Looking at buying my first pistol, have questions.

[Xride]

Hi all.
I'm looking at picking up a pistol here, been looking at a new STI STInger or TruBor.

First I dont really know the difference between these two guns though.

I will be using this for IPSC competitions. and jsut general target.

My main question is what kind of maintience and costs would I have while owning this pistol?
and is there a different one I should be looking at as well?



Thanks in advance.

[Adam Helmer]

Xride,

Is this your first time shooting a handgun? If you have prior handgunning experience, then competition makes sense. If you have no prior handgun experience, I suggest you get a good double action .22 caliber revolver, a good coach and go shoot a lot.

Adam

[Xride]

Originally posted by Adam Helmer
Xride,

Is this your first time shooting a handgun? If you have prior handgunning experience, then competition makes sense. If you have no prior handgun experience, I suggest you get a good double action .22 caliber revolver, a good coach and go shoot a lot.

Adam

I have put about 4k rounds through range guns, have my restricted, and black badge, and have competed in a IPSC competitin with a range pistol and loned items from other shooters. (scored 14th out of 33 in the class I was shooting in)

I do not like revolvers, I jsut plain do no like shooting them. and .22 doesnt work for IPSC.

I can afford the 3k perchase of either of these pistols, and can afford the rounds to put through it aswell. I was thinking of a lesser gun, but why buy a k car when you can afford a bmw?

[TreeDoc]

I would assume that because of the bucks you intend to spend you're looking for an open class gun? My first thought would be to shoot production class, it's a heck of a lot less expensive for equipment but if you want a race gun then STI makes a good one. I know a lot of the hot shots use at least STI frames and build from there and I can also say I have seen a fair share of STI's "discombobulated" right in the middle of a stage too!

At that level, most guns are built based on personal preferences after having shot the events over a timely period. I think the obvious place to go would be within your Chapter and see what
the other guys are doing that works rather than reinventing the wheel at your expense.

[Xride]

Originally posted by TreeDoc
I would assume that because of the bucks you intend to spend you're looking for an open class gun? My first thought would be to shoot production class, it's a heck of a lot less expensive for equipment but if you want a race gun then STI makes a good one. I know a lot of the hot shots use at least STI frames and build from there and I can also say I have seen a fair share of STI's "discombobulated" right in the middle of a stage too!

At that level, most guns are built based on personal preferences after having shot the events over a timely period. I think the obvious place to go would be within your Chapter and see what
the other guys are doing that works rather than reinventing the wheel at your expense.

I am looking for something that I will enjoy shooting, and will be able to follow my progression.

Locally in the facotry Para is by far the most used, followed by the springfield XD tactical (or something like that). But in the unlimted there are so many different guns. I would say half are (or at least started as) STI. Some are worth more then my jeep, others are just at the point that they have modified themself out of the factory class.
Basically the STI is the only off the shelf racegun that I see here, but there are the race guns biult from different parts. I dont know if there is another off the shelf race gun like the STI?

I wont lie, I have no doubt in my mind that alot of the factory guys will outshoot me despite my "better" pistol.

Every friday their is a IPSC fun shoot, where their is true scoring, but its more just having fun taking the funnest obsticles that people remember from the official competitions.
Wensday is bowling night, where whoever gets the 5 pins off a table the fastest wins.


I dont get what you mean when you say you have seen STI's "discombobulated" right in the mitle of a stage. I guess I dont understand how that term would be aplied to a pistol in a match.


As far as reliability, I hardly see the STI's jam, or any of the factory guns jam, it always seems to be the guys with modified guns. Dont know if its just that those are the ones I see or what though.


But to my original question, are their costs (outside of purchase cost) to keeping a gun like the STI racegun working? that a factory pistol wouldnt have I mean. I dont know if parts have to be replaced every so often (I would imagine so) and I dont know if those parts are much more expensive or anything like that.

[Lycanthrope]

A properly setup up 2011 gun should not need any particular maintainence costs. You can throat a barrel in an Open gun in about 100,000 rounds, though. A new match barrel will then cost about $350-$400 to fit. If you run a shok buff or STI recoil master guide rod you really don't have to change springs until the gun will no longer feed. That's somewhere over 10,000 in my Limited gun.

