STI International, Inc. – SkinnErgram #117

STI International, Inc. – SkinnErgram #117
By Dave Skinner
STI's Commander-In-Chief, has been blogging before the term became popular, in his SkinnErgrams. Take a peek and find out what's going on at STI, the shooting community, and once in a while, you might find a good deal you'll want to take advantage of.

Georgetown, TX – -(AmmoLand.com)- After that eight piece run of 6″ guns that we built to benefit the USPSA women’s program and called the “Infinite”, some folks apparently got their tongues tangled in the pronunciation and created some confusion in the market place. Not wanting to be confused with anybody else, we’ve dropped the use of that name.

We’ve decided to call the 5″ gun that evolved from that 6″ gun the “Apeiro”, pronounced “Apero”. It’s got a nice ring to it and I’m told by the Greeks that it means “something without end”. With our warrantee, I’d consider it appropriate. We’ve decided, too, that we’ll also substitute any other Schuemann 5″ ramped (Wilson/Nowlin/STI) barrel that will accept a front sight. ALL normal calibers are available. We should have pictures and specs on the website soon but here’s the main thrust of the press announcement:

“The Apeiro 2011 couples STI’s patented receiver with all the most desirable accessories in a factory firearm to produce a pistol that is as beautiful as it is reliable. The controls are STI International’s stainless steel ambidextrous thumb safeties and knuckle relief high-rise beavertail grip safety.

The full length stainless steel Tri-top bar stock slide features STI’s unique saber tooth rear cocking serrations and is cut to match the Schuemann barrel. The barrel is a 5.0” fully ramped, fully supported “island” bull barrel, with the sight milled in to allow faster recovery to point of aim.

This excellent firearm comes standard with an STI square hammer, patented STI trigger system, STI S-7 sear, and titanium strut for smooth, reliable function. The Apeiro 2011 has custom engravings on the polished sides of the (blued) stainless steel slide, stainless steel magwell, STI adjustable rear sight, Dawson fiber optic front sight, and a blued frame. Available in 9×19, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP.”

As an offshoot from above, you guys are certainly coming up with some original ideas for us to run through the Custom Shop. With the ideas that we’re seeing coming through, the thought has occurred to our Marketing Manager (Pauletta S.) and her staff that we should incorporate some of them into a limited run of “STI 20th Anniversary” pistols. What do you think, both of the idea of an “Anniversary” edition and of it being a limited run? What would YOU like to see it be?

We’re also beginning to get requests that we bring back our .22LR rifle, except not as “high end” this time. Just a good quality, moderately priced item. With the cost of ammunition these days, it may make some sense. Opinions?

Much to our surprise, the “original” size aluminum grip is out selling the “slim line” model by about two to one. I would sure have bet the other way. What do you guys think about us doing a “2011 Single Stack” aluminum grip?

Further good news for you: I’m asking the Sales Department to start quoting a 6-7 week lead time at this point. That means we’ve shortened it by seven weeks already this year (for most products). Any large order could change that at any time so you may want to take advantage of it while you can.

On the thought about doing a “knockoff” of Taurus’s “Judge” except in a .410/.22LR version: I bought a couple of (personal) “Judges” for R&D. THEN I found some neat little cylinder inserts that accepted .22LR at Brownell’s. I don’t think we’re gonna’ try and reinvent the wheel. That little “three-fer” (.45LC/.410/.22LR) is a fun, fun package at a fun, fun price point!

We are still taking orders for the “Competition” and “Tactical” rifles for August delivery and beyond. The competition models are outselling the tactical models by about 50%.

It has been brought to my attention that I am remiss in reporting the “Gun Used” statistics from the 2008 USPSA National Championships. Since the 2009 Nationals are just a couple months away, I better get it into this one. In the “Limited 10” Division where almost anybody can play, we had about 49% of the guns being shot. Glock was second with about a third of that. In the “Limited” Division, we did much better with about 59% of the shooters using STI guns. The folks in second also had only about 1/3 that number. In the “Open” Division, it was a runaway. STI over 71%, second place under 20%. Winners have gone with winners again. Obviously, our outlay under the “Contingency Program” has gone up for another year in a row. Keep tapping us! It’s a pleasure working with you.

Have ya’ll noticed the information that we’ve been uploading to YouTube lately? If you’ll go to the FAQ page, you’ll find several “How to’s” on the disassembly of guns, RecoilMasters, etc. Under “What’s New” you should find some product videos. We just got these up recently and have had over 12,000 hits already.

The ESOP Committee has asked me to drop a bug in your ear about the annual company get together. They truly appreciated the donations you folks made to their door prize stash last year and are asking if you are willing to donate again? Chris [email protected] would be your contact point.

Sell a bunch. Have fun. Do good. Not necessarily in that order!

Dave Skinner

About STI:
STI International is a leading firearms manufacturer and the pioneer of the modular frame system for the 1911. A favorite of both top competitors and custom gunsmiths, STI pistols are widely regarded as the gold standard in the sport of Practical Shooting.