Posted: 4/13/2012 8:12:15 AM EDT
| I've been looking for a Commander-sized pistol for a short while now, saving up the cash and thinking about things. STI just came out with their Spartan IV and Spartan III versions of their Armscor-made 1911s. All I really want is a basic pistol with better-than-GI sights and trigger. What's arfcom's opinion on a 4.25" Spartan? |
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STI has been doing this for a while with the full size.
they ship out all the guts from sti to armscor in the philipines. so it is sti trigger, sear etc.. but the armscor frame, slide and barrel. I have the 5 inch from when they were still fiber optic sights. and like it very much. they do final qc checks in texas on them before they get shipped out, but all the fitting and such is handled by armscor. btw it is a 4 inch not 4.25 inch gun. so bull barrel no bushing. otherwise I would have already bought one. |
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STI has been doing this for a while with the full size. they ship out all the guts from sti to armscor in the philipines. so it is sti trigger, sear etc.. but the armscor frame, slide and barrel. I have the 5 inch from when they were still fiber optic sights. and like it very much. they do final qc checks in texas on them before they get shipped out, but all the fitting and such is handled by armscor. btw it is a 4 inch not 4.25 inch gun. so bull barrel no bushing. otherwise I would have already bought one. Dawson lists it at 4.26", however, you are correct about the bull barrel. http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800012D2-1323296202 EDIT: STI also lists it as 4.26" with bull barrel. http://www.stiguns.com/the-sti-spartan-iv/ Also, I was under the impression STI did the final fitting... |
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STI has been doing this for a while with the full size. they ship out all the guts from sti to armscor in the philipines. so it is sti trigger, sear etc.. but the armscor frame, slide and barrel. I have the 5 inch from when they were still fiber optic sights. and like it very much. they do final qc checks in texas on them before they get shipped out, but all the fitting and such is handled by armscor. btw it is a 4 inch not 4.25 inch gun. so bull barrel no bushing. otherwise I would have already bought one. Dawson lists it at 4.26", however, you are correct about the bull barrel. http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800012D2-1323296202 EDIT: STI also lists it as 4.26" with bull barrel. http://www.stiguns.com/the-sti-spartan-iv/ Also, I was under the impression STI did the final fitting... I just got a 5". It looks as if STI installs and fits the trigger components. The barrel, slide and frame look like all Armscor. The way I can tell is Armscor uses brown used axle grease to lube the parts. It looks like they wiped it off some axle and coated the parts. The trigger group was clean and all STI components. I have detailed stripped and clean every groove and the brown grease still seeps out. |
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STI has been doing this for a while with the full size. they ship out all the guts from sti to armscor in the philipines. so it is sti trigger, sear etc.. but the armscor frame, slide and barrel. I have the 5 inch from when they were still fiber optic sights. and like it very much. they do final qc checks in texas on them before they get shipped out, but all the fitting and such is handled by armscor. btw it is a 4 inch not 4.25 inch gun. so bull barrel no bushing. otherwise I would have already bought one. Dawson lists it at 4.26", however, you are correct about the bull barrel. http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800012D2-1323296202 EDIT: STI also lists it as 4.26" with bull barrel. http://www.stiguns.com/the-sti-spartan-iv/ Also, I was under the impression STI did the final fitting... I just got a 5". It looks as if STI installs and fits the trigger components. The barrel, slide and frame look like all Armscor. The way I can tell is Armscor uses brown used axle grease to lube the parts. It looks like they wiped it off some axle and coated the parts. The trigger group was clean and all STI components. I have detailed stripped and clean every groove and the brown grease still seeps out. So in your opinion, is it a good buy? I haven't been able to get ahold of one locally, but a shop will order one for me for $635 –– if I pay in full up front. Not only do I have to pay in full up front, but when it comes in, if I'm not happy with it, I can't return it. They only take returns in case of defects. |
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I think it is a good buy if you don't mind about the bull barrel.
I prefer bushing 1911's myself. otherwise I would expect it to shoot fine. STI stands behind it as well 100 percent. so no worries if there are issues. They will make it right. http://www.whittakerguns.com/ you pretty much have to call them. they might have a better deal. seems like spartans went up since I bought mine. and worst case, they seem to hold their value. if you decide you hate it and have to get rid of it. I would expect you might lose 50 bucks if you had to resell it next day. |
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STI has been doing this for a while with the full size. they ship out all the guts from sti to armscor in the philipines. so it is sti trigger, sear etc.. but the armscor frame, slide and barrel. I have the 5 inch from when they were still fiber optic sights. and like it very much. they do final qc checks in texas on them before they get shipped out, but all the fitting and such is handled by armscor. btw it is a 4 inch not 4.25 inch gun. so bull barrel no bushing. otherwise I would have already bought one. Dawson lists it at 4.26", however, you are correct about the bull barrel. http://www.dawsonprecision.com/ProductDetail.jsp?LISTID=800012D2-1323296202 EDIT: STI also lists it as 4.26" with bull barrel. http://www.stiguns.com/the-sti-spartan-iv/ Also, I was under the impression STI did the final fitting... I just got a 5". It looks as if STI installs and fits the trigger components. The barrel, slide and frame look like all Armscor. The way I can tell is Armscor uses brown used axle grease to lube the parts. It looks like they wiped it off some axle and coated the parts. The trigger group was clean and all STI components. I have detailed stripped and clean every groove and the brown grease still seeps out. So in your opinion, is it a good buy? I haven't been able to get ahold of one locally, but a shop will order one for me for $635 –– if I pay in full up front. Not only do I have to pay in full up front, but when it comes in, if I'm not happy with it, I can't return it. They only take returns in case of defects. It is a fair buy. You need to look at it before you buy it. I mail ordered mine. I was not very impressed when I opened the box. The frame at the mag well looks poorly cast. The barrel chamber on top has grinding marks. The front sight is terribly made. The barrel is fit well. The trigger is great. It shoots very accurate. It is a $600 gun. |
| I know the COO at Armscor so I got ahold of him to get the low down on these. It an Armscor frame and some internals. the slide and trigger are STI's. I bought the 5 inch and the bushing is fitted by STI, but As far as fitting on the Commander size gun I have no clue. |