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Last Updated: Aug 28, 2009 - 10:45:21 AM |
Can I say this without sounding stupid? Hmmmm...how about, I have seen the future of the single action revolver, and it still goes "Click...click...click...click!"
Say, that's just like the single action revolver's past!
The STI Grandmaster, in fetching red...
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Except better. I just got back from a day of filming at STI International in Texas, makers of the highest-tech versions of the old 1911 warhorse on the planet. STI is the primary supplier of "modular-framed" 1911-based technology, the stuff you see in the gun rags referred to as "raceguns." Basically, modular-framed guns separate the steel frame from from the polymer grip, as opposed to a traditional 1911 frame where the grip is forged as part of the frame.
There are a bunch of advantages to separating the grip from the frame. Biggest is that you can do a high (ie, "standard") capacity gun with virtually the same width as a singe stack 1911 with regular fat grip panels. The fiberglass-filled polymer grips also soak up a lot of recoil, another reason the guns are so popular with the competition crowd and a growing number of law enforcement and militay types. Plus, they come in flashy colors...darned important for a flashy guy like moi!
The EDGE, STI's bread-and-butter gun
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Seriously, I shot an STI Edge in .40 S&W in USPSA Limited division a few years back, and it may be one of the best out-of-the-box guns I've ever owned. I took it out of the box, stoked up the 17-round mags and started shooting...no drama (except for my less than stellar shooting abilties!); no worries.
This trip, there were two things I really wanted to get my hands on, the prototypes of the Texican, a classic Single Action Army-style revolver aimed smack at the high-end cowboy crowd, and the long-rumored Spartan, STI's "low-end" 1911, aimed smack at the huge bottom of the 1911 market.
First the Texican...magnificent!
The New Texican single action revolver.
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The first thing I do when I get a single action revolver in my hand is to pull the hammer back...I love the "click...click...click...click" of the old First Gen Colts. The Texican sounds like the ticking over of the Great Machine That Runs the World. The gun itself is beautiful...Doug Turnbull's color case-hardening on the frame and a bright blue finish n the rest of the gun. Originally, STI's Dave Skinner said the gun was slated for their high end Physical Vapor Deposition (PVD) they use on their top-end single stack, the Legacy, but there wasn't enough PVD capacity int he U.S. to pull that off with any sane lead times.
We had a 5 1/2-inch version in ,45 Colt — that'll be the first one's off the assembly line, with additional barrel lengths and calibers following. Next up will the a .357/.38 version for the racers, followed by a .44/40 for the purists. I asked whether, if I held my breath until I turned blue, we could have a limited run of .44 Specials for all the boys on the Sixgunner.com list, and Skinner said, "Absolutely." I didn't even have to hold my breath! I'll keep pestering him about that, too.
Interesting thing about this gun is the process by which it's created. All the parts are made either using ultra-high speed machining or by electrical discharge macining (EDM). According to Skinner, the ultra-high speed maching yields perfect parts the first time out, better even than normal CNC stuff. STI claims this is the first firearm of any sort to be manufactured this way.
Lefty Longridge wringing out the Texican
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EDM has been around for awhile and is the state-of-the-art for small parts. We did a lot of filming around the EDM machines, sort of like deep fat turkey friers that produce hammers, sears, etc. The metal electrons are "dissolved" away, as opposed to cut...resulting in a near-perfect surface. Don't ask me any more than that...for all I know, gnomes do it!
The result is a gun that feels very...precise. Trigger on the proto broke cleanly at around 3 pounds. Hammer pull was slightly heavy, but, as I said, rock solid. Since we were under a hellish filming deadline, I turned the shooting chores over to Joe "Lefty Longridge" Alesia, who'd been working with us on COWBOYS the day before. Joe's a SASS and Western 3-Gun World Champion, one of the founders of Western 3-Gun competition and a police firearms instructor, so I figured the Texican was in good hands.
Joe was sold on the first shot...the heavy hammer slowed down his speed somewhat — and since he's one of those wussy competitors, the recoil of a .45 Colt versus his .38 "race" loads didn't help his speed — but after a couple of cylinders-full, he was flying. His comment was that the gun shot and handled beautifully.
What $1200 buys you in Cowboy-Wear.
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Okay, it's expensive...in the $1200 range. But that is on par with both Colt S.A.A.s and U.S. Firearms products, both of which are selling at a pretty rapid clip (in fact, my cherubs and seraphim tell me high-end cowboy guns are flying off the shelves while lower end imports are gathering dust).
Do you "need" a Texican to shoot cowboy? Nope, but you didn't need that $1500 pair of Rocker Buster boots, either, and forget the custom cowboy hat!Need is, after all, over-rated!
Here's a key point on the Texican...Dave Skinner understands competition. That's what STI does. The Texican is designed to be shot, and shot a lot. One of the biggest problems with guns used in western action competition is that the number of rounds put through them pounds the guns to pieces. That's not going to happen with the Texican.
Skinner's talking delivery in mid-November.
And speaking of expensive (how's that for a transition?), the Spartan 1911 .45 isn't. In fact, expect to see it on the dealer shelves for the magic number of $599.
That's not for a stripped military 1911A1 clone, either. The Spartan proto featured an LPA adjustable rear site (essentially a Bo-mar clone) and a fiber-optic front. Trigger was standard STI, which I consider to be the single best 1911 trigger out there, and STI-standard internals. The frame and the slide are manufacturerd "off-shore" (like in the Philippines, but you didn't hear it from me!), where the final assembly also takes place.
The proto had a strong-side safety, an unramped bushing barrel and was blued, although the final version will be parkerized I believe. Lock-up and trigger pull was excellent.
I've had an STI Trojan single stack .40 S&W for years, and the Spartan felt and handled a lot like that gun. I didn't get to shoot the Spartan (or photogaph it, but, hey, it looks like a 1911!), but I suspect there won't be any problems.
That makes the bottom end of the 1911 market VERY interesting! Taurus' introduction of their excellent 1911, the PT-1911, with similar bells and whistles at the $599 price, rocked the market, where a grand for a 1911 was considered the ante. With STI entering the market at the same price point, the 1911 consumer — and there's a lot of you out there — is the big winner. In 1980 it cost me more than $1,000, not counting the cost of the gun, to get a Colt to the point where the Spartan (or the PT-1911) STARTS.
I'll get one as soon as they become available and put some rounds downrange! Delivery is...soon...import issues being what they are.
The itsy-bitsy LS-9.
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Finally, I want to thank Dave Skinner for NOT discontinuing the little LS-9. These little 1911-style pistols have never found the market they deserve. When the LS-9 (in 9mm, with the companion LS-40 in .40 S&W) was developed, Skinner asked around about what people wanted in a concealed carry gun. I (among others) said, "Thin, thin, thin!" A short grip helps, too.
The result was the LS, the thinnest, smallest 1911-style pistol out there. I had my LS-9 rebuilt by Dane Burns at Burns Custom Pistols, and it has been a wonderful carry gun. For a while, I shot IDPA matches with it. Skinner tells me that the original LSes were built from Detonics molds, but they eventually changed the little gun to more closely mimic the 1911 angle.
Even though the LS hasn't been a big seller for STI, Skinner has elected to keep it in the line-up. Eventually, he says, it's going to find its market. I agree with him.
http://www.stiguns.com
© Copyright 2006 by DOWN RANGE TV
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