Posted: 10/18/2010 7:48:32 AM EDT
|
I picked up a 2011 frame at a local shop. The frame came in the white and cut for a Wilson / Nowlin ramped barrel, so I had some options. I figured I'd build it up as a .45, already having SV Infinity guns in both .40 and 9mm. Intended uses were for IDPA CDP class competition and possibly for CCW.
I wanted to keep the configuration close to a factory STI gun, upgrading here and there with my personal preferences, but stopping short of filling it with top-grade, premium parts. I reasoned that if I ever sell it, I wouldn't get that money back out of it. The only .45 slide available at the time was one without sight cuts, so I was obliged to do my own Novak dovetails. The slide also needed some mill work to fit it to the frame rails, since it was about .005" oversized in a couple of dimensions. I also scalloped the front of the ejection port, which was too short to allow a loaded round to eject cleanly. The slide also got a French cut for style points, and because it looked kind of naked without rollmarks. I picked a Kart barrel, which are widely held to be second to none for accuracy. The bushing is an EGW angle-bored unit, and fitting the barrel was a straightforward process. Fortunately the barrel ramp / frame interface needed no work for correct timing. The frame was already cut for a .250 beavertail, and the Brown unit dropped right in, with only the usual lug filing and a little top blending necessary. The fit was not as close as I'd like, but it equals or exceeds most factory beavertail installs. The trigger is currently at just a hair over 4 pounds. Parts list: Heinie rear sight, Novak front Nighthawk sear STI disconnector, hammer, slide stop, grip safety, trigger, MSH, mag release Ed Brown 70 series grip safety, firing pin Wilson BP extractor C&S pin kit Caspian ejector EGW bushing and firing pin stop ISMI 16# recoil spring, 19# mainspring The finish is a glass bead blast and hot blue, using the old lye / ammonium nitrate formula. Fresh out of the box: 
Most of the parts fitting complete: 
I took it to the range yesterday to do final sight adjustment and to get an idea of what kind of groups it would shoot. Formal accuracy testing from a rest isn't something my range is set up for, so I shot offhand at about 15 yards. Using my 200 gr SWC bullets over 4.1 grains of Titegroup, all shots were touching on a 3x5 index card. I'm looking into getting a Ransom rest so I can remove my execrable long-range pistol skills from the equation. |
|
Quoted:
That is beautiful, do want. Mind if I ask how much it cost you? Around $1200 just in parts, shipping, etc. Tool cost and labor, of course, not included. That's about $250 less than I saw the last used STI .45 doublestack go for around here, set up in a similar fashion; so I should be able to get my money out of it, at least. It weighs 37.5 ounces with an unloaded mag. IDPA weight limit for CDP class is 42 oz. |
|
Final update for accuracy results:
Using a Ransom rest, I consistently got 10-shot groups of 1.7" groups at 25 yards, including the first round flyer. Excluding the hand-chambered flyer, the groups were 1.3". This was using a 200 grain lead semi-wadcutter bullet over about 4.1 grains of Titegroup. The load was not developed with accuracy in mind at all, just to make power factor and feed in my guns. With the right load, meaning one worked up with a variety of bullets, powders, charge weights, etc., I'm fairly confident I could get it down to 1" at 25 yards. 
The gun has had about 300 rounds through it at this point, and function has been flawless. I have accumulated 4 mags for it and so far, none have needed tuning... though they were all very tight when trying to put 12 rounds in a new mag. |