How to get into Bullseye 45

Hey guys. Im a long time rimfire shooter and even dabbled into 32s and 38s over the years. However, I want to include the 1911 to my lineup now as I make a return to Bullseye. I am currently shooting a marvel conversion and some days a Pardini on the rimfire portion. Im still deciding which one I am more comfortable with.As said,  I have taken a few years off and now as I join back up with some guys shooting I want to be able to truly compete in a 2700. I am overwhelmed with the options for a 1911 platform. I would prefer to have a smith work on the gun (if needed), rather then my at home tinkering or buy one pre-setuo. What and where should I look? Is the SARO still a good starter to upgrade as I regain my skills? What does the SARO need to have upgraded as my skills come back to the low 90s I shot back in the days. Who would be a recommended smith to send it to? I am unaware of any true bullseye smiths in my neck of the woods. Thanks for the help in advance

I highly recommend you send your gun to Jon Eulette if you want the best quality 1911 you can possibly get. He will build you an excellent gun that will last a lifetime most likely. I personally wouldn't choose any other smith for my work.

Generally, replacing the bushing on a SARO will tighten up to acceptable accuracy levels. The trigger needs work. Doug Hall comes highly recommended

What does it take to get one sent to Jon Eulette. I’ve seen his name around the thread. What should one expect to spend to upgrade a SARO to its full bullseye capability

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Jon

Asking someone which 1911 you should get is like asking if you should get a new girlfriend / wife.  

If you haven't looked around enough to know what you want, then you probably don't need to be deciding anything yet. 

(I'm just saying....sometimes looking is more fun that getting if you're not sure about your own opinion....)

CR10X wrote:Asking someone which 1911 you should get is like asking if you should get a new girlfriend / wife.  

If you haven't looked around enough to know what you want, then you probably don't need to be deciding anything yet. 

(I'm just saying....sometimes looking is more fun that getting if you're not sure about your own opinion....)

The problem I have is weighting all the options and not getting the opportunity to handle them before placing an order. I’d prefer to shoot them, but that’s rarely an option.

Take your time and find some matches where you can meet / see shooters and equipment.  In any event, just like girlfriends and wives, there is the distinct possibility that you will wind up with many ex's before finding the perfect one.....

Post your location and keep an eye out in the Buy / Sell section for used gun.  Generally the most economical way to start.  I've let people try out guns at matches many times.

I'll echo what Cecil said.  Post your location and you will likely get offers to shoot several different guns.  You can compare different features and see what feels the best to you.  That will give you ideas of what to look for when it comes to buying or building one which will make the process much less daunting.

Good luck.
John

I’m from Central KY. Bardstown, KY to be exact. Hope this helps

More or less "off the shelf" options are Rock River Arms, Les Baer, Accuracy X, Clark Custom and Springfield Armory Custom Shop. Champions Choice usually has 1 or 2 Les Baer's in stock for immediate delivery.

Bullseye Gunsmiths include Dave Salyer, KC Crawford, Frerking, Jon Eulette, Doug Hall, David Sams... Who else am I forgetting?

More important that WHO works on your gun is WHAT you want done. All of the gunsmith's above will do a fine job, but you need some experience to know what you want, hence the recommendation to get to know people and try as many as you can before taking the leap.

You can drive to illinois and shoot my eulette gun. Worth the drive in my opinion

CR10X wrote:Take your time and find some matches where you can meet / see shooters and equipment.  In any event, just like girlfriends and wives, there is the distinct possibility that you will wind up with many ex's before finding the perfect one.....

Post your location and keep an eye out in the Buy / Sell section for used gun.  Generally the most economical way to start.  I've let people try out guns at matches many times.

+1.  Right now, you are not sure of what you want.  This is normal.  So, why spend $2K (or more) for a nice bullseye gun and then find out what doesn't work for you?

Watch commercial row every day, with a bit a patience you'll find a good starter pistol for a "beginner" at considerably less cost.  Spend some time shooting it, learning what you like and what you don't.  You are correct, a SA Range Officer is still a good entry level pistol with some minor work as others have pointed out.  Later you can sell  the used gun to another person starting out, or maybe keep it for a backup?

Good luck with your search, it is part of the fun.

Doug

A new option I found out about at Camp Perry is Steve Huff at Accuracy X has a new program where you send him a base gun, really only needs the frame, and he will replace all the internals with his own, and fit one of his slides to it with the multi-sight option for $995.   The multi-sight inserts are extra, but they allow you to switch from open sight to a dot quickly.   He said he guarantees 10 ring accuracy but all he has built so far tested at 2" or less.   Check with them but it sounds like a good way to get an accurate BE gun at a good price.

If you end up buying a Range Officer, I'd recommend buying it in .45 instead of 9 mm.

