Saturday, May 18, 2024

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 05/18/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (IDPA scoring, USPSA-ish rules) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was using my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 in the "Optics" division again (apparently, I really like this gun!). We had a fairly small turn out at this match, even for these unorthodox local matches. I had several mistakes today... I didn't brighten my red dot up for the first stage and could barely see it while engaging the first  array of targets... I forgot to reload on the second stage and had a surprise "flat-footed" reload... and I went way too fast on the last stage and got sloppy with my hits for the sake of looking cool. 😜 I ended up in 2nd place Overall out of only 10 total.



Monday, April 29, 2024

STI Staccato P (2019) - The Holy Grail 2011

I have finally acquired a 2019 STI Staccato P 2011, which is considered to be the "Holy Grail" of STI/Staccato 2011s! This gun was the turning point for STI to officially change their name to Staccato, and it solidified the company's change from competition guns to duty and self defense guns. It was an evolution of their previous Tactical 4.0 with a 4.15" bull barrel and a full length picatinny rail dust cover, and it also introduced their new slide serrations that are still current today as well as the new Dawson Precision Optic (DPO) mounting system. It was only produced for one year (2019) in this configuration and was then changed to a longer 4.4" barrel and no longer had a full length dust cover. Due to the limited production of the 2019 STI Staccato P, it quickly became very sought-after and is now considered a rare collector's item. This drove prices of the used guns available for sale from $1000 to $1500 more than what they cost when they were brand new.

Photos from the Gunbroker auction

I was lucky to snag mine for only $750 more than brand new pricing, and it is in pristine condition! There is not a scratch or blemish on it. Even the barrel hood has zero wear. It was the iron sight only version, but I immediately sent the slide to DSC Gunworks to have it milled for the factory DPO mounting system and installed a Holosun 509T optic on it (my favorite optic for concealed carry). I also did my typical 2011 trigger tuning to get the trigger pull weight down to 3 pounds by simply tweaking the sear spring.



Other than having it milled for the DPO system, the only other change to the gun was installing a compact C2 grip module done in my RFV Tactical Concealed Carry texture. I took the C2 grip off of my Springfield Prodigy, and I've stored away the original full-size grip and magwell to maintain a higher value if I ever decide to sell it (unlikely!).





Saturday, April 27, 2024

Outlaw Action Pistol Match - 04/27/2024

Outlaw Action Pistol match (IDPA scoring, USPSA-ish rules) at the Amarillo Rifle and Pistol Club. I was using my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 in the "Optics" division. This was the first match hosted in the new extra large pistol bay at the facility. It was a windy day, so we spent a lot of time fixing targets that had fallen over. There were only 4 stages, but the first three had very high round counts that necessitated several mag changes per stage. I got the win for the last stage which was a stand and shoot "rapid fire" stage, but ended up in 2nd place Overall out of 16 total.




Saturday, April 13, 2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match - 04/13/2024

USPSA Action Pistol Match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX with the West Texas Practical Shooters club. I was shooting my custom V8 ported Staccato P 2011 in the Open division. The gun ran flawless as usual and my performance was pretty decent other than a miss on stage 4. Several unloaded starts at this match, plus a few memory stages. I ended up in 6th place Overall out of 40 total.




Sunday, March 24, 2024

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol Match - 03/24/2024

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX with the West Texas Practical Shooters club. This was a larger than normal charity match and we were able to sign up for multiple entries to increase the charity donations. I was shooting my custom ported STI Tac-Lite 4.0 2011 in the Open Division in the first half of the day and then my Springfield Prodigy 4.25" in the Limited Optics Division during the afternoon. I only posted video from my first runs with the STI TacLite, because I was so tired by the afternoon runs with the Prodigy that I did pretty poorly and didn't want to bother posting those runs. Both guns ran great, but I could've gone a little faster on some of the stages. A few of the stages were also very challenging and couldn't really be shot quickly. I ended up in 12th place overall out of 86 total with the STI and 25th place overall with the Prodigy.





Saturday, February 24, 2024

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol Match - 02/24/2024

Outlaw Steel Action Pistol match at 41 Lead Farm in Lubbock, TX with the West Texas Practical Shooters club. I was shooting my custom Walther PDP 4.5" again in the Open Division. I am still loving the Walther, but I wasn't really happy with my performance today. Too many make-up shots because I was trying to go to fast on the first three stages. I ended up in 8th place Overall out of 42 total.




Tuesday, February 13, 2024

Custom Walther PDP 4.5" Handgun

Here are more details and photos of the Walther PDP 4.5" full-size handgun that I recently customized for myself at RFV Tactical. I am really fond of my Walther PDP Compact, and I wanted to build a really nice custom full-size version of the gun. I refinished the frame in Tungsten Cerakote and then added my Concealed Carry texture to the grip with matching texture on the index pads on the sides of the frame and on the front of the trigger guard. I trimmed down the magazine release button ledges a little bit, but they are still functional for protecting the button from inadvertent activations. I rounded off the corners of the beavertail to be more comfortable. I extended the smooth magwell border height on the sides of the grip around to the front strap for aesthetic purposes. I chopped the backstrap overhang off and chamfered the magwell opening for smoother/easier reloads. I also shortened the slide stop levers to keep my big gorilla hands from inadvertently activating them while shooing, and then refinished them in Graphite Black Cerakote. I sent the slide and barrel to Impact CNC Machine for barrel porting and a top window cut in the slide. I installed a Trijicon SRO optic, Night Fision back-up iron sights, and a Surefire X300-U weapon light. I also installed a Walther Performance trigger with a Sprinco competition spring kit and a ZR Tactical stainless steel uncaptured guide rod with a 13-pound ISMI recoil spring. I think this gun looks amazing now! It shoots really fast and flat, has been really reliable, and feels really good in the hands. I'll be using this one at my shooting matches for a while in the Open division, as well as carrying it on a daily basis.