TheQuietMan Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Gentlemen, I have a new STI Competitor. I have recently put the first 500 rounds through it at PF 175 or above to break it in. Unfortunately, the last 100 were during a USPSA Match and I had three failures to eject. The first 400 were just a couple shots at a time. Didn't hit warp speed. The following Saturday, we went back to the range to obseve what the brass was doing. About every third shot, the brass would hit the C-More mount and shoot straight out or straight down. The upper left hand corner of the slide near the ejection port is speckled with brass dings. I contacted STI and they said that the brass hitting the mount is normal. What say you? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Brass hitting a scope mount is definitely not normal. - it'll cause jams - it'll affect subsequent sight pictures - it'll probably after a bit, affect the life and zero of your C-more - it's frankly annoying If STI isn't willing to fix it I'd go to a reputable gunsmith and have them do it. It's a really simple fix. It's a matter of correcting the angle(s) on the ejector. I don't know where you live, but George Smith - EGW (PA), Rusty Kidd (GA), Triangle Shooting Sports - Benny Hill (TX), Dave Dawson - Dawson Precision (TX) Don Golembieski - Kodiak Precision (AZ) or Johnny Lim - Limcat Custom (NV) are safe bets. I'd call STI again though and see if they'll step up and do the right thing. If you have to go to a gunsmith to get it worked out, it won't be bad. Maybe $100. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuietMan Posted October 14, 2003 Author Share Posted October 14, 2003 I just had a broken ejector replaced in my year old Edge. The paperwork cited a ".38/.40" ejector replaced. The ejector in my Edge looks exactly the same as the ejector in the Competitor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bone Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Being a die hard STI user/advocate, I'm embarrassed and surprised that STI would sell you such a beast or tell you that brass hitting the scope mount is normal. Then again... if that's their true belief then maybe you don't want them working on your gun cause they obviously don't know what they're talking about. It is NOT normal for the brass to hit the mount and can be easily corrected. Most people use a longer ejector and then they contour the angle of the face to alter the trajectory. It's pure B.S. that you should have to send your brand new gun to a gunsmith. If STI is going to sell an assembled OPEN gun then this gun should run right out of the box. If not, then why buy from them at all? Every big name gunsmith will build/tune you an STI and guarantee their work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted October 14, 2003 Share Posted October 14, 2003 Find a good smith that understands practical guns. You will need him to make your factory gun work, might cost a couple hundred bucks. Or you could just have him build your gun to start with. Your choice,same money. Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bone Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 No, no, no... that might be a true statement, but it isn't right. For the cost of the STI "factory" gun you should be able to assume you're paying for a reliable/functional gun. If that's not the case then they need to pull it off the website and just stick to selling parts. A "Competitor" lists on the STI website for $2600+. By the time you get what you want you're 3K into it. We all know that the parts used to assemble that gun doesn't come to that much money. So you have to assume that the additional cost is labor of assembling and tuning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Call back, speak with Chris. Chances are you got a half-timer. I agree... smells like, looks like, and tastes like crap... it's probably crap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 FWIW, I got my Competitor from Dawson Precsion and it was the best decision I ever made. It came ready to go - no break in, no FTF or FTE problems. Dave went through it, tuned it for rimmless brass and sent it ready to go. According to DP, I would not have been happy with it the way the factory shipped it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
addecus Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 i'm looking at a 1 year old competitor from sti.(belongs to wifey) it has no dings on the mount. it runs just fine always. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dan Bone Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 For "300lbgorrilla"": What's a "half-timer"? For "warpspeed": Could you take a look at your ejector. Is it long or short? If short, can you see if Dave has changed the angle any? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuietMan Posted October 15, 2003 Author Share Posted October 15, 2003 The only peson that I have ever spoke to/e-mailed to was Chris. Here is Chris' response: Is the brass getting stuck in the gun, causing a stoppage? Hitting the scope mount, and back of the slide is normal. How close are the angles on the ejector? I know we can get this fixed, just need to have a few questions answered. I have answered these questions to Chris and I am waiting a response from Oct 7. STI has been experiencing server problems. I will contact them again soon. I do not want to appear "pushy". