Limited: The Edge

Limited: The Edge



Okay, this will take a few people aback, and I've already caught some flak about this decision, but I've decided to leave the Production Division, and move to the Limited Division in 2015. In Production you generally see stock type guns, no magwell's, and there is a limit of 10 rounds in the magazines. It's been a fun run in Production, but at the end of last year, post move, I was a little burnt out by the the sport, and it was just not as fun as it had been in the past. I attributed it to missing my friends, and I realized that a large part of my shooting fun was not just the shooting, but the people I went shooting with. I started to gear up for 3-Gun, thinking that maybe that would be something new and exciting, and would restore the fun that I was not having.

My New STI Edge

A few weeks ago I said to myself that what I really enjoy is pistol shooting, and maybe I just needed to make a change in that. The CZ Shadow is about as good as it gets in the Production Division, and there was no real reason to change guns. Maybe it's because I was having a harder time fitting in at the range, as it did not feel like the same community that I left in Illinois, I thought that maybe if I changed the game around it would be be enough to restore the luster. I had no interest in Single Stack, and revolvers are alien to me. That left me Open and Limited, and I've seen enough "Akai Magic" when Kozy is shooting that kind of scared me off Open. The constant tuning the mags, the gun, the sight's issue, I'm just not quite ready for that.

Limited allows me a nice big magwell, and 20+1 or 21+1 in the magazine if I can fit them, which really changes the game. Instead of planning stages, usually around, 8 shot array's, now I can plan around 16-18 shot array's. In addition, Limited is a major power factor, meaning it's scored a little differently than Production. Alphas have 5 points still, but Charlies and Bravo's are 4 points instead of 3 points in Production, and Delta's are 2 points instead of 1 point. Now it's not really an advantage because everyone shooting Limited is playing under the same set of rules, and I'm not competing against the Production shooters.

I'd looked at the new STI DVC, because it looked great, and came out of the box with a lot of highly desirable features, however it's brand new, not yet released, and frankly I'm a little hesitant to buy something like that. Let someone else run it for the year, see how reliable it is, and maybe down the road I'll look at one.

STI DVC

I spoke to some local shooters, did a little shopping, and decided on the STI Edge, it's been around for years, it's one of the most common guns in the Limited Division, and it's got a track record of success. I got an introduction up at Dawson Precision, and went up there to order one, and Dave Dawson spent some time with me, and assured that he'd personally go over the gun, and make sure I had a good one, and one that I wanted. A premier gunsmith, the guy who developed the gun while the Production Manager at STI? Hell yes!

The New Edge

In any case, I picked it up, and have started dry fire with it already. It's going to take some time to really get things down, and it's probably going to be a couple of steps backward before I can go forward. My early impression is of course favorable, my reloads thanks to the magwell are as fast, and more consistent than they were with the CZ. My ability to index the gun to a target is remarkably better than the CZ as well, it points more naturally, and I like the weight distribution more than the CZ. My draw is inconsistent, when it's on it's solid, but having to take the safety off, my early dry fire runs have found me not quite getting the web of my main hand in place, and not engaging the grip safety. That's something practice will address, but I'm excited to get going.

While all that's good and well, and it is what it's going to be, my tune changed a little bit coming back from Florida. While I was there, being able to shoot with friends, I had so much fun, I found everything that I thought I'd lost, I found my passion about the sport again. I did not need to look at 3-Gun as another way to find it, or to move to Limited, I could have stayed right there in Production happily. If this match had happened in December, I doubt I'd have committed to 3-Gun or Limited. That said, I do want to experience both, and I'm looking forward to them, and going to put my best effort and energy to compete in both.

I caught a little grief from someone who thinks I did it because I wanted the game to be easier, and he felt it would be amusing to see me do it. That's fair, but that's not the real reason I wanted to, and knowing that, I'm okay with it. I'm looking forward to it. Part of me had some regret, but the die has been cast, and believe me, picking up that gun for the first time, shooting it, and now practicing with it, no regrets, and nothing but enthusiasm.

Limited.....2015