Yet another question, this time, .45acp.

First topic message reminder :

I've been asking a lot of questions but I get so much great feedback that I count on all of you for rock solid information. I'm thinking of moving into adding a .45 to my BE collection, I've only been shooting rimfire and would like to step up to the challenge. What is the best path for me to take for getting myself into a serviceable shooter? I'm currently on a pretty tight budget and will have to build incrementally. Your advice is cherished greatly.

Wingshot wrote:I'm pretty much hard set that as I move into the .45, it's going to be NIB. I've read here and seen for myself why a used one is probably a bad idea for someone as green to the game as I am. It's also true that I'm really not sure what I'd like out of the chute as far as trigger weight goes. I'm familiar with light, crisp triggers on rifles but have very limited exposure to competition pistol triggers. The RO seems to me a great foundation on which to build and hopefully, within 60-90 days, I'll have one. I'm not opposed to looking at and researching other makes but at this point it'll take some convincing evidence to change my mind.

I was suggesting buying one from a shooter at one of your matches. Someone likely has an extra backup gun that could be had for a good price for a new shooter. It's not at all rare for the shooters in my area to buy and sell within our group.

Walt Jackson here. Sorry, but my source of reasonably priced Range Officers, like so many other guns, has dried up. The distributors are allocating them to the big dealers. I consider a R/O a very good value. For the most part, the stock trigger pull is acceptable, but I have seen exceptions. I've fit Kart NM barrel bushings to several, and with one exception, they shot under 2" at 50 yards off the Ransom rest. The one exception had a barrel hood that was not fitted as well and did around 2.5". It would be fantastic if Springfield Armory would fit a match bushing to this model and also offer it with a standard GI grip safety, thumb safety, and spur hammer (which transforms it into a hardball-legal configuration).

I picked up a SA mil-spec last night and it is a very good gun. The fit of the gun is close to, if not the same as my RO.

I'm seeing a few on the auction sites and I've been passing the word around the local shooting community and with any luck something will turn up. Thanks for chiming in Walt, it's just crazy out there in the gun sales world right now. I'm a big believer that good things will come to those that stand and wait. ;-)

sixftunda wrote:I picked up a SA mil-spec last night and it is a very good gun. The fit of the gun is close to, if not the same as my RO.

The Mil-spec has fixed sights, correct?

Wingshot wrote:

sixftunda wrote:I picked up a SA mil-spec last night and it is a very good gun. The fit of the gun is close to, if not the same as my RO.

The Mil-spec has fixed sights, correct?

Yes it does. I am going to put a slide mount on it. The Marvel rib has a hole milled for the front sight, which is staked. All I will have to do is take the rear sight off.

I'd like to see pics of that when you get it together. I have seen some Mil-specs around at some of the LGS's

In the last year I have spent enough on different guns and equipment to have paid for a custom wad gun. However, my goal is to try a number of different things before I order one so I know exactly what I want. I want to shoot matches and practice with different things.
Slide mount, frame mount, short trigger, long trigger, crisp break versus roll trigger etc. I have been trying a few different red dots and determining which ones work best for me.
...then there's perfecting reloading.

Sixftunda, perfecting reloading is one thing, obtaining components is another! ;-)

A club member who shoots in our indoor rimfire BE league brought his RO out for me to shoot tonight. He's had it made CMP compliant and had trigger work done to it by a Smith at Camp Perry. It was pretty sweet! I shot 2 mags at 25 yards and although it was nearly dark, I shot better than I expected. It was great that he allowed me to try it out and now I'm really getting stoked and have to get one. I'm not a big fan of the rear sight but I'd most likely get a mount and UD mounted since I'm not shooting CMP. There are some great people in this BE game and I first began to realize that when I joined here! I just got to get the $$ together so I can get things in motion.

I shot an 849 with my RO today at the Ohio Indoor Championships!

sixftunda wrote:I shot an 849 with my RO today at the Ohio Indoor Championships!

Nice shooting!

HOLY COW! GOOD JOB!!!

After they scored my target someone asked me "Who works on your pistol?" They were quite surprised when I told them it was stock other than Joe Fobes doing the trigger work.
If that isn't the best endorsement for an RO I don't know what is.

Not to mention a great endorsement of Joe's trigger work! Congrats.

Walt

That's true!
I have a Joe Fobes trigger job on my 1911...but it only shot 800+ when Joe owned it.
Not the gun's fault....Rob's fault...

If its OK, Id like to extend the original question. Lets assume this current market situation clears and an RO becomes available. And lets assume a rimfire pistol is also needed and both want a red dot sight. Why not use the side mount Jerry Keefer's been describing and get a Marvel rimfire conversion? One frame. One mount/gunsmith charge. One sight. Same trigger and grip. Good idea? If not why?

If you used one frame for both rimfire and centerfire, I would recommend a slide mount and red dot for each. A frame mounted red dot would require you to re-zero the dot each time you switched.

I wouldn't recommend one lower for rimfire and centerfire. For the cost of a marvel conversion you can buy a decent .22 pistol and a red dot that will shoot just fine.

I would have eventually have gotten to asking a similar question as rvwinkles but since I'm getting my hands on a MKll this week, I will focus on using that as my rimfire go-to. The grip angle is similar, I believe and if I go with target grips, I could go like/like with both the rimfire and the .45 RO. Does THAT sound like a good plan?

Rvwinkle;
There is no relationship between the zero of the 1911 when it's a .45 vs. when you have the conversion on it.
the zero is always consistent with a scope mounted on top of a conversion because it's attached directly to the barrel. When it's a .45 it would be consistent with either mount as long as the lockup is consistent.
You might be lucky and they could have the same zero, or you might be able to dial in the correct number of clicks when you are switching back and forth.

Got it. Thanks. Shoulda thought of that.....