RPM618 Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I have a STI Spartan and am wanting to purchase a .22 conversion kit. I tried a friends Kimber conversion, but it would not slide onto my frame fully. I'm pretty sure I could tune it to fit but would rather have one fit out of the box without any major alterations. Is anyone using a .22 conversion on a Spartan? Any opinions on the new STI/Marvel conversion that is available? Thanks, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
silverstate Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I have no experience with the Spartan, but I do have a Wilson Combat .22lr conversion for a 1911. It works great with cci minimags on my CQB lower. The Wilson Combat .22lr conversion in made by Marvel. It is not cheap, and the mags are not cheap, (compared to my Advantage Arms .22lr glock conversion), but overall, it is a good upper. I even use it with my papered supperssor... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
z40acp Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 Remember, on all these conversions, ammo is the key. I don't have any opinions on the STI conversion, but the Marvel kit is very good. I have had mine on at least 3 guns and it has worked flawlessly. The only drawbacks to the Marvel are it doesn't hold open on the last shot and the mags they sell. Don't waste your money on the marvel mags, buy the Ciener's, they hold 15. If you want to use it on a double stack use the Tactical Solution mags, they are well built. I have not seen the single stack Tactical Solution mags, but if they are as nice as the double stacks are they could be an alternative. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnGaultsGun Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 It's been my experience that either you'll be in heaven or hell with the Marvel. Every Open class guy I've spoken to about their Marvel absolutely loved it. No problems. Every Limited class guy I've spoken to that got one (I was talking into a mirror for this one) has had problems. None of the open guys had the limited version, so I purchased a Marvel for my STI wide body based on the success of the open model. To make a long story short, out of the 9 brands of the most common .22 ammo I could find in my local guns stores, only 1 brand worked. CCI Stingers at $8.00 per 50 rounds! Even the recommended brand (I think it was CCI Mini-Mags) did not work. Eventually I had to send it back for "fixing". After that, only 2 brands worked. CCI Stingers and now my favorite Wally World federal value pack at $14 per 550 rounds. Also, the mags are a bit tricky to tune. I spent a long time at the range trying to figure out if it was the conversion kit or the magazine causing the failures. In my case it was both. One fix was to remove the ejector because it interfered with the marvel magazine being inserted. This was OK for me because I had an extra 2011 lower assembly I could dedicate for this. Now, all this said, the set up now runs without a problem. I can run through a couple boxes before any malfunction occurs and that's due mainly to being dirty. Hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larry White Posted August 30, 2009 Share Posted August 30, 2009 I think the STI conversion is a rebranded Marvle. I have shot several guns with marvel conversions on them and have not been impressed. I just bought a Tactical Solutions conversion, so far its run 450 rds with 5 diffrent kinds of ammo without 1 problem other than 1 mag out of 3 that wont lock back the slide. The TS is more money and the mags are expensive but its more shooting and less BS. I have a thread on the TS next to this one. Spend the money for the TS, its worth it.-------Larry Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rrflyer Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 (edited) I believe the STI kit is a rebadged Advantage Arms kit which is designed by Bob Marvel Guns but is not the original Marvel Arms upper. (In fact i'm sure it is since the STI kit says its last shot hold open and the Marvel Arms kit is not!) At any rate the box, accessories and everything else are identical to the Advantage Arms kits. I have one it runs remington golden bullets like a top! Runs minimags too of course but. I think its great and well worth the price paid. Needs to be kept lubed and cleaned though as .22 ammo just tends to be dirtier and turns the oil to slurry after a few hundred rounds. Oh i run mine on an STI Trojan with no problems. Edited August 31, 2009 by rrflyer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scoterbeast Posted August 31, 2009 Share Posted August 31, 2009 Borrowed a tac-sol from friend to try - would not slide onto my Kimber or either of my limited frames. Bought a STI/Marvel which slid right on the Kimber ( not the limited slides though). Shoots anything and everything I load in it. Bought 4 extra mags with it ( they are Advantage ) Unit and mags are drop dead reliable - would heartily recommend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Freeman Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 The current STI/Marvel offering is the original design. The one Marvel sells now is not Bobs original design and Bob Marvel has nothing to do with them. It was an ugly parting of the ways. My Marvel conversions ran very well, but you had to keep them very clean. I was using tweaked Ace and Ciener mags. I am now using a TacSol conversion and have not looked back. 100% reliable and very little difference in accuracy. And it swallows whatever ammo I put in it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chrisjohn Posted September 1, 2009 Share Posted September 1, 2009 (edited) Tactical Solutions conversion ran 100% on my Spartan until I somehow switched MS's during a detail strip. 19 lbs < and it runs flawlessly. Slide wouldn't lock back with a standard slide stop but I had one from a Marvel and with it slide locks back every time. I've owned or used extensively all the other usual suspects conversions and the TacSol setup is far and away better than any of the others. YMMV of course. Edited September 1, 2009 by chrisjohn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beauxdog Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 The Marvel and STI units were both designed by Bob Marvel. He "sold" the rights to the Marvel 22 conversion long before the STI unit hit the market. I have not had a chance to try the STI unit but the Marvel unit is very good. The only time it decided to puke was at a match, go figure. I have the Marvel and a Colt conversion and the Marvel is way better. A friend bought 2 of the Kimber units and one is great, no problems and shoots like a dream. The other one, he wouldn't use for a trotline sinker. Sometimes luck plays a big part in all of this. He bought them at the same time and accidently gave the good one to his son. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pezco Posted September 3, 2009 Share Posted September 3, 2009 I have a 1911 Marvel conversion unit that runs like a top. I is as least as acurate as my S&W Model 41. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RPM618 Posted September 9, 2009 Author Share Posted September 9, 2009 I found the problem with the Kimber 22 conversion kit. My friend brought his back over and we realized the ejector pin on the Spartan was sticking up a bit from the frame. Filed it flush and the conversion slide went right on. I bought a Kimber conversion Saturday afternoon and took it to the range yesterday(Monday). It ran great. I tried 4 different brands/loads and they all ran fine. I was expecting some hang ups during break in and was happily surprised. I just wanted to post an update and say Thanks for all of the responses. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Shooter Posted September 14, 2009 Share Posted September 14, 2009 I have a Ciener platinum that works great on my single stack. It is much more reliable than my Ruger Mark 2. Does anybody know if Marvel or Tactical Solutions mags will allow the Ciener unit will work on my STI 2011? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
STIGUY Posted September 20, 2009 Share Posted September 20, 2009 Remember, on all these conversions, ammo is the key. I don't have any opinions on the STI conversion, but the Marvel kit is very good. I have had mine on at least 3 guns and it has worked flawlessly. The only drawbacks to the Marvel are it doesn't hold open on the last shot and the mags they sell. Don't waste your money on the marvel mags, buy the Ciener's, they hold 15. If you want to use it on a double stack use the Tactical Solution mags, they are well built. I have not seen the single stack Tactical Solution mags, but if they are as nice as the double stacks are they could be an alternative. Do you or does anyone else know......if any of the double stack mags will work on a Para. I would like to get an upper for mine, but if the mags won't fit (which I don't think are the same as STI/SV), then I will need to rethink. THANKS! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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