STI Spartan 1911 impressions and range report
Posted: Tue Nov 11, 2008 5:06 pm
Yesterday, I picked up a barely used STI Spartan in 45acp from a friend and fellow CHL forum member. I have seen them, but not handled one before this one. The first thing I noticed is that the fit of the slide to frame, barrel to slide and barrel bushing is very tight. Noticeably tighter than any mass produced 1911 that I have handled and miles ahead of any in this price range.
The trigger did seem to have just a little creep in it at first. When I got it home, I took it straight to the bench and completely disassembled it. Internally, it looks good. A little rough in some places but nicely polished where it matters. No tool marks on any contacting surfaces that I could see. After a thorough internal inspection, I commenced to tailoring it to the way I like it (I am a chronic tinkerer and cannot leave anything along). A Fusion 25 LPI checkered mainspring housing and magwell was added, along with a 19lb ISMI mainspring, 14lb Wolff variable recoil spring, a righteous tweaking of the sear spring, adjustment of trigger over travel screw, replace orange fiber optic rod with bright red, Smith and Alexander magwell cut rosewood grips and polished hex head screws. Lastly a generous helping of skateboard tape on the front strap. Whew! I also cleaned up the sear and hammer to eliminate the tiny bit of creep mentioned before. It now has a nice crisp break at 4lbs.
This morning, I took it to the range and put some lead downrange. The camera phone pic below is from the first 8 rounds fired @ 10 yards offhand. Ammo was PMC factory 230gr FMJ. The sights were dead on at 10 yards as adjusted by the previous owner. Not a single click up/down, left/right was required. I fired 20rds of the factory PMC, 50 rounds of my 200gr Lead Semi Wadcutter handloads, 20rds of 230gr Berry's plated rd nose handloads and 20 rds of Bear Creek 200gr Moly coated semi wadcutters. Not a single hiccup.
For a competition ready out of the box blaster, you cannot beat the STI Spartan.
The trigger did seem to have just a little creep in it at first. When I got it home, I took it straight to the bench and completely disassembled it. Internally, it looks good. A little rough in some places but nicely polished where it matters. No tool marks on any contacting surfaces that I could see. After a thorough internal inspection, I commenced to tailoring it to the way I like it (I am a chronic tinkerer and cannot leave anything along). A Fusion 25 LPI checkered mainspring housing and magwell was added, along with a 19lb ISMI mainspring, 14lb Wolff variable recoil spring, a righteous tweaking of the sear spring, adjustment of trigger over travel screw, replace orange fiber optic rod with bright red, Smith and Alexander magwell cut rosewood grips and polished hex head screws. Lastly a generous helping of skateboard tape on the front strap. Whew! I also cleaned up the sear and hammer to eliminate the tiny bit of creep mentioned before. It now has a nice crisp break at 4lbs.
This morning, I took it to the range and put some lead downrange. The camera phone pic below is from the first 8 rounds fired @ 10 yards offhand. Ammo was PMC factory 230gr FMJ. The sights were dead on at 10 yards as adjusted by the previous owner. Not a single click up/down, left/right was required. I fired 20rds of the factory PMC, 50 rounds of my 200gr Lead Semi Wadcutter handloads, 20rds of 230gr Berry's plated rd nose handloads and 20 rds of Bear Creek 200gr Moly coated semi wadcutters. Not a single hiccup.
For a competition ready out of the box blaster, you cannot beat the STI Spartan.
