2011 grips cracking- how often?

drmitchgibson

The white Morgan Freeman
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When I was talking to Barry about my approaching move to a 2011, he mentioned that the grips will eventually crack. Has anyone had this happen, and how many rounds did you get out of the grip? It's disappointing to hear this about such pricey hardware, and now I'm yet more interested in the Caspian hi-cap steel frame.
 
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Seldom. Especially if you dont go wild with grip reduction.
Steel or Alum grips are available from both STI and SVI.
The polymer grips are cheap and replaceable.
 
Has Barry ever seen that?? I haven't.

If anyone's gonna crack one it's probably going to me. I "abandon" my guns...abruptly.

I would bet you would wear a barrel out first.

The Caspian wide body is nice. They also double well as a boat anchor or hammer. :) Too heavy for my tastes.
 
IDK, I hadn't heard of it either. Maybe for people shooting .45ACP? How many rounds are through your 2011?
 
He probably mis paraphrased me; I was talking to Barry about the grips in context of ccw and hard use.

You beat the elephant dung out of a sti grip for 4 or 5 years and youll probably wear it out.

and grips are only $100.
 
If youre a cheap ass and dont send your grip to Cyrwus to have it thinned/undercut, you definitly run the risk of cracking a grip. Ask me how I know......
 
Problem solved...

IMG_7260.jpg
 
The STI aluminum grips were pulled because of cracking issues, some were only getting 5-6K out of them. The plastic grips will take a ton of abuse before cracking. You will wear out parts, the grip is easy to replace and not expensive.

On a side note, I heard STI is going to bring.them back.
 
They may be back already. But there isn't anything wrong with the plastic grips. Keep in mind you're talking about handguns that are being fired 60,000 plus rounds without problems. I'd carry one.
 
Mitch...

I wanted to respond to your question...If you remember when we were discussing hicaps you mentioned the Caspian hicap. I told you that Mike C had some coming in in the next week or two.that he had ordered at "Shot." I said it was a very nice platform that to me felt very good in hand. Also, one of the reasons they never took off like the STI's were that early on they didn't have any 40 Cal mags and then the high cap mag ban came into law so it really delayed its popularity. However, for a metal framed high cap they were very nice and I wished that they would expand the platform for .45acp. Also, its been a while, but if I remember correctly, that they held a few less rounds than the STI's in 9mm and 40Cal. This didn't help for "gaming."
Then I said that I had "heard" that under hard use that there had been some problems with STI's Metal grips and "some" of the polymer grips that had been beat up for competition but for carry I had not heard of any problems. I was indeed paraphrasing Mike since I don't compete and get around to all the matches that he goes too. Either way you can't go wrong as long as you know the limitations of the platform you are going to use.

Be Well...

Barry :)
 
FWIW:

I cracked a polymer grip several years ago. (I use stock STI grips & don't undercut them) Mine cracked at the mag release and a buddy's also. I found lots of info on Enos forums on it. I know how and when I did mine. Dry fire reload practice with dummy rounds. Trying to hit that 1 second reload and slamming mags hard into the grip. I realized 1 sec reloads probably won't win you a match and 1.5 to 1.75 reloads ain't gonna cost you a match, but that's a whole 'nother story. Here's what I found on Enos forum. The STI mag release can rotate slightly when hit hard on a mag change possibly cracking the grip. The thought on the cure was SV mag release due to some differences in the part that catches the magazine. I run 2 open guns, 1 with SV mag release and 1 with STI. No problems with either in about 5 thousand rounds on each, but I don't slam mags any more. One other thing I learned is Jim Shanahan and some others can fix cracked polymer grips.

There's my 2 cent's worth. Maybe it'll help somebody.
9x
 
Well...on my Viper, I've got about 60k on the gun and thousands of reloads. It was textured and worked over by Jim Shanahan at Advanced Performance Shooting and it's rock solid to this day. Jim was one of the few places that STI would warranty a grip reduction from 'cause he's simply awesome at it.

That said, if they're not thinned out too much, they'll last a very long time. If it cracks without modification, it should be a warranty item.

Rich
 
I need to update my previous post about the Caspian Hicap platform. I had not been to Caspians website for a "very long" time-lol. They do have hicap mags for .45acp in 10 and 12 round capacities. So, for shooters that want a metal frame for carry this would be a very nice alternative to Para and STI.

Barry
 
Handled a couple of the new Caspian mags while at Predator Tactical. With their 40 lpi checkering, it's seriously awesome. That said, if wanting a steel framed hi-cap "1911", I'd go STI or SV.

Rich
 
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