Range officer whoa's

Picked up a new range Officer in 45 ACP.  At first glance the firearm appears tight and well finished.  Upon shooting this new RO the accuracy is what I consider unacceptable with groups in the 1 foot or more range at 25 yards.  I'm unable to have repeated shots  come close to each other and sometimes a foot away from the last.  The rear sight has been cranked all the way to the right and the impact point is still 6 inches to the left of aim (when things work right otherwise sometimes more to the left).  The rear sight is also canted slightly and not straight on the slide.  Tried 3 different loads so far.  3.8 of BE and the Magnus #801. 4.3 0f V 310 and Nosler 185 JHP and some Federal 230 ball .  Worked like a charm function wise, just not accurate.  

Things I did notice after taking it home and cleaning it was this.  The barrel is riding the link hard. After only 100 shots there is a distinct mark on the slide stop pin where the link is and there are no marks on the lower barrel lugs or the SS where the lower lugs should be hitting.  After cleaning I marked the lower lugs with Dykem and confirmed that there is NO contact between the SS pin and lower lugs.  On to the SS pin, measured at only .196 and that seems to be a bit on the small side.  I tried an old SS that I had laying around that measured .199 and with that old SS pin in place got contact with the lower lugs and solid, if not a bit to tight lock-up.  

Everything else about the firearm seems OK, slide to frame fit is acceptable, barrel bushing is a bit loose on the barrel and frame  but again acceptable for a production gun.

  A question for those that know more than me.  Send it back to Springfield or try shooting with the larger SS pin?  I believe that the larger SS will tighten up the groups somewhat but am still puzzled as to why it's shooting so far to the left.  Could a larger SS pin make it shoot more to the right?  I don't think so but then I never ran into this problem before     

Bought this RO for EIC matches and it just aint going to work as is. At the least this RO should be somewhat competitive for EIC in it's stock form according to all the glowing reports it gets.. Could it be I just got a lemon?

Virgil

Virgil is this a new gun?  If so I would be sending it back to the mothership. Don

Brand spanking new.

Mothersiip. The rear sight tells a lot.

A correct fit bushing will help.  Springfield bushing is crap.

If that pistol is really that inaccurate out of the box, it needs to go back to the "mother ship".
Start with a better foundation.
Throwing parts and money at it to still get a sub par pistol is silly.
My criteria for any new pistol out of the box is a 10 shot group at 50ft to 25yd must hold under 4" inch.
My chosen carry guns will do that and are never modified/tuned.
We are talking precision here so it is the same but will modify/tune the pistol to get it more accurate.

JMHO;
Clarence

no question I'd shoot it with the larger SS..  .196 is very small for a SS.. most average 198-199.

one thing to check with the larger SS and you existing link is to remove the recoil spring then insert the larger SS but leave the locking arm hanging down toward the trigger guard..  pull the slide back, push on the barrel and make sure the SS is easy to rotate...

a new EWG fit bushing will help most ROs

jglenn21 wrote:no question I'd shoot it with the larger SS..  .196 is very small for a SS.. most average 198-199.

one thing to check with the larger SS and you existing link is to remove the recoil spring then insert the larger SS but leave the locking arm hanging down toward the trigger guard..  pull the slide back, push on the barrel and make sure the SS is easy to rotate...

Did that and the larger one fits fine and swings free.

I've got a call into SA and see what they say.  Talk on the net is that SA's acceptable standards are 3.5 inches and under @ 25 yards for 10 shots. This one, at least in my hands off a bench fails that miserably.

We will see.


Virgil

Would be better off sending it to a Bullseye pistolsmith or you could just roll the dice and hope you get a better factory technician and wonder if it could shoot better later down the road.  Worst case scenario is that Springfield will send it back and say that it is acceptable.

My factory 9mm and .45 RO's loosened up a bit and crazy stuff started to happen, now they have oversize barrels custom fitted and lock up TIGHT.  The slide to frame fit has a little play but in battery they have ZERO movement, very happy with them except if the rounds don't hit the X i can't blame the pistols.

