I have finally acquired an older STI Tactical 4.0 2011 handgun in decent condition for what I considered to be a fair price. I already have the STI Tac-Lite 4.0, which is an aluminum frame version of this gun, but I've been wanting to get one with a steel frame for quite a long time. These don't come up for sale very often, but when they do they typically have an overly inflated price tag. They aren't quite as sought after as the 2019 STI Staccato P or the Staccato Heritage P, but they are still highly desirable. The STI Tactical 4.0 is what originally attracted me to the 2011 platform long ago, so it's nice to have another one in my collection. This one came with a DLC finish from the factory rather than the more common Graphite Black Cerakote that came on most of the Tactical series pistols, however it had quite a bit of holster wear as you can see from the photos below. Despite the holster wear, the barrel and slide to frame fitment is still excellent (more on that later).
Photos from the Gunbroker auction
Upon receiving the gun, I immediately sent the slide to DSC Gunworks to have the factory Staccato DPO optic cut done so that I could install a Holosun 509T optic, and I also had two additional front cocking serrations cut on each side of the slide as I think it looks better proportioned with the rear serrations. These mis-proportioned front-to-rear slide serrations are one of the few things that I didn't like about the older STI pistols, so I wanted to correct that on this gun while it was being cut for an optic.
Once I got the slide back from DSCG, I took the time to do a lot of small refinements that the average person probably wouldn't notice or appreciate. I thoroughly dehorned the slide, frame, and beavertail of any sharp edges. I did a relief cut on the bottom of the slide stop lever pad to make it easier to lock the slide back manually, cut in an assembly notch to reduce the potential for an "idiot scratch" during reassembly, did a flat tip on the slide stop pin so that it wouldn't protrude through the frame as much, and dehorned the entire lever. I also dehorned, chamfered, blended, and thinned down the safety levers to work better with my high grip and large hands. The hammer lacked the edge chamfering that my other STI hammers have, so I chamfered the inside and outside edges of it to give it a nicer look and feel, which was very time consuming. Once I finished all of the dehorning, chamfering, and blending, I refinished everything in my custom DLC Mimic Cerakote color. I mixed in a slightly higher ratio of catalyst to give it a little more gloss than I've done with previous guns, and it turned out exactly how I wanted it. The barrel and slide to frame fitment was so tight prior to my Cerakote work, that I had to completely remove all the Cerakote from the frame rails, slide rails, and barrel lugs in the slide to get the gun reassembled and functioning properly. Even with all of these areas completely bare metal, the gun is still very tight, with no slide to frame wiggle.
I modified the factory Gen1 grip module by doing a subtle trigger guard undercut, squared out the inside of the trigger guard, did a step-cut grip chop to accept 16-round Staccato C2 magazines, filled in the faux screw holes at the bottom of the grip for a more modern look, and added my RFV Tactical texture with a smooth border on the bottom of the main spring housing to match the magwell border. I do that smooth border on all of my personal 2011 style grip modules so that my shirt is less likely to snag on the back edge of the grip causing it to print when carrying concealed, and to make the gun feel just a little more comfortable in the hand when shooting.
I did my typical trigger tuning to just under 3 pounds utilizing all of the factory components, and replaced the factory Recoil Master dual spring recoil system with a Dawson Precision tool-less guide rod and a 13lb recoil spring, which is what I have in most of my other 2011 style 4.25" pistols. The Recoil Master system works really well, but I like the tool-less guide rod for the ease of disassembly and reassembly and for the ability to add a shock buffer.
The gun looks absolutely amazing with the extra serrations and I am extremely happy with how the dehorning, blending, Cerakote, and grip work turned out.
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