By Duane ThomasSTI scored a market success with their Spartan

model, a gun intended to give a “factory custom”level of performance in a 1911 at a budget price.The way STI can afford to sell a gun like the Spar-tan at that price is by having its slide, frame andbarrel made in the Philippines by Armscor. Allother parts (except the Italian LPA rear sight) aremade by STI which ships them overseas, the gunsare built by Armscor, then sent back to STI. Thenthe Spartans are given to STI’s quality controlpeople. If a problem is found, typically it’s easierfor STI to fix it in-house; Spartans very rarely goback to the Philippines once they’re here. Intro-duced as a .45, the Spartan has recently beenchambered in 9mm, as well.

Field stripping and reassembling the Spartan 9was an adventure. A wrench was absolutelyrequired to turn the barrel bushing. Removing thebushing required an extended period of tapping itforward with the lower barrel lugs, then using ahammer to finish the process. Reinstallation like-

wise required a hammer. The recoil spring plugwas such a tight fit in the slide that it also requiredtapping out; reinstallation entailed pushing itagainst a hard surface to start, then completing theprocess with a hammer. Once the gun was backtogether, in normal operation this was one impres-sively toleranced 1911, evincing absolutely no lat-eral or vertical slide play to the slide-to-frame-to-barrel fit. Yet when operating the slide, the actionmoved extremely smoothly.

The grip safety is a slotted high-rise, and verynicely “sensitized,” i.e. while still perfectly func-tional, it will disengage with very little inwardmovement or grip pressure. Trigger pulls werequite decent for a factory 1911. The trigger strokeshowed fairly long takeup – about 1/16” – a veryclean break, and very little in the way of overtrav-el. Actual pull weight was 5.5 pounds. The Spartan9 only comes with one magazine, but it’s a goodone. Produced for STI by OEM manufacturer Met-alform, this magazine was designed by RobLeatham and is actually what Springfield, Inc. sup-

STI’sSPARTAN 9“Factory Custom” Performance

at a Budget Price

The Spartan’s front sight is askeletonized design containing a

fiber optic cable, a popularoption among sighting equipment

these days.

Left: Adjustment markings on therear sight leaf are large, deep,

and easily read. Above: The Spar-tan’s rear sight blade is serratedand features a somewhat mal-

formed U-notch.

STI’sSPARTAN 9

August 11 Blue Press Section 3 6/14/11 10:22 AM Page 60