CO1Mtn wrote:If you end up buying a Range Officer, I'd recommend buying it in .45 instead of 9 mm.

Out of curiosity, why would anyone have thought to buy in 9mm? It never crossed my mind.

I did, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now it’s a 38 Super!

james r chapman wrote:I did, seemed like a good idea at the time.
Now it’s a 38 Super!

Now that doesn’t seem like too bad of an idea

I bought a 9 mm R.O. when I was just starting out shooting bullseye and didn't know much about firearms. I saw that 9 mm ammunition was cheaper than the .45 type, so I went with 9 mm. I didn't realize that I couldn't shoot a full 2700 with a 9 mm. I was a total beginner and had no idea what I was doing. The Army shooting team was there at my first service pistol EIC and it was intimidating. I scored a 98 overall.

Also, I read someone's post on the internet who said the .45 R.O. pistols tend to be more accurate than the 9 mm variants. It had something to do with where or how they were made or put together. My personal experience validates that information. I know three people who have a .45 R.O. and they're more accurate than my R.O., even though my R.O. had the same work done to it (fitted bushing) and trigger job. 

I shot in service pistol matches for over a year but could not score high enough to win. I believe if I had a more accurate pistol, I would have won at least one match. I was shooting the R.O. today with my Nelson conversion on it, and my best slow fire target was a 87. I took the Nelson off and put my original 9 mm top end on. The best slow fire target I shot was a 67 with that. It's a big difference. And keep in mind, this is slow fire, not timed or rapid fire, so recoil isn't affecting me between shots. It was also windy today, so the Nelson would have performed even better on a non-windy day. I've tried all different weights of ammo, including 147 gr XTP handloads, with different powder weights, but the accuracy of my R.O. just isn't up to par. The best slow fire target I ever shot with the 9mm top end was 82. The rest were mostly in the 70s. With the Nelson, my personal best is a 94 in slow fire. Also, recently my NMC score is consistently above 260 with the Nelson .22, whereas with the 9 mm top end, it was never above 250. The Nelson conversion is more accurate than the original R.O. top end. The conclusion I came to is that it is not my lack of skill that is causing the poor performance in slow fire, but rather something inherently inaccurate in the 9mm top end.

The shooters I know who have R.O.s in .45 all did limited modifications to theirs and they shoot match-winning scores with them. One man didn't modify his at all except for putting skateboard tape on it, and won a match with it. It's almost totally stock. He scored in the 270s. Either I got a substandard one or the .45 version is better, but I think it's the latter. I just wanted to put that out there to try to steer the man who started this thread away from the same mistake I made. But, it sounds like he already has more experience than I did when I bought my first pistol.

I have heard people say that it's better to buy a quality pistol at the outset, and let one's skills grow into it, rather than buy a cheap pistol and outgrow it. I found out that I agree with that statement. If I had bought a Les Baer NM .45 when I was first getting into the game, I would have been better off. Sometimes when one tries to go too cheap on something, one ends up with a sub-par product and it does not suit the intended purpose well enough, and one ends up buying a better one eventually. And that means that it would have been better to buy the highest quality in the first place, in that type of situation. As they say, "buy once, cry once." It may cost twice as much for a Les Baer (or better yet, a custom built Caspian) than a R.O., but you'll know you've got a real match-quality pistol that you can win with.

I ended up turning my R.O. into a dedicated .22 for rimfire EIC matches. It works great for that. But I can't compete in service pistol until I get something better. I could possibly have a Kart barrel fitted to it, but it may not fix the problem. And with where I'm at right now, I'd rather keep shooting rimfire for a couple of years, then later on I'll buy a Les Baer if I want to get back into centerfire service pistol. But for now I'm having a blast with .22 and it's dirt cheap to train and compete.

KBarth wrote:I highly recommend you send your gun to Jon Eulette if you want the best quality 1911 you can possibly get. He will build you an excellent gun that will last a lifetime most likely.  I personally wouldn't choose any other smith for my work.

+1  Jon will do a fantastic job and backs up his work.

james r chapman wrote:Generally, replacing the bushing on a SARO will tighten up to acceptable accuracy levels. The trigger needs work. Doug Hall comes highly recommended

I replaced the bushing on my Range Officer with an EGW bushing. The previous owner already had the trigger set up at 3 1/2 lbs. I also followed some reload suggestions for 4.2 of Bullseye. Very happy with the results!
I only shoot 50ft indoors, but this is my target at 25 yds indoors from a rest.

That will work!

If anyone can point me towards a set of Rink 1911 grips please let me know. Found there site but not sure if I can order to the US. Will Cardinal Sell them once they get set up like Larry did?

Some for sale in the commercial area.

I took a glance and didn’t see any recently. Must have not gone far enough back