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Switching Back/forth Between Tanfoglio And Sti/svi


sinnsyk

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Question asked by CatFish...

I want to play in open, but I'm not going to spend 4K on a pistol. What you would recommend in a Tangfoglio?

The EAA Witness Elite Gold Team (long name for a gun isn't it?) MSRP for 2007 is $1,789. That'll get you the base gun with one magazine. Extra mags are $30 plus $15 for the alu-pad. You'll need a scope-mount; $139 and a C-More slide-ride ($250-300). Now, depending on how picky you are, the gun comes with a decent trigger. If you want more you should send it off to a gunsmith and have an EGW sear ($30) put in to tune the trigger pull to about 2lb which is what I run. I guess you want a big-stick too. Big minus is there's no big-stick availability at the moment. I'm getting some in soon and will test and post my findings. You could make one. Two old-style Mec-Gar mags welded and put together will give you 28 + 1. On the upside, we're waiting for mag-pads that you can add on to regular mags to produce a 170mm mag. They're US made and said to be available this spring (2007). Get the Ghost holster for Tanfoglio. Best fit of any holster I've tried ($149). Mag-pouches; I like Safariland 771 for EAA / Caspian. Okay, I haven't added it up, it sort of depends on you and what your local FFL dealer will sell you the gun for also. All in all it's a good deal and a great shooter. After all it's won 3 World Championships...

Price is a factor, but so is reliability of course. Also, any input on how hard it is to jump from an S_I platform to a Tangfoglio and back? I don't think I'd shoot exclusively limited or open, but depending on the match, etc I'd like to have the option to shoot whichever I choose.
First off I have to say that what matters more to me than anything else is my own ability to handle the gun I'm shooting. Familiarity with the gun is very important and the more time you spend on one platform is probably going to be more beneficial than switching back and forth. Then again, the great [Norwegian] Arnt Myhre can go without any practice, show up at a major match and finish in the top - anywhere in the world. So all of us whiners complaining about not having practiced enough for [fill in] match can go home and stay home. His example shows us that adaptability is a very important factor and a quality that we should exercise. Shooters who spend a lot of time optimizing their equpiment to their preferences can gain a huge advantage over others, but their strength is also a weakness. If their equipment fails to meet their distinctive taste it can throw them off. Hence why Arnt is so great. Just watch Arnt pick up a stock gun and compete neck and neck with Robbie.

The Tanfoglio and the STI/SVI is distinctively different in several areas:

1) Gun-Weight. Tanfoglio is an all-steel gun, considerably heavier and handles recoil differently.

2) Slide-weight. Tanfoglio has a very light slide compared to a 1911. Cycles faster and shot-to-shot recovery is quicker.

3) Magazines. Tanfoglio mags are slimmer and much easier to reload. Feels different in your hand.

4) Grip. Tanfoglio has a better ergonomic grip. I think you can go back-n-forth without too much trouble as long as you don't become too dependent on how they feel. I don't mind the feel of a 1911 grip at all. They sit a little different in your hand so your natural point may be higher / lower from one style to the other.

5) Holster. Definitely different. Unless you're using a Safariland holster which will accomodate both styles, you have to have two separate holster & mag pouch setups.

6) Mag-pouches. Definitely different. Tanfoglio uses the same as Caspian mag-pouches. I prefer Safariland 771 for my Tanfoglio, but they won't hold S_I style mags. You might as well have two complete holster/pouch/belt setups right away and save yourself the grief.

7) Trigger-systems. Tanfoglio has a pivoting trigger vs S_I's straight pullback trigger. For most USPSA style of shooting I don't think it matters. Lots of people, even top-level, have adapted a slap trigger style instead of a precision squeeze trigger style. I squeeze on hard shots and fast squeeze / tendency to slap on close-up. I think straight-pullback is a better system than the pivoting trigger. Ultimately you'll have better trigger-control on long shots, bianchi type of shots. But then again, I won both 35yd stages at the last Open Nationals so don't trash the Tanfoglio's trigger-system all together. What ultimately matters is how the gun performs for you in competition.

Similarities:

Ammo! Both guns se same OAL lengths; 40 S&W and 38 super. Ammo mixes well, but stay with rimless / supercomp, especially for Tanfoglio. Gives you more mag-capacity and better feeding.

