Beauty And The Bubba
by Stewart Pomeroy Jr.
| This article is reprinted with permission of the United States Practical Shooting Association. For information about USPSA, and practical shooting in the United States, visit www.uspsa.org |
Have you ever seen something that looked too good to have been created
by human hands? Something of sheer mechanical beauty where each and every
part has been examined, scrutinized, and improved? If this sounds unbelievable,
then take a look at the INFINITY FIREARMS. For the past year I have been
an Infinity Fan and I want to share my experiences with you. I am an average
"B" class shooter, that loves this sport. The Grand Masters have nothing
to fear from me. In fact, most of the B shooters are safe from me. I participate
in all of the local and regional matches that I can get to. Last year,
at the Florida Open, I picked up an Infinity catalog. While looking at
all of the pictures I discovered the "Tri-Glide Trigger System". I really
appreciate mechanical innovation and having had numerous problems with
sear springs, that seem to be made from the scrapped fenders of '57 Chevys,
I just had to have one of the new systems. After failing to locate one
in the usual places, I sent an e-mail to Strayer Voigt and expressed my
unhappiness. Surprise, surprise - the main man himself answered my e-mail
and in a few days I had the complete system in my hands. Trick is the
word here, the disconnector is of an innovative shape (round in the right
place), the trigger bow has a ball pressed into it, the sear spring is
of titanium and also has a ball pressed into the center leaf. Simple,
fascinating and why didn't anybody think of this before? As my friend,
Bubba, says "Stupidly simple". Bubba has two official "Team Infinity"
caps and writes a "Bubba's Tips" for our local club's website (www.tbpc.org).
He knows stupidly simple! >From this humble beginning I have acquired
other Infinity Firearms, an Open gun and a Limited gun. I have even had
the opportunity to meet my gun guru, Sandy Strayer, the force behind Infinity
Firearms. Sometimes you find a person that truly loves the mechanical
engineering aspects of their job. Such a person is Sandy Strayer. He will
take the time to talk to you and explain the wherewith all of his products.
He is constantly thinking, innovating, inventing. He is also a very humble
nice person. Being the mechanical genius that I am (amateur gunsmith),
I always felt I could build a better pistol than any of the manufacturers.
I felt that, while they used good parts, they "assembly line" built the
guns and did not pay enough attention to fit, function and finish. I hate
seeing a $2,500 race gun with a loose slide and/or poorly fit barrel.
While my Infinitys are factory guns they have the Strayer trademark tight
slide to frame and barrel fit. . It seems that while some manufacturers
struggle with simply making their guns function, SV has gone beyond this
to a "Guns as Art" level. Not only do they function perfectly they are
beautiful to look at. SV offers many options that are simply unavailable
elsewhere. The interchangeable breech face, the interchangeable trigger
system (there is not a Bubba insert, yet), and all the tri-glide stuff.
Talk about trigger envy As I shoot the 115gr. bullet in my open gun it
even has Schuemann's 1/32 twist barrel (have you seen his new AET barrel
yet?) That is another story that needs telling. My pistols also have the
uniquely attractive cosmetic cuts for which SV is known. On my open gun,
I even had the tiny little holes for the C-More done at the factory. Have
you ever tried to drill and tap those holes and succeed in getting all
of them in the right place and straight? They are now. At Bubba's insistence
I had my open gun TiN coated. He loves that golden gun, since he is a
flashy kinda guy! But seriously, this is the most accurate semi-automatic
handgun I have ever shot. I embarrass it on a regular basis with comments
like: "that can't be my hole in the no-shoot, I know I didn't shoot at
it." or " that has to be a double".
Over the years I have had problems with more than one brand of Big Stick magazine. This was before I purchased my Infinity magazines. As I shoot 9x25 there are not a lot of mag choices available and I then tried out the SV mags. It is amazing what those creative little devils will come up with. I got some of the original CNC machined competition followers. They are made out of some space age plastic and are real funny looking. Fortunately, they really work and hold one more bullet too, which can really be a blessing for someone who shoot steel as well as I do! I now have a standing request with Tami, the info@sviguns lady (Bubba thinks she and Karole are the cutest ladies he has met) for any new products they come up with.
Limited 10 - Nostalgia with High Tech touches -- Tami, the info lady, at SV, has told me my Limited 10 division pistol will be ready shortly. Imagine this, a new old faithful. The traditional 1911 appearing gun with all the new engineering improvements, integral safety plunger ( how many of those have fallen off?), front strap cut for better grip, integral magazine well. A real carry/competition pistol in one familiar package with all the options available from Infinity. Already problems are arising. Bubba, the Purist, wants a .45 - Me, the gamester, wants a .40. Thank you Infinity for the interchangeable bolt face, Thank you Wil Schuemann for the .40 and .45 AET barrels.
Top quality and innovative parts. Unobtainium, Tiki, interchangeable bolt face, integrated rail system, tri-glide trigger system even the slide stop pin has a V cut on the flat side, no more trying to dimple that hardened piece of steel, and on and on. Get the catalog, save me from writing about all the options and features. Plus, Honorable people to deal with. They have even come up with a new way to order your custom gun called GUNBUILDER, the ultimate dream sheet for you computer savvy types. It is an on-line order sheet where you can mix and match all of the available options and actually see pictures of what each part or option looks like. Wonder if the slide would look better serrated at 20 lines per inch or 40? Even custom serial numbers (Bubba1)? Look at gunbuilder and see for yourself! Gunbuilder even has its own website (www.Gunbuilder.com) Give it a try. You can contact Infinity at www.sviguns.com. Or e-mail Tami at info@sviguns.com - or check out Bubba's local club site - www.tbpc.org