STI Spartan VS. Taurus 1911

I don't really have a list of pros and cons, but i own several Taurus guns and love them, but don't have the 1911. I do have a STI spartan and it is a fantastic gun for the price. Very smooth action and good trigger. I have done a trigger job on it to make it better but it was nice right out of the box. I have shot the Taurus 1911 and it is a nice gun but didn't seem as smooth or have as good of trigger as the STI.

I don't own a Taurus.. I did just pick up a Spartan IV in 9mm.. fantastic gun. great trigger. It was great out of the box. I fully stripped it for another reason and when I was putting the sear back in I noticed the parker coating was a touching the sear just a hair.. it moved easily, but didn't swing.. The sear face and hammer hooks looked well cut and had a great finish on them. I touched the sides of the sear with 1 pass of 600 grit emory cloth on a flat plate.. the sear could spin.. re assembled called it good. I think it would be hard to find a find a better sear hammer combo from a factory gun.

I touched the sear sides and not reached up into the gun since I wanted just one flat pass.

I haven't been impressed with Taurus quality control in the past couple years. I would pick a 1911 made by STI over one made by Taurus without a second thought even considering that the Spartan is made in the Phillipines.

You could also go with a Springfield 1911 or one of the new Remington 1911's if you are looking for an affordability and good quality.

I haven't shot the STI but liked the Taurus I shot. I hate the big TAURUS on the slide but it seems to be a pretty good gun. Taurus get's beaten up for quality control, and there is some justification for it. If you get a Taurus that doesn't have problems out of the box, you probably have a good gun. Their 1911 seems to be one of their less problematic guns.

All of the issues I hear make me think that if I don't have a grand then I don't want a 1911.

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That's the nice thing about STI. Even if you do have a problem with it, they'll make it right.

I paid somewhere around $650 ish for my Spartan, and I've been extremely impressed with both the fit/finish and accuracy for what I paid. It's far more accurate than I am.

STI is a great company and the Spartan is one of the best value 1911's out there in my book.

Ditto on buying STI. Great company, excellent pistols. But then I was absorbed into the STI collective years ago.

I'd avoid the Taurus, STIs quality control and customer service is better. Rock Islands are fine guns too. Just keep in mind the shear numbers of 1911s made and by so many different manufactures.
60% of cars on the road have penzoil in them it stands to reason that more cars that have engine trouble have penzoil in them.

All of the issues I hear make me think that if I don't have a grand then I don't want a 1911.

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That is far from the truth these days! I will say just keep in mind you get what you pay for in most cases!

I must disagree with Mav on Taurus and CS .... I never had a problem with them in the last two decades and over 30 firearms that are owned by me or have passed through my possession. And in the last few years or so it is truly getting harder to buy that they have horrible CS with the changes that have arose from Mark Kresser coming on as CEO.

As far as STI Spartan... I cannot honestly say anything regarding their CS, I have also not owned one either. I have however compared apples to apples concerning 1911's in this price range and still believe the Taurus to be the above average 1911 in that price arena, and they have a little more for that money.

When one looks at 1911's one must realize that there are cheap ones (under $500) average ones ($600-$700) and then there are nice ones ($1000) and then there are superb ones ($1400-1500) and then there are excelent ones ($2k) and it goes on up even into ($5k) if you can think that high and invent new words to describe them! ( these numbers and ranges are my opinion, but should give a real world view of this.... Quality and precision run hand in hand with that price tag!

There are 1911's from a wide range of pricing..... and there is a vast range of quality, precision, fit and finish, durability, metallurgical characteristics, etc. in that vast range!

While I think my PT1911 overshadows its price point competitors.... It is not on same shelf in my gun safe as my Colt Gold Cup..... My S&W 945 gets to visit the same shelf, but I think there is antimocity between it and the Colt, so I have to be careful... ... when I get a Wilson Combat CQB or Sentinel to fulfill more of my firearm dreams I assure you it will be "Top Shelf"

No comparison. Taurus is not even close to the STI.

