STI International - The Complete Book of the 1911, Tactical STI 1911s

The Texas gunmaker's sense of style brings out a hard duo for serious lawmen and competitors.

ost shooters who think of STI think of hi-zoot IPSC guns, heavily modified blasters
meant to win in competition. In the defensive and tactical world, hard chrome, .38 Supers and compensators are not the hot ticket to have. There, matte black and, lately, light rails are de rigueur. Well, never let it be said that Dave Skinner, the head honcho of STI, ever let grass grow under his feet.

For those of you who haven’t been paying attention, Dave and STI have been making tactical and defensive pistols for some time now. He was kind enough to send me a couple of sample guns, with enough options between them to satisfy just about any discerning 1911 consumer.

First up is the single stack. The "Duty One" is an all-steel single stack in .45 with a light-rail dustcover. At 39 ounces, it is not the heaviest Government-size 1911 I’ve weighed. The light rail adds a bit of weight but not enough to make it heavy, and the weight is added out front and under the slide, where it can do the most good in dampening felt recoil. From the top, the slide has a Heinie slant rear sight and a dovetail front in the Novak pattern. As a nice touch, the front sight is locked in place with a small set screw. I’m sure if you feel the need you can have the sights in whatever night-sight configuration you find most useful.

The mainspring housing, flat, checkered and nicely done.

Light in place, the Duty One is ready to go into the night.

The London Bridge Trading Company makes holsters to hold a light-equiped sidearm.

The Duty One shoots all the loads tested into very nice groups. Here, Black Hills 230-grain JRN produced a group just over two inches center to center.

The slide is flat topped and has cocking serrations front and rear. The ejection port is lowered and flared in the standard and distinctive STI style. The barrel is a coned bull barrel, with the STI Recoilmaster dual-recoil-spring system installed to cycle the slide.

The barrel is ramped to provide complete case support, so you can use even .45 ACP +P loads without needing to worry about blowing a case. (In a more likely situation, the ramped barrel provides extra support to the cases used in reloaded practice ammo. You’re more likely to run into a blown case with "budget" or "brother-in-law" reloads than any factory ammo.)

The Duty One uses a coned bull barrel and lacks a bushing.

The extractor is a standard design, just like John Moses Browning made them in 1911. In 30-plus years of 1911 shooting, I think I’ve broken one extractor, maybe. I can’t remember if it was broken or just chipped and if I found it while doing routine maintenance or even if it caused a problem. In any case, I don’t get all fluttery over the prospect of standard extractors causing me problems.

The frame is where the real action is on the Duty One. The dustcover is lengthened and machined to be a light mount. Or laser mount or, if you have Dave Skinner’s weird sense of humor, a bayonet mount. Yes, he made a bayonet to fit the mount, just to be sure of getting people’s attention at trade shows and the like. No, he doesn’t make them, but I’m sure if enough people ask he’ll figure out a price. The longer dustcover adds a bit of weight but probably only a couple of ounces. (It is difficult to get a hard-and-fast weight difference as minor differences in other dimensions can affect gross frame weight.) The dustcover is also beefed up. To make sure the cover doesn’t crack with the weight of a light, the frame is made slightly wider, the radius of the frame at the dustcover is squared, and the bottom of the dustcover is a bit lower than standard.

The checkering is very nice but not done by hand, as evident by the top groove (used to clean up the last row of checkering).

The Heinie slant rear sight. Note the glare busting serrations on the eye-ball end and a Alan set screw--just in case.

To fit standard parts to the slightly thicker frame, STI has recessed the locations for the slide-stop lever and safeties. The trigger guard is squared, but that is more cosmetic than anything else, to match the squared trigger guard of the polymer-framed STI models. You could have a gunsmith checker the front of the trigger guard if you wanted, but it has been a long time since that was a hot IPSC "must-have" item.

One detail that you won’t see on those older guns with checkered triggerg uards is a raised radius behind the trigger guard. Being able to get your second finger a bit higher on the frame is one of those minor details of a competition gun that can pay big dividends. To see it on a production gun is a good thing. STI has done a good job of blending the various curves. That and the excellent checkering provide a secure, nonslip grip. The front is done in 40 lpi while the flat mainspring housing is done in 30-lpi checkering. Sharp, clean and with no flats or overruns, the checkering is first-class.

The safeties are an ambi for the thumb safety with a reduced paddle on the right side. I have a particular problem with ambi safeties in that my grip is very high on the gun, and most ambi safeties bind against the first knuckle of my right hand. The STI is reduced enough to clear, but just barely. People with normal-size hands won’t have a problem.

The grip safety is a high-ride that looks very Ed Brown-ish, with thumb-knuckle clearance scallops. The bottom of it has a speed bump to ensure you get the safety off when you need it. The Duty One shipped was blued carbon steel. You can have it with adjustable sights or night sights, you can have an oversize magazine release, and that’s about it. What you’ll get for your $1,800 is a single stack as solid as an anvil, and you’ll have to add the "must have" goodies that make your heart sing. (I can’t think of any right now.)

Shipped with the gun was a single magazine from Metalform, the obligatory instruction book and a disassembly tool to take the recoil spring out, all in a lockable plastic box. Not included was the now- ubiquitous fired case. I don’t know if Dave doesn’t ship to places requiring cases or since it was going to a gun writer he simply didn’t bother.

The Duty One is meant to be a solid sidearm that can take a light, whether for home defence or street duty.