manufacturer . for the scientific and research network sti2 see semantic technology institute international . sti international type private industry weapons predecessor tripp research inc founded 1980 1980 founder virgil tripp headquarters georgetown texas united states key people virgil tripp sandy strayer david skinner tim dillon dave dawson products pistols owner employee owned website http www.stiguns.com sti international inc. is a texas based company that manufactures complete m1911 pistols and parts for competition duty and self defense . it is most well known for its 2011 modular frame guns so called because the lower grip and trigger guard which is made of a fiber reinforced plastic is a separate component from the metal upper portion of the frame that comprises the dust cover and frame rails . sti and strayer voigt inc. share the patent on the modular frame . contents 1 history 2 sti today 3 references 4 external links history edit in 1990 virgil tripp a gunsmith and machinist started building custom 1911s for competition use especially uspsa ipsc . after some time virgil began designing parts for 1911s including electrical discharge machining edm hammers and sears . virgil s company was called tripp research inc. and most of his parts were sold and marketed by chip mccormick a champion pistol shooter under his company s name chip mccormick corporation known as cmc . 1 around 1993 an engineer and computer aided design cad guru named sandy strayer joined tripp research inc. tripp and strayer revolutionized the 1911 market by designing a modular hi capacity 1911 frame for ipsc shooters . while para ordnance already had a hi capacity 1911 frame on the market it was made of steel . the modular frame made use of a fiber reinforced plastic which combined the trigger guard grip and integral magazine well . it used a proprietary grip which attached to the upper portion of the frame a metal part that comprised the dust cover and frame rails . the result was that the modular frame weighed less than half of what the steel frame weighed . further while the para frame feels notably larger than a standard 1911 in the hand the sti feels similar to a regular 1911 since the grips are molded into the plastic of the frame rather than screwed to the outside . tripp and strayer were listed as the co patent holders on the modular frame . soon after the modular frame was introduced the company name changed to sti strayer tripp inc. and strayer was given an equity stake in the new company . 1 2 in june 1994 sandy strayer left sti to start a new company called strayer voigt inc which focuses on building completely custom pistols as opposed to the semi custom models of sti . 1 in november 1994 dave and shirley skinner owners of an electronics company named tessco inc. became involved in the operation of sti along with virgil tripp . in early 1997 the skinners completed their purchase of sti from virgil tripp and renamed the company to sti international inc. 1 2 virgil went on to start a new company using the name tripp research inc. which produces various finishes for firearms and magazines for 1911s . 1 during the clinton era high capacity ban sti remained in business by focusing on exports and the growing concealed carry market . as of 2007 sti was the third largest exporters of pistols in america . 3 from 1994 through the late 1990s sti had a custom shop which would build guns to customer s specifications . in january 2005 dave skinner sold the company to the employees of sti making it the first esop company in the firearms industry . in 2010 dave skinner made the decision to retire and began searching his search for a suitable replacement . after months of looking tim dillon formerly a military contractor overseas and the head of the law enforcement division of brownells was offered and accepted the job of president ceo . sti today edit today sti manufactures a full range of 2011 pistols based on its modular frame in addition to single stack 1911s using steel and aluminum frames in a variety of calibers such as 9mm parabellum .45 acp .40 s & w and .38 super . sti also manufactures a full line of parts for 1911 pistols such as modular frame kits which are used by gunsmiths to build complete guns slides barrels compensators triggers hammers thumb and grip safeties slide stops firing pins guide rods magazine wells magazines and scope mounts . sti s modular frames are marketed under the brand name 2011 a take on the 1911 name . 4 references edit a b c d e note mccormick won the 1989 steele challenge with a gun designed by virgil s brother fred tripp called the scepter . the scepter was the first of what came to be known as race guns . tripp research inc. company history a b sti international american handgunner september october 2001 1 u.s. trademark reg . no. 4 267 237 2 external links edit us design patent d347 256 for modular frame sti international inc. strayer voigt inc. tripp research inc. united states practical shooting association uspsa international practical shooting confederation ipsc retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title sti international & oldid 667275582 categories firearm manufacturers of the united statesprivately held companies based in texas navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages bahasa melayusloven ina edit links this page was last modified on 17 june 2015 at 00 22 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by 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