New to the bulleye world, a few questions

I am currently a highpower service rifle shooter who went through the pistol SAFS at Camp Perry this year just to see what it was like and see if I couldn't learn more about being accurate with a pistol. I enjoyed it quite a bit and did a lot better than I ever thought I could do. My original plan was just to see if I couldn't better my pistol skills but since SAFS I haven't been able to shake the need to try to get further into this sport. Finally broke down and picked up a Beretta 92. After reading through here I know a lot of folks prefer 1911's, I just have never found one that felt right in the hand which is why I went with the Beretta. Much like the AR platform I know these guns can be modified and upgraded a bunch of different ways. As I am new to the pistol side of things, other than a barrel and possibly adjustable sights what else would a beginner want to look into as far as upgrades for this platform? I am not too worried about changing out barrels anytime soon as I am more concerned with getting the consistency and the mechanics of everything down first.

I reload as I'm sure a lot other do. I know in the highpower world I had to go with Redding bushing resizing dies and the sliding sleeve micrometer adjustment seater die to get the most out of my rifle. How critical are dies when it comes to bulleye pistol and accuracy? I've done ok with regular RCBS dies and my other pistols but as I found with rifle, what works well for just shooting stuff at the range doesn't always translate to accuracy. If those aren't sufficient what is everybody going with that works well?

I've got the pistol and 2 15 rd mags and would like to have more mags just in case. I know you guys are loading 5 rounds to a mag, what capacity mags is the norm in bulleye? I know with rifle the max we load is 8 in a mag yet we run 20 rounders I've read to stick with only Beretta or Mec Gar mags, are there any others that work reliably or is this pretty much it? Where is a good place to get mags?

Pistol, mags, ammo and something to transport them all in like the pistol boxes I saw for sale at Perry. A lower power spotting scope for slowfire? What else would a person really need or is essential/recommended?

Any thoughts you guys have would be appreciated.

Welcome to the sport.  Others will chime in with advice on your pistol, I have shot a few M9s and their clones, but am a 1911 guy so can't offer any advice there.  If you plan to shoot the classic course you will need a good 22 for the rimfire events, you can use the 9 for center fire, but not sure on the rules for the 45 matches.  I don't compete anymore so not sure what the current rules are.

You're okay on die. Experience tells me making accurate ammo is more a function of the guy on the press than the name on the dies.  Find a load your pistol likes and go shoot. 

Good luck, you're going to have a lot of fun and meet some fine folks, both here and at the range.

9mm is tougher to make an accurate 50 yard load for--that being said, it's more difficult to find a stock 9mm pistol that shoots a 50yard group that's less than 4" which would make it hard for you to get competitive for outdoor bullseye--regardless of 1911 platform, or Beretta.

The reason there is so much talk about 1911s is because Bullseye is a 3 stage competition--the .22 stage, Centerfire Stage (any CF over .32 cal), and .45 stage.  Since we NEED to shoot a .45 for one of the stages, and 1911s are the most common .45s that explains why you find so many 1911s on a bullseye firing line.

HOWEVER--shooting your Beretta can still be good fun, and going to matches will still be an opportunity to shoot and improve your performance.

Some of us find that Atlanta Arms makes the best 9mm ammo for the long line--even better than hand loads.  You might find a load from them that works well at 50 yards in your pistol.  You may need to experiment.  Same with your handloads.

Even if you can only shoot the 7 ring at 50 yards, if you can shoot 100s with that gun at 25 yards, you are still doing well.

Mods for the M9 for bullseye include, barrel replacement, slide work, adjustable sight, and trigger work.

You could always play with the Beretta for awhile, and after you have the addiction bad enough, send it off for customization and work on .22 while the Beretta is in the shop.

Dear Cryogenic:

Sent a pm for you to check out my pistol teams website.

Let me know what you think.

Cranky

So I've had a chance to play around and get off about 200 rounds through the Beretta. This is a bit more challenging than I initially thought, shooting one handed and remaining stable is no easy task. I've learned a few things since I picked up this gun and started working on building my skills.


So I've started looking at sights and there does not seem to be much of a selection of adjustable target sights for the 92's. The ones I've seen so far and liked were the LPA's, love the black serrations rather than dots or lines. Honestly not sure about that first one though as you have to drill the existing front sight to install 2 pins to hold the new one on, so it looks like the second one may be a more realistic replacement. Are these decent sights are should I be looking at something else?

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/921560/lpa-spr-target-sight-set-beretta-92-96-98-m9-steel-blue?cm_vc=ProductFinding and

http://www.midwayusa.com/product/980664/lpa-tpu-target-rear-sight-beretta-92-96-98-m9-brigadier-steel-blue?cm_vc=ProductFinding


When it comes to barrels it seems there are 2 choices, KKM and Bar Sto. There really isn't anything else out there is there?
I see Bar Sto offers a fitting service for their barrels but by the time all is said and done its damn near $500 to get that barrel put in. KKM doesn't seem to offer that service, they just sell the barrels. How hard is it to fit a barrel? I've looked on youtube and have seen some videos, unfortunately none seem to cover doing one for the Beretta. Might I be better off searching locally or regionally to see if there is anybody who does this sort of thing. Or will I be better served by biting the cost bullet and sending it off to some guru who does this sort of thing all the time?


For now the stock barrel seems to be better than my ability, but once I hone my skill and KNOW that the barrel is holding me back I want to be ready.

With a good trigger and stock barrel, you can probably get the gun to shoot cleans at the short line. If you can train and accomplish that, you will be on the road. At the long line, you can shoot low to mid eighties to be competitive in EIC matches. You really need to see how well your gun shoots now at the long line with quality ammo. If the gun won't group at the long line, i.e. 8 ring, then you might need to get it further accurized. If getting your distinguished badge is your goal, just stick with the Beretta and shoot as many centerfire matches as you can with your pistol. Enter as many EIC matches as you can under the rules.

I too am a service rifle shooter. I thought that I recognized your name from the national match forums. 

My first bullseye match was with the 45 back in 2012. I made a half hearted attempt at shooting the 22 and then shot .45 hardball for centerfire and the 45 stages. The results weren't pretty. 

Fast forward to this fall and I found myself needing to take a break from the Service Rifle. One option was some coached .22 practice by a couple of retired Bullseye shooters. I went to the first practice and found it very enjoyable. We shoot coached practice every odd Wednesday and will start 900 point matches every even Wednesday in October. 

Right now I am focusing on the .22 and indoor shooting at 25 yards. In addition to the Coached practice, I am going through the Marine Corps Pistol Workbook found on Gunny Zins web page. Since outdoor bullseye shuts down around here in October and doesn't start until April, the .22 pistol will be my focus (along with the occasional service rifle practice or Silhouette match) until March. 

I can't offer any advice on the Beretta. It is very large for my hands and I have never even shot one. Make sure you check out the Bullseye Encyclopedia. 

Good luck to you.

Welcome to the rifle shooters. Just an FYI.  Once you develop a good trigger technique shooting a pistol with one hand (moving that 4# trigger straight to the rear, without disturbing the sights, in a smooth-rapid-controlled fashion), that skill set will transfer over to your rifle shooting quite well.  Things you can get away with shooting a rifle with two hands, won't work with a pistol with one.