!

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