Kicking tires

I'm mostly wasting time but if a good deal presents its self i'm ready to prove how impulsive i can be. LOL
I missed out on some 22 EIC matches this year simply because i don't have a dedicated iron sight gun. Resulting in late night trips to the gun pron site, lusting over the nicest profiles. GunBroker is very addictive not to mention Simpson LTD. Having owned several different conversions and Smith 41's i'm looking for something different. 208S screams AWSOME.. But were is the line? I will pay for the nicer one but how much? What other upper end guns are desirable? I have a Pardini SP &HP but the wear dots. I always Loved the way a High Standard Victor looked but i want the desirability the Hammerli commands with its great trigger. What do you think?

Which one do you shoot best?

Why not just take the dot of the SP for .22 EIC? Or, if you're determined to spend money, why not another SP? That way, you don't have to get used to yet another gun, and you'll also always have a backup.

Never tried a 208. I have 3 pardini guns already. Guess i just want another nice target pistol.

ASchlem,get the 208s!!!you won't regret it.
John

Arm twisted. Now what are they worth?

I have a 208s. I shoot it with irons for .22 EIC and optic for .22 portion of a 2700. It’s a 20 second switch and holds zero. I’ve done it several times and haven’t even adjustable a click. 

Having one pistol do the job of two is nice.

ASchlem,somewhere in the neighborhood ~$1800-$2100 but remember the old saying "buy once cry once".They are wonderful.

John

I love my new 208S, got one like new in box from Simpson Ltd for about $1800 and felt like I got a deal, seemed hardly fired. Love the 2 stage trigger and balance with a 9000SC on LGI rail and as mentioned above very easy to go between irons an dot. I much prefer it over my old GSP. I've got a MG2 coming soon and am curious how they compare.

208s is the way to go, very balanced pistol.

lakemurrayman wrote:ASchlem,get the 208s!!!you won't regret it.
John

You might. Finding one of these guns with the irons intact can be an expensive struggle.  Then if you have aging eyes, the 208 iron sights are not the most visible.  Many better choices out there for the same money with much better visibility.  AW-93 has the same balance and lovely big visible irons.

Yea, the 208s is very sexy and alluring, but if you want to shoot EIC .22 AND you might eventually want to shoot centerfire EIC / Service Pistol; then I would recommend you go back and rekindle your relationship with a quality .22 conversion on a dedicated frame. The benefits of a long term stable relationship will pay you back many times over in the pursuit of leg points.

But of course, everyone is tempted to stray from the pure path (of getting leg points ) at times. I went down that distracted path a couple of times myself. It's fun, cheaper than a divorce and you have something to show off to your friends. You just have to figure out long term goals versus short term goals.

In any event, have fun!

CR

My Nelson conversion has beautiful iron sights.  Much better than the ones original to the 208s.

I'll speak for the Matchguns MG-2, even though I had some issues with the one I bought (others have had no issues at all), but all have been rectified. Customer service from MGUSA is excellent. I use it as my primary 22 pistol and often use it for EIC matches even though I bought a Benelli (very capable) for that purpose. Red-dot comes on and off easily with no loss of zero. The gun has a wide leaf rear sight, rear notch is adjustable for both width and depth, windage and elevation is adjustable on the fly, by hand, without the use of tools. It has an ABSOLUTELY SUPERB trigger, bar none. Excellent grips from the factory.
Having said all that, and I own a few other types of precision 22's including conversions, what people buy and shoot is a very personal choice based on changing likes, dislikes and most importantly level of skill and experience. All my guns feel different holding and shooting, but if I am paying attention to fundamentals, I can shoot any of them within +- 1% of my average. 
In other words, IMHO, as long as the gun is capable of the desired results, and you like it....buy it and shoot it. What it is, matters very little...in the overall scheme of things.

For under 2K you can have a dedicated lower built to your specs and a brand new Nelson to go on top.  Not to mention you don't have to deal with different grip angles.  You're shooting a 1911 the whole way through.

Schaumannk wrote:

lakemurrayman wrote:ASchlem,get the 208s!!!you won't regret it.
John

You might. Finding one of these guns with the irons intact can be an expensive struggle.  Then if you have aging eyes, the 208 iron sights are not the most visible.  Many better choices out there for the same money with much better visibility.  AW-93 has the same balance and lovely big visible irons.

I disagree. I like the iron sights on my 208S, can even get different width front sight post from red feather to suit your needs. I also haven’t seen somebody be able to switch the AW93 between irons and optic quickly while maintaining a good zero, because the most popular optic rails replace the rear iron sight. 

A lot of it is personal preference, I wish it was easier to try some of the options out before purchasing. But worse case, the resale on many options being discussed hold value and can be sold here on the forum if it doesn’t fit your needs.

