Going from plastic 9mm to 2011 40 LTD in USPSA?

Know nothing about the Para... However, when I was looking to ditch my G35 in LTD, I went with the CZ TS instead of a 2011. shot several 2011's but preferred the trigger and handling of the TS. price was about the same after setting it up.

Lots of both CZ and STI at our club, both seem really nice. Now some are upgrading to these:
Atlasgunworks.com , local guys who are also in our club.
I still shoot a plastic G35.

The 2011 platform is tops for a reason. For me it's clearly superior to the Para design. Compared to the CZ's it's a matter of personal opinion though most opinions lean towards the STI.

Personally, I'm always of the opinion that for competition gear, don't make compromises to try and use gear across multiple sports or anything. With that in mind, the STI Eagle is out - it's more at home in IDPA's ESP. You pretty much want a long dust cover bull barreled model. The STI Edge is the most common and more or less "base" model example of this, but there are others and the custom built option.

I personally shoot an STI DVC Limited which is basically a stock STI with many of the custom gun upgrades many people often make (hard chromed, stippled grip, lightened slide and frame, and slightly better trigger). It's a good option too but costs a little more. If I had to buy a gun right now though then I'd probably be looking at a chromed Akai Custom Ninja for around $3k ( http://www.acguns.com/product/ninja-2/ ), or if that wasn't in the budget I'd probably drop back to an Edge or maybe an Apeiro if I could find a good deal on one.

Good luck though - you should enjoy the new gun. I shot an M&P 9L in production for about 4 years before I got my DVC and I honestly couldn't imagine going back to shooting the M&P. It's really a step up.

If I could get a gun build by a local guy (and it worked) for less than an Edge I would do that. Do you know anyone else running his guns successfully?

I can't speak specifically to different 2011's, but I can tell you that if you want to be as competitive as possible in Limited:

-You MUST shoot major (.40)
-Chances are you want a pretty heavy gun to knock down that recoil as much as possible. Full length dust cover, bull barrel, 5"+.

One more comment; if you are "just out there to have fun" (nothing wrong with that) I wouldn't worry about this so much, but if you want to compete as hard as possible, chances are you don't want to be switching platforms all the time. Especially between two guns with entirely different ergonomics and trigger feel.

There are very few people who shoot at the highest level and frequently switch guns. There are a couple exceptions, but they are in the minority for sure. If you really want to reach your potential in Limited, I would focus on getting a Limited-optimized gun first and then I would get something roughly equivalent in 9mm for 3gun, IDPA, or whatever else you might be doing too.

A CZ-based gun is not a "2011-type" gun. If what you want is a 2011-type gun, then you can knock the CZ off the list (as well as the Tanfoglio Limited, which is what I use to shoot USPSA limited).

The good thing about the 2011-form gun is that there is a lot of aftermarket support, and nothing beats a well-tuned 1911/2011-type trigger. OTOH, 2011 guns and their magazines seem to require a lot of "tuning" to keep running reliably. JMHO, but internal extractors are dumb as hell on a race gun. But the huge majority of the top Limited class guys are using 2011's, so that's clearly a safe/sound choice.

Personally I like my EAA/Tanfoglio Witness Match pistols in .40, Henning has a lot of competition parts available.



http://henningshop.com/t/tanfoglio-/-eaa-witness

gotigers said:

What about a SPS 2011?

Click to expand...

I've heard decent things about them. They're fully parts compatible with a regular 2011 so if anything is wrong it won't be hard to find a smith who can work on it. The only thing that sticks out as an obvious negative for me would be that the magazine well is molded into the plastic grip, which means if you don't like the included one and want to replace it you have to replace the whole grip ($125 or so, plus the cost of the new magwell). The SPS runs about $500 cheaper than an Edge so if you end up replacing the grip you're eating into that savings quite a bit.

Also I've heard that their mags have slightly thinner steel, making them a little less durable, so I'd probably still go with STI or MBX magazines.

This guy does a lot of reviews of various guns by taking them to matches and had positive things to say about the 9mm version:

Reviews:

Followup:

Filipino Para Ord clone. Not a horrible option but I wouldn't want my friends to see me with one

Well that, and even the original Para Ordinance has a thicker grip than the STI does. To me the ergonomics are just bad (though I have rather small hands so it might work ok for others). IMHO while the SPS might be ok as a budget option, I'd steer clear of any Para-style 1911 double stacks and would probably look at an EAA gun before going that route.

I went from a 9mm Glock in Production to a 9mm STI 1911 in Single Stack and now to a .40 STI Edge in Limited.

I mostly just shoot single stack and limited now - the two are similar enough that it is pretty easy to go back and forth.

I found two Edges used for what I thought were very good deals. Both began life as Dawson Precision Competition Ready models.

@davidb72 are you shooting major or minor for the 9mm STI? I have a 9mm Kimber that I contemplated shooting with in SS, but my understanding is that the extra 2 rounds (in minor) are not that much of an advantage over the major scoring boost.

You cannot score major with a 9mm in any division but Open, no matter how hot the ammo is.

Well, I'll be damned. Need to rethink working up a 9mm major load