I maybe wrong but from what I think I have read on this sight a RO needs to be sent off to a BE smith to be worked on before it is a good BE pistol.  It is just one of the better platforms to start a rebuild with.  Don

I'm a big fan of Springfield. That being said it is a mass produced item. Maybe someone had a bad day on the line. I've found Springfield to have excellent customer service. Let's see what they have to say.

A NIB S.A 1911 should not need the slide recut for the sight notch. I had a Gold Cup with similar problem. Sight notch .032 offset. Couldn't center up the group.
Of course you'll probably fit a new barrel and bushing. And .196 is what all my 1911's came with.

Although your pistol is just a generic type of gun, Springfield Armory has people there who are more than capable of making a top quality match pistol. Any new gun that has those issues should be sent back under warranty before you start changing any parts. You probably won't get a match accurate pistol back, but it should hold 3" groups or better at 25 yards. I'm sure that gun companies get a lot of guns sent back from people who can't hit the broad side of a barn that say it's the fault of the gun. Make sure that they know that you are a bullseye pistol match shooter. SA is always at the national matches and have supported the shooting sports with a lot of financial donations to the sport. IIRC they donated a million dollars to the NRA Competitive Shooting Endowment many years ago.

orpheoet wrote:I'm a big fan of Springfield. That being said it is a mass produced item. Maybe someone had a bad day on the line. I've found Springfield to have excellent customer service. Let's see what they have to say.

This is what I'm doing. 

 Told them I shoot BE and bought this gun for EIC matches.  I know this isn't a match BE gun and never expected it to be but it should be able to keep 10 shots centered on a B-8 target @ 25 yards with about 3" groups at worst, not in the 5 and 6 ring to the left with the rear sight turned all the way to the right and  12"+ groups at that range.  Never expected it to be an under 2" group @ 50 yards. That would be unrealistic on my part.  With all the shots I took not one was to the right of the black and I ran out of room to move the rear sight any farther.  

At any cost of a new gun I shouldn't have to be replacing barrels, links, SS pins, bushing, etc to get the gun to shoot descent. I bought this gun based on the reviews here and from fellow BE shooters that have them.  Either the reviews I've read were full of crap or I got a lemon, I'm going with the latter because there's an honest bunch of guys here and to many good reviews of the RO.

I'm anxiously awaiting Springfield's reply. 



Virgil

By the way Virgil,

From the world's worst speller....

It's "woes".

"Whoa" is what I tell my horse.  

Jim

spursnguns wrote:By the way Virgil,

From the world's worst speller....

It's "woes".

"Whoa" is what I tell my horse.  

Jim

Well this RO is horse chit

Hello Virgil,

I scoop up horse "chit" every evening.

Send your Range Officer to me and I will make sure that it is safely disposed of.

Jim

Hey wait a second (spelled hey right and didn't spell it hay )

I spelled whoa right, so I'm not the worlds worst speller just didn't use it in the right context. 


And it could be taken as "whoa there big RO, I'm not shoot'in you until you gets fixed"

Virgil Kane wrote:Hey wait a second (spelled hey right and didn't spell it hay )

I spelled whoa right, so I'm not the worlds worst speller just didn't use it in the right context. 


And it could be taken as "whoa there big RO, I'm not shoot'in you until you gets fixed"

what did springfield say?

Chris Miceli wrote:

Virgil Kane wrote:Hey wait a second (spelled hey right and didn't spell it hay )

I spelled whoa right, so I'm not the worlds worst speller just didn't use it in the right context. 


And it could be taken as "whoa there big RO, I'm not shoot'in you until you gets fixed"

what did springfield say?

Haven't heard back from them yet today.  If I don't hear back today I will call again tomorrow.

Just heard from Springfield Armory.

They are getting a call tag ready and their techs are going to look at this RO.

Hopefully the fix will be timely.

Virgil

Their custom shop put a rail on my Trophy Match. Sent it on a monday, got it back that friday.