9mm 1911: STI Spartan or Kimber Custom Stainless Target

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Martowski

Martowski

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Anyone have any first hand experience firing both of these? Why am I considering these two?

- Want adjustable sights.
- Must be 9mm.
- STI Spartan seems to be the best buy for adjustable sighted 9mm 1911 in the lower price range (sub $700). Don't want the Taurus and it is fixed sight anyway.
- Next tier is around $900 - $1,000, and at that price range I would want stainless (I prefer stainless anyway) and like the Kimbers (already own a Kimber in .45). Yes, I know the Springfield Loaded is in that range but the triggers on the Kimbers I've seen are better than the Springfields I've seen. And the STI Trojan is in blue and if I'm going to spend that $$ I'm getting stainless.

So, anyone care to share any first hand experience with both and compare fit, reliability, trigger pull, and overall mechanical accuracy? Trying to make up my mind as to whether the extra $300 is worth it for the Kimber vs. the Spartan. But I don't want to sacrifice anything (other than blue vs. stainless) for the $300.
 
86 views and no replies... so I bought the STI. :)

Looked at the Kimber last night. Beautiful gun but the trigger was gritty and the break wasn't very clean or light. For $989 I would expect more.

Everyone who owns the 9mm STI seems to post nothing but love and admiration for the pistol so I figure why not? If I'm not happy with the finish, which is the only real complaint I hear, I can send it off for a hard chroming or something.

There; I'm done talking to myself. :)
 
Sorry that I missed this - I have owned the Kimber Custom Target Stainless 9mm, an Armscor/RIA Tactical 9mm, and Springfield Loaded 9mm. My favorite would be the Kimber by far, but all of them are solid pistols. I expect that you'll be well pleased with the STI.
 
I actually thought it was funny more than anything. The Kimber I looked at just didn't have a trigger that I thought it should have had, and wasn't anything near my older .45 Custom Classic Target.
 
You'll love the STI. I have the STI Trojan in 9mm and a friend has the Spartan in 9mm and the Spartan is a great value.
 
Most of what I shoot is RN but I will see if the range has flat points to try (they require their own ammo and with the IL weather the way it is I don't see being able to shoot outside much in the next couple months).
 
I saw this posting and a very similar one just the other day looking between an STI and a Fusion. I put my two cents in on Fusions :barf: versus STI. I just assumed that everyone knew my stance on the superior STI and banners would be hoisted on every building between Texas and Canada proclaiming my brilliance.

'Didn't you get the memo?' :neener:
 
I saw an three STI Spartan in stainless at the local gun store. I was in a hurry so I couldn't find out more about them. I did notice the price tag of ~$1,070.

Does that price make sense?
 
I saw an three STI Spartan in stainless at the local gun store. I was in a hurry so I couldn't find out more about them. I did notice the price tag of ~$1,070.

Does that price make sense?
Click to expand...

Sounds way too high, but I've also never heard of a stainless Spartan. You sure it wasn't one of STI's other 1911 variants? The price sounds more in line with the STI Trojan.
 
I only quickly looked at the tags on the pistols which clearly identified them as a Spartan. I just browsed through STI's website and the Guardian is stainless and has an MSRP of $1,121. I bet that is what they have in stock.

I didn't look at the engraving on the barrels but will do that in the next day or two.
 
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I went back to the store to check out the stainless STI Spartan I alluded to above. The price tag was $938 not $1,070 (that was tag of the pistol next to it).

I asked the store owner why it was higher than the MSRP. He said that's because it had been sent out to Cogan Custom to do some plating and refinishing, trigger work and other custom work. He was a tad nebulus about the "other stuff'.

Is a jazzed-up Spartan for $938 worth it when a Trojan is not much more?
 
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I'd need to know what "other stuff" is. Specifically, an itemized list of everything that isn't factory stock.

"Yeah, I charged you more to mow your lawn this time because I did some other stuff" wouldn't cut it and neither does this.
 
I went back for the third time to the same gun store to look at the Spartan. The shop clerk kept singing accolades about the chromed Spartan. When I tried to pin him down about what work Cogan Custom had done on the trigger he wasn't sure. He asked another person who worked there what was done to the trigger and that person wasn't sure either.

He kept dismissing the Trojan telling me that the chromed Spartan was a much better gun than the Trojan.

I'm new to the gun world but it seems this guy is trying to sell more sizzle than steak.
 
Pinch some pennies for a while and then get yourself a Les Baer Premier II in 9mm for about $1,800.00

I have no first hand experience with the STI, but I hear great things about them.

I have quite a bit of experience with Kimber 1911s (owned three in .45 ACP). I had nothing but problems with all three of them. Problems included early breakages of small parts, mis-timed Series II firing pin blocks, failures to eject, failures to feed, and ammo fussiness.
 
If they can't tell you what they did, then it isn't meaningful. I'm not saying there wasn't good work done, but again this is akin to taking your car to the shop and being told they did "some good stuff" to the engine. Hmmmm.

Sounds to me like they have some money in this Spartan and are looking to move it.
 
wiiawiwb said:
He kept dismissing the Trojan telling me that the chromed Spartan was a much better gun than the Trojan.
I'm new to the gun world but it seems this guy is trying to sell more sizzle than steak.
Click to expand...
He was...although Cogan Custom has a very good reputation for their Hard Chrome plating

While I think the Spartan is a nice gun, the usual knock on it is that it is built in the P.I., at the Armscor factory, while the Trojan is built in TX.

I think the STI Trojan is an very good value...almost as good as a Dan Wesson...but it isn't stainless
 
86 views and no replies... so I bought the STI.
Click to expand...

In general I would pick STI over Kimber because I think STI builds a better quality gun than Kimber.

However, the STI Spartan is much more of a Armscor gun than it is an STI and for that reason I wouldn't place the Spartan above a Kimber. Armscor doesn't make bad guns but they are not of the same quality you would find coming out of the STI plant in Texas.

The STI Spartan is basically exactly the same as the STI Trojan the only difference is that the Trojan is built in TX using an STI built frame, slide and barrel and the Spartan is built in the Philippines using an Armscor frame, slide and barrel. On the Spartan the main spring housing, hammer assembly, trigger and sear are all STI parts and shipped to the Armscor factory in the Philippines where they're installed.
 
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