Bottom Line

I wouldn't be scared to have a Tanfoglio and a SVI pistol. Yes, they are different, you'll have two holster/belt setups, two sets of magazines, two sets of spare parts. As a shooter who is constantly trying to learn, I think there are benefits of going between two different types of guns. You may improve your skills quicker by picking up subtle differences between the two. In fact, I ordered a beautiful SVI 1911 single stack last year! I can't wait to get it and see what I can learn from shooting it. Plus I think a quality made 1911 is a very cool piece to own. I say, go with both. If you over time decide that you like to stay with one style of gun only, then sell the other(s). It's better to know for yourself what you like. Then you don't care what others say.

Edited by sinnsyk
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Awesome post Henning, I have started shooting a single stack in preperation for the single stack classic, and have an STI open gun. They all point so close that there is no adjustmet here. just the trigger and remembering to keep my thumbs off that big 1911 slide are the only thing to get used to.

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One more + point.

The centerline axis of the bore sets lower in your hand, thus providing less torque (muzzle rise) compared with 1911 pattern.

The inside frame rail also lets you get a higher grip on the gun. :) Which I had to unlearn when I switch to an STI 4 years ago. I'm left-handed and ran my thumbs so high that I could actually stop the slide on an open gun. I don't consider this a minus, just something I had to adapt to because of handedness and 13 years in a P9/Tanfoglio.

Kenny

I remember Arnt being upset because my 14+1 BHP allowed me to beat his single stack on one stage in '89.

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The centerline axis of the bore sets lower in your hand, thus providing less torque (muzzle rise) compared with 1911 pattern.

The inside frame rail also lets you get a higher grip on the gun. :)

These are both very good points. Thanks for bringing them up.
I had a hard time hitting my reloads in my Tanfoglio after I got an STI and practiced mostly with the STI.
I put a button or weld an extension on my magrelease, cut a few coils off the the magrelease spring to make it super-easy to drop mags and eliminates the need to reposition my hand during reload.
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I like my Witness Elite Gold Team gun a lot. You can't beat the price of the gun. Plus 3 time world champion, enough said. Yes only draw back is the lack of 170mm mag. You can make your own, like I did. But I hope that will change soon.

Ramiro

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I had a hard time hitting my reloads in my Tanfoglio after I got an STI and practiced mostly with the STI.
I put a button or weld an extension on my magrelease, cut a few coils off the the magrelease spring to make it super-easy to drop mags and eliminates the need to reposition my hand during reload.

Henning, I definitely cannot read Erik's mind - but he might've been getting at mag insertion also seeming difficult... The grips are angled just enough differently, and the CZ-ish mags are just a bit more square at the top, so you have a slightly different angle to hit when you bring the mag up, and you can't be as sloppy as you can get away with when reloading an S_I-ish gun. A little bit of dry fire practice when switching platforms should clear that up nicely...

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  • 5 years later...

No one has posted here for a while but I think it is important to point out that SVI now has the new steel signature grips offered on their 2011 pistols. I have been shooting an SVI with that steel grip for two year and find it very similar in shape, feel, and balance to my cz75sa I shot before that, now I just got a large frame stock II for production, and the grip feel is surprisingly similar. The safety is slightly lower on the EAA but other than that, they are two all metal guns with very similar feel. I could post comparison pics if it would help anyone.

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I had tried them both and IMHO the CZ/Tan grips ergonomics are still a little bit more comfortable than the STI/SVI/2011.

The steel grip for the SVI is still a little bit thicker than the Tanfoglio. If installed the Henning grips or the Eric Grauffel's grips, the Tanfoglio will be much thinner than the SVI for sure.

But with the steel grips, the SVI is even heavier than the Tanfoglio. I'm refer to open gun only. :surprise:

No one has posted here for a while but I think it is important to point out that SVI now has the new steel signature grips offered on their 2011 pistols. I have been shooting an SVI with that steel grip for two year and find it very similar in shape, feel, and balance to my cz75sa I shot before that, now I just got a large frame stock II for production, and the grip feel is surprisingly similar. The safety is slightly lower on the EAA but other than that, they are two all metal guns with very similar feel. I could post comparison pics if it would help anyone.

Edited by glock_2010
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