I did shoot my way to Mayleigh Team match with a 208s and a Marvel. But I shot somewhat consistently better Centerfire and .45 scores at matches after going to the Marvel. Could be coincidence, timing or just getting better at it at that time. But i still shoot conversions most all the time now.
CR

Schaumannk wrote:

lakemurrayman wrote:ASchlem,get the 208s!!!you won't regret it.
John

You might. Finding one of these guns with the irons intact can be an expensive struggle.  Then if you have aging eyes, the 208 iron sights are not the most visible.  Many better choices out there for the same money with much better visibility.  AW-93 has the same balance and lovely big visible irons.

I was training/practicing/shooting-with-a-purpose yesterday with my AW93 at an indoor 25 yard range that had kinda good lighting and thought to myself how much I like large iron sights. US firearms often have dinky little sights to use. 

A few years ago I was chasing after a 208S or 215S because I like having an adjustable trigger length. I found it odd that in Europe these pistols sell for less than an X-esse but in the US the prices are high. I eventually bought a FWB AW93 as it is still in production and I get to see FWB US and German representatives every couple of years here in Georgia. (Emil, Alex and Vladimir from Pardini US come around too. Be careful talking with Vladimir as he will make your credit cards try to jump out of your pockets.) I like the design of the AW93 over the Pardinis. I also like that the modern Euro pistols do not have a bolt running back externally over your hand.

I also think KC and Cecil have a good argument about conversions, so I have a conversion too.

Stephen

For 2000.00 You could purchase 3 maybe 4 of these America made pistols and everyone of them will shoot 300 scores. I know these will all hold 10 ring at 50 yds. Find yourself a NIB 1970's Model 107 pay way too much for it. About 1000.00 and get your Distinguished .22 points. I have this thing about "vowel" guns. Of course everyone has their own opinion and that's mine. YMMV.

Len

Len
Only one HS?  Great as that one is....

It is great. You will notice I didn't offer to sell it. Dime size groups, fantastic trigger and perfect function. Shooting to win I use it. It would be hard to find a better one so I never tried. I was never able to figure out why you sold it. 

Sold it 'cause I got 12-15 more.  I used to be in the HS Collectors. 
Maybe soon I will clean house some more.  As you know I have not shot a match for a long while.  Kids and grandkids, Mother (96), EEGC Board, etc don't leave any time left over.  I don't need so much hardware.  Tough choices ahead

Your loss my gain. I bought the mk2 in the picture from you also. The pistol has some issues. Nothing that a couple hundred rounds thru it wouldn't cure. The pistol is so new it is stiff. I only have about 50 rds thru it and I don't think you ever fired it. Tough complaining a gun you bought is too new. It is also a tack driver.

If you shoot BE long enough you're sure to get a collection of 22's from both America and Europe, they've all got their place when you get that set up that just balances in your hand and fires when you want it to is something special. Just gotta find which pistol that is for you, make friends at matches and handle as many 22's as you can.

It happens that I've just played this game, and won!

I moved to Pardini 5" SP & HP for 22 & CF 2700 in mid-2019 and, at the time, had an MG2 which I dedicated to EIC. The MG2 is an accurate gun with an excellent trigger, as TonyH attests, no doubt. I subsequently also bought a very nice Marvel conversion, with a very nice trigger, also very accurate, no doubt. But in the heat of EIC leg matches, I failed with both of them.

Earlier this year, during the COVID suspension of matches, it dawned on me that the smart move was to buy another Pardini (I chose an SP22 6") and dedicate it to EIC (and other iron sight sectionals, etc., in the future). I won or came second in every EIC match I shot with it through the summer of 2020 and legged out with points to spare at Canton McKinley. Job done!

Why? Because I was already intimately familiar with the Pardini's. The mechanics, ergonomics and peculiarities of the gun did not distract me from my purpose. For my sad, older eyes the big and wide iron sights on a Pardini, with the foolproof (yes, that means me!) windage and elevation adjustments are just excellent.

This experience goes down in my personal history as an almost unique (for me) decision making process that was well considered and led to a perfect result. Amazing.

If you are younger, or have outstanding eyesight, then the 1911 conversions or the older Euro guns with the traditional narrow/small iron sights might be a good choice. And, there are certainly obvious benefits to one's overall Bullseye performance with the 45 1911 if you train and develop good technique with a 1911 conversion.

But, if your primary short term objective is to leg out in EIC 22 then, IMHO, the best way is to train hard with a reliable and modern Euro 22 pistol for both 2700 and EIC events.

Regarding the overall cost. Buying a new Pardini is a significant cost, but the resale value is also potentially very high. So the "net cost of ownership" is the important issue. In my case the custom Rink grip and other add-ons is a significant sunk cost, but the nett loss on the gun is rather minor.