Stephen A. Camp
Moderator In Memoriam
- Joined
- Dec 24, 2002
- Messages
- 2,430
Hello. Yesterday, a good friend and myself made the 3 1/2 hour pilgrimage to Georgetown, TX, home of STI. We looked at a couple of their new Legacy .45 ACP pistols. We each brought ammunition of different types to shoot in them before buying. (Due to insurance company edicts, we were not allowed to shoot but did watch as Chris cranked off rounds through each of the guns.) 4 full magazines of different rounds were fired through "my" Legacy.
They were:
230-gr. Hornady JFP handload
200-gr. Precision CSWC handload
230-gr. Speer Gold Dot handload
Winchester 230-gr. Ranger
Magazines were a 7-shot Colt, an 8-shot McCormick Power Mag, an 8-shot Wilson w/Tripp's CobraMag follower/spring, which makes it a 7-shot, and an ACT 8-shot, also using the Tripp CobraMag internals.
The gun came with an 8-shot ACT magazine and it was loaded with
Winchester 230-gr. JHP.
When chambering a round, the first Gold Dot didn't want to smoothly chamber, but everything else shot fine. (These are some old bullets and the profile might have changed in more recent times.)
From what I could tell by watching Chris shoot, the sights were pretty well regulated out of the box and certainly within the adjustable rear sight's adjustment range.
These guns have a 1-piece feed ramp and they fed fine.
The ambidextrous safeties were nicely fitted and in my opinion, perfect in moving from "on" to "off" and visa-versa.
The trigger breaks very cleanly at what I'd estimate as 4 to 4.5-lbs or so.
I have been so busy and it's been so hot that I have not gone to the range today to shoot this pistol myself. I can tell you that the full length guide rod will be replaced ASAP. I much prefer the traditional GI spring plug and spring guide. I will be changing the grips as well, but may very well leave the rest of the gun as is.
The one-piece feed ramp is nicely polished and despite my initial misgivings about it, worked fine. Many gunsmiths say that the traditional two-piece feedway is more reliable than the one-piece. I am not a gunsmith, but have many 1911's using the two-piece system that are reliable. So far, this one has as well. (I was told that STI will be going to the one-piece system in their Trojan line as well.)
The finish is black and STI calls it "PVD ion bond". It is reportedly very resistant to corrosion and wear. The slide flats are described as being polished, but this is not a high gloss polish as with some blued guns. The forged frame has 30 LPI checkering and is nicely done.
It was impressive enough that I bought the thing. I will shoot it and do a complete report in the future, assuming that things slow down a bit and it gets even a little cooler. 108 degrees is just a bit much right now. (Twenty-five years ago, I'd have already been on the range, but right now I'm sitting in the air-conditioned house, hiding from the heat.)
Best.
They were:
230-gr. Hornady JFP handload
200-gr. Precision CSWC handload
230-gr. Speer Gold Dot handload
Winchester 230-gr. Ranger
Magazines were a 7-shot Colt, an 8-shot McCormick Power Mag, an 8-shot Wilson w/Tripp's CobraMag follower/spring, which makes it a 7-shot, and an ACT 8-shot, also using the Tripp CobraMag internals.
The gun came with an 8-shot ACT magazine and it was loaded with
Winchester 230-gr. JHP.
When chambering a round, the first Gold Dot didn't want to smoothly chamber, but everything else shot fine. (These are some old bullets and the profile might have changed in more recent times.)
From what I could tell by watching Chris shoot, the sights were pretty well regulated out of the box and certainly within the adjustable rear sight's adjustment range.
These guns have a 1-piece feed ramp and they fed fine.
The ambidextrous safeties were nicely fitted and in my opinion, perfect in moving from "on" to "off" and visa-versa.
The trigger breaks very cleanly at what I'd estimate as 4 to 4.5-lbs or so.
I have been so busy and it's been so hot that I have not gone to the range today to shoot this pistol myself. I can tell you that the full length guide rod will be replaced ASAP. I much prefer the traditional GI spring plug and spring guide. I will be changing the grips as well, but may very well leave the rest of the gun as is.
The one-piece feed ramp is nicely polished and despite my initial misgivings about it, worked fine. Many gunsmiths say that the traditional two-piece feedway is more reliable than the one-piece. I am not a gunsmith, but have many 1911's using the two-piece system that are reliable. So far, this one has as well. (I was told that STI will be going to the one-piece system in their Trojan line as well.)
The finish is black and STI calls it "PVD ion bond". It is reportedly very resistant to corrosion and wear. The slide flats are described as being polished, but this is not a high gloss polish as with some blued guns. The forged frame has 30 LPI checkering and is nicely done.
It was impressive enough that I bought the thing. I will shoot it and do a complete report in the future, assuming that things slow down a bit and it gets even a little cooler. 108 degrees is just a bit much right now. (Twenty-five years ago, I'd have already been on the range, but right now I'm sitting in the air-conditioned house, hiding from the heat.)
Best.
