Outlaw Steel Action Pistol Match - 11/18/2023

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX. I was planning on using my newly upgraded STI Tac-Lite 4.0 2011 for the next few matches, but I was dry-fire and live-fire practicing with my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 earlier this week, so I decided to just use it at this match in the Open division. The Tac-Lite 4.0 is actually a flatter shooting gun now with the inline top barrel ports and lighter weight aluminum frame compared to the V8 ports and heavier steel frame of the Stacc P, but they are both very flat shooting guns with very little perceived recoil. I also love how low the Holosun 509T optic sits on the direct milled slide of the Stacc P. I had a few bobbles at this match which hurt my overall score. On the first stage, right out of the holster, I neglected to disengage the thumb safety and then my first shot after that was a miss due to being flustered, so it threw me off for the rest of the stage. I also had several misses on other stages where I had to make up the shots, but after reviewing the video I realized that some of those misses were actually hits and I just did not hear the hit and thought I had missed... wasted time there. I ended up in 7th place Overall out of 35 total.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbR33efycl8

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 11/11/2023

USPSA Action Pistol Match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX. I was using my recently upgraded STI Tac-Lite 4.0 2011 in the Open division. Unfortunately my camera wasn't working during the classifier stage so I was only able to record four of the five stages.  This upgraded gun runs really fast for me due to it's lighter weight and ported barrel. I didn't have any issues with the gun, but I had a miss on one stage and a "no-shoot" hit on another stage, so my final results for the day suffered a bit. I ended up in 8th place Overall out of 39 total. I plan to carry and compete with the Tac-Lite for several more matches as I feel like it is a really capable gun, and it is very fun and easy to shoot fast!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWBo2g3Zg48

Upgrades for the STI Tac-Lite 4.0 2011 Handgun

I upgraded my older STI Tac-Lite 4.0 with some barrel porting done by Impact CNC Machine and installed my favorite optic, the Holosun 509T! I purchased the mounting plate for the 509T from Dynamic Weapons Solutions over a year ago. The mounting plate is supposed to fit onto a 1911 slide that has already been milled for the Trijicon RMR 1911 mounting plate. It took 3 months to get the plate, and I was so frustrated with how long it took that I just stored it away and forgot about it. Fast forward to almost a year later, and I decided that I would install it when the slide and barrel came back from Impact Machine. Unfortunately, it did not fit the slide... at all... so I had to custom fit it to my slide and then refinish it in Graphite Black Cerakote. I also koted and installed Ed Brown thin ambidextrous thumb safety levers so that my high grip on the gun with my gorilla hands don't inadvertently engage the safety while shooting it. Dawson Precision recently came out with a 4.15" version of their tool-less guide rod for the new Staccato P Heritage, so I installed one of those with a lighter recoil spring since the barrel is now ported. This gun shoots SUPER flat now, and the lighter weight of the aluminum frame makes transitions from target to target very quick. For me, it is the perfect carry gun... until I buy another new gun... or modify another existing gun. 😎

Update 2024: I am now doing step cut grip chops on 2011-style grip modules, so I chopped the original full-size grip that came with the gun, which eliminates the magwell, but is much easier to conceal and looks a lot better than the old VIP grip without a magwell.