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Brass hitting your mount and going back into the pistol ain't normal. Hoever, brass hitting a scope mount (depending on the maker) and making the trip to the ground without causing any problems might be normal. I have seen guns from three of the major makers mentioned by uscbigdawg with scope mounts that were pretty well chewed up...including my own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uscbigdawg Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Well, Rusty Kidd (my gunsmith) is considered by many to be one of the best. So that's probably why my C-more has never been touched by brass. However, I've seen guns from all of these guys and outside of one or two isolated cases, the guns fired/functioned flawlessly without scope contact. Fired brass hitting your scope/mount should never be acceptable. Rich Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ron Ankeny Posted October 15, 2003 Share Posted October 15, 2003 Rich: I meant 3 different pistols from two of the smiths you mentioned. All three pistols have exceptionally low mounts (custom made/prototype) and after thousands of rounds the wear shows. I talked to my smith and he considers the problem normal with that mount (he made the mounting system). Frankly, I am not going to worry about it because I haven't had any problems and I like the super low position of the scope. I guess my point is that a ding on an innovative mounting system isn't enough reason for me to get my shorts in a knot. OTOH, if the brass is hitting the mount and causing problems it isn't acceptable, period. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
warpspeed Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Dan, Check your email, I sent a picture of it. P.S. 300# means a part time employee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
diehli Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 A half-timer is a person, either full-time or part-time who is either on their way out (already given notice, etc.) or on their way out and don't know it (doing half-assed work, etc.). I've run into these types all over the place in pretty much every industry... hell, I've been one. Anyhoo, I thought it was one of those "Friday, 10 minutes to closing time" situations: "Nah, it's normal. Have a nice weekend, alright?" "Uh, but it's not working right." "Look at it some more, it'll fix itself." It's unfortunate it was Chris that you spoke with... I've heard a LOT of good things about him and the way he handles things. I think most--if not all--people that work in this industry would agree that spent cases hitting anything that they aren't supposed to (ejector and ground) is a bad thing. Think of it this way, if bullets are hitting the comp, but you're still getting 1-inch groups, there's still something wrong and the manufacturer would do something about it. Compound that situation with bullets flying all over the place, and they'll want it back. The same should be true for your gun: brass hitting sight mount (nearly universally understood to be not good on a C-More without custom mount) AND gun not functioning because of it. I'd give Chris another chance. Give him a call on the phone and explain to him the situation. Be firm, but not pushy. I'm sure he understands that you spent close to $3000 on something that doesn't work, but make sure that he understands that you understand this. You're not just annoyed it doesn't work, you're downright upset about it. To quote a much-used phrase: "it's a $3000 paperweight." Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ErikW Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 My Open gun runs like a clock (patterns brass in a neat pile) and my Dawson C-More mount is battered on its right rear corner. Doing technical support by e-mail sucks. Get on the phone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singlestack Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 My Open gun runs like a clock (patterns brass in a neat pile) and my Dawson C-More mount is battered on its right rear corner. Ditto. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck Anderson Posted October 16, 2003 Share Posted October 16, 2003 Bob Londigran wrote an article in Front Sight a month or two ago on tuning your ejector. It's very simple to do yourself with a file. I can't imagine any smith charging a couple 100 or even a hundred bucks to tune an ejector. I showed my open gun to Bob at the Open Nationals and he took care of the ejector in about 2 minutes, no charge. My first suggestion would be to try and find the Front Sight article and try to tune it yourself. It is easiest to do at the range where you can make the instant adjustments. If not go to a major match and beg one of the smiths there to fix it for you. Thats what I do, I can cry on cue, it's very helpful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GRW Posted October 17, 2003 Share Posted October 17, 2003 Another area to look at is the extractor tension. After installing a side mount C-More, I was experiencing the same problem. I finally installed an AFTEC extractor which fixed the issue. (I am sure a qualified smith could have fixed the problem with the factory extractor.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheQuietMan Posted October 19, 2003 Author Share Posted October 19, 2003 Gentlemen, Thanks for all the help. The pistol has been 'smithed and is running. I am disappointed that a $2400 pistol doesn't run out-of-the-box as advertised on the STI website. So far, only my German engineered pistols (Hk P7's and all the Sig-Sauer line) have been flawless out-of-the-box and are at least half price. TQM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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