STI I had the spartan and shot the taurus and the spartan was leaps and bounds better. I had a problem with the mag release on my spartan out of the box it did not protrude far enough so I called them up told them what it needed and they had a new one out to me in 2 days. I have been thinking of grabbing a trojan at some point soon.

I must disagree with Mav on Taurus and CS

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How can you disagree that STI's customer service and quality control is not better than Taurus' if you haven't used both?

I've got a Taurus. I've written about it several times, so suffice to say that it had some teething troubles when I first got it, but with the bugs ironed out, it's been a good solid pistol for seven years and probably 25k rounds.

I don't know, and I didn't much care what Taurus' customer service was like, since I tend to view small parts breakages as opportunities to upgrade, rather than wanting to fuss with the company to get them to put the same part that just broke back in. It's not like there's exactly a shortage of quality 1911 parts in the world.

I don't have any experience with the Spartan, but the rest of STI's lineup is top notch.

There is a metallurgical argument to be made regarding the differences between the two. The Taurus is a forged frame and slide, while the Spartan is cast. That would put the Taurus ahead on points, so far. However, Taurus' small parts are MIM, rather than machined. I would rate them as somewhere between mediocre and decent. The Spartan, however, has STI small parts, which are top notch.

Ideally, though, what you really want is a good basic platform, well fitted, with good internals, rather than one or the other. Of course, that sounds a lot like an STI Trojan.

The STI Spartan line is made by Armscor, which also makes Rock Island Armory. Armscor makes the frame, slide and some other parts. The fire controls are STI. I don't remember if they are assembled here or in the Philipines. Anyway, I've come across a couple of guys with 9mm fullsize Spartans at IDPA matches and they loved them. I've had a Rock Island Armory (Armscor) Match for several years. Very close to the STI Spartan. Very good 1911A1 clone. Anyway, I would look at the Spartan.

Anyway, I've come across a couple of guys with 9mm fullsize Spartans at IDPA matches and they loved them.

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Same experience here; I had an IDPA class instructor who was really a revolver guy but he chose to use a 9mm Spartan in IDPA for obvious reasons, although from what I heard, he had national championships as a revolver shooter. Anyway, said a lot to me that he chose STI.

I did have the rear sight elevation screw break on my STI Spartan .45 under recoil one day. STI had a new screw in the mail to me after 1 email, no questions asked.

A nice touch on the PT1911 from taurus is that it is one of the few 1911's out there with front strap checkering under $1k, just an additional thing to think about if it's important to you.

Personally i like front strap checkering better than smooth, of all the 1911's i have personally held i found i like the taurus best under $1k.

The STI Trojan has a 'stipled' front strap and is under a grand. But honestly if you're going to put skateboard tape over it, I'd rather just have it bare... But then again, I find that aggressive checkering just eats up my hand.

The STI Trojan has a 'stipled' front strap and is under a grand.

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Unfortunately, I haven't seen a Trojan for under $1,100, otherwise I probably would have bought it instead of my Spartan.

But I, too, prefer other front strap treatments than checkered. STI's STIpling feels really good, and I'm a big fan of EB's chain link, and other softer, yet grippy front straps. Checkering chews my fingers to shreds.

Some of the biggest differences are that you can get a Taurus in stainless while the Spartan is parkerized. Stainless to much more durable than park. Get some scratches or wear on stainless and a simple bead blast will return the gun to new condition. Park guns need rubbed down with oil while stainless won't.

Second factor is that the Taurus comes with checkering on the front strap and the Spartan does not. This is a big bonus in terms of providing a better grip.

I've bought 3 Armscor 1911s and every single one had problems right out of the box. I've bought 2 Taurus 1911s. The ambi broke on the first one, but CS emailed a shipping label and the gun was sent back for repair. Quick turnaround but I ended up trading that one in black for the same gun in stainless. I'm at over 4K rounds through the stainless and never had a problem. My next budget gun would be a Taurus over anything Armscor is producing these days.

Back in 2008, STI told CA to go to hell, and that they would no longer sell their products there. They should be rewarded for that.