Most people go to Open in order to use optics and compensators. The shorter guns (stinger) are faster to transition to target to target, but have a more violent muzzle blast. They need more powder to make Major power factor and to run the compensator than the 5" weapons.

Open class can be pricey to feed as the rounds often take 8-10gr of powder and the brass is expensive when compared to .40 and Limited.

Your only options are not just STI guns.

You have SVI, Brazo Custom, Dawson Precision and Triangle Shooting to all turn out killer custom/semi custom guns.

www.brianenos.com

[Xride]

Thanks :)

I ended up buying an STI Edge with the hard chrome on the weekend.

I have put 160 rounds through it and so far so good :)

I really like the feel of it, and it seems that when searching this pistol has alot of support in terms of upgrading.

I got it in .40 with the fiberoptic sights and the aluminium magwell opening.

I'll get pics soon :)

[Lycanthrope]

Jus know that the Edge likes long ammo. Mine will eat factory length all day long, but factory ammo doesn't fill up the mags very well and the rounds can get jumbled if you drop a mag.

You can safely load .40 out to 1.20 OAL on that gun. 1.18 runs well in mine and I can live eject easily.

Try different colors in fiber and do Matt Burkett's timing drills to get the feel of it.

The Edge is a great gun when you consider it is actually lighter than a standard government model 1911.

[Xride]

Originally posted by Lycanthrope

You can safely load .40 out to 1.20 OAL on that gun. 1.18 runs well in mine and I can live eject easily.

Try different colors in fiber and do Matt Burkett's timing drills to get the feel of it.

The Edge is a great gun when you consider it is actually lighter than a standard government model 1911.

This whole part doesnt make much sence at all to me :(

the first part I think you are meaning that the rounds overall length can be a bit longer then normal, but dont know why this would be good.

but the rest Iam not to sure on.

I really like the gun, jsut holding it feels much better then the others I was looking at.
I have been shooting factory remington ammo and it seems to be pretty good, only had a couple jams, but everyone is saying that this gun needs 500 shots just to break it in.

[Lycanthrope]

A couple jams isn't "pretty good" for an Edge. It should run 100% after break in (500-1000) rounds. The STI guns are fitted tight.

The magazines used in the 2011 (STI widebody) guns are long enough to accomodate, .45 ACP, 10mm, .38 Super and a bunch of other rounds that are longer than a factory .40 SW. When you load factory .40 in the magazine you will see the rounds will have some room to move forward in the magazine. If you drop a magazine or even just strongly rap a partially loaded against an object the rounds can get misaligned in the mag and either pop out or cause reliability issues.

Under normal use, this won't cause a problem, but say I do a table start with gun and magazine laying on a table. At the buzzer I grab the gun and drop the mag. I pick up the mag and find the rounds are all out of alignment and won't feed in the gun. The fix is to load the rounds out longer to fill up the mag so they can't shift as much. An added benefit is that they feed better as well.

Fiber optic sight inserts come in different colors with red and green being brightest. You can also get orange and yellow.

great fiber replacement prices - CLICK HERE! (http://www.fiberopticproducts.com/Flourescent.htm)

Do a search on Matt Burkett and "timing drills". Matt explains how to get input on how to shoot fast pairs on IPSC targets.

For IPSC, there is a WORLD of information over at www.brianenos.com

Read the forum there.

There are lots of things you can do to an Edge to make it custom to you....even your own grip modifications......

http://members.bellatlantic.net/~jefwolfe/grip.JPG

[Esox357]

Buy a firearm that suits you. Take time to go to a good gunstore and get sound information or take a friend with you that knows what he is talking about. For a first handgun, a 22 for the basics than move up to a 9mm.
I don't know what caliber you are looking at getting but would urge a new person to shoot a 9mm for starting. After that then you can move up to a bigger caliber if you felt the need. For plinking and competition I think the 9mm would save some of your money unless you are going to reload. Also it has less recoil than a 40 or 45 which should help reduce your chances of getting a flinch.
Maintenance wise you will spend probably 20-30 dollars up front for bore solvent and lubricant with some patches and that should be all you need for cleaning your firearm. It is recommended that you have a gunsmith completely clean your firearm but I have never had the need to especially using glocks, I can completely strip it myself, but this will depend on the firearm you buy. Esox357