Newbie's Question - Springfield Platform

Hi Folks... Just started Bullseye two weeks ago after not shooting anything for 43 years. Yup, I'm a Newbie Old Guy. I want to do this right (i.e., equipment) so here's the plan: 1) purchase a Springfield MilSpec or Ranger Officer; 2) send to a Pistolsmith strongly recommended by my Bullseye Club Members; 3) set-up to use same gun for all three 2700 stages; 4) 22lr stage to use Marvel upper conversion and a Ultradot Matchdot2; 5) the other two stages will use the 45 upper with another Ultradot Matchdot2 affixed; and, 6) as my skills improve (hope springs eternal), buy identical Springfield and send to Pistolsmith and use as a dedicated 45.

My preference is to get the Range Officer since it appears to be pretty well set-up as a base gun for the Pistolsmith to work on. Ok, my question, am I on the right track or am I overbuying when a MilSpec will do?

Thanks everyone for any help. I should know this but, hey, I'm the Newbie Old Guy!

I have a Range officer and it will do 1'' @ 25yds . I did hand fit a EGW bushing and I replaced the stock slide stop pin with a 200 pin. You may find yourr gun shoots pretty well from the start . I as well added as clark slide mount and MAtch Dot....I'm happy. in time I will have the slide to frame fit adjusted and have a Kart BArrel fitted ...But for now the gun shoots way better than I can hold .....HAve fun.

I am not familiar with what it would take to get a mil-spec bullseye ready but just looking at the mil-spec compared to the range officer I would go with the range officer. I am pretty sure that the mil-spec would need enough work to make the slightly cheaper purchase price irrelevent. With the range officer all you will need is a trigger job and probably a bushing and you will be ready to go shoot 10's. The range officer was purposely built for your situation, somebody starting out that doesn't want to spend $2000 for a 45 but wants a competitive gun. I have a RO that I had a trigger job and bushing replaced and with Fed. Match ball ammo will shoot under 2" at 50 yds. I also had the necessary parts replaced to make it EIC legal but the trigger and bushing were the only accuracy related things done to it. I don't think you can go wrong with the RO and you will be shooting for a long long time before you can out shoot it. Can you make the mil-spec shoot as good or better than the RO? Yes, but I think it will take a lot more money to get it that way. Scott

Good, timely input and very helpful. Looks like a RO, trigger job, Marvel, Ultradot, and some other minor work is the suggested way. And, yup, it will be WAY better than my skills for more than a little bit. Thanks folks. Any other comments.

First off, IMHO you are making a wise choice by going with a Springfield Armory pistol for a base gun. Many pistolsmiths prefer to replace the hammer, sear, trigger, etc. when building a bullseye pistol. You need to talk with your pistolsmith and see which one he recommends. If you can afford it, have a custom barrel fitted at the same time.

RO is a good choice and Sounds good, but imo "doing it right" would require rethinking the marvel unless you get a dedicated frame for it, trying to break down a gun and reassemble at a match can be frustrating being you can only handle your guns when the range is considered hot. Also you will be trying to shoot a 22 with a 3.5 pound trigger instead of a 2 pound you could have with a separate 22 or dedicated frame. A good ruger 22 would be cheaper than a marvel and shoot as good or better. Another thing, a match dot is useless unless you need the extra 3 dot sizes, it weighs a ounce more too, ive tried them as many others have and most end up using the 4moa dot which is what regular ud's all have. Just my findings from my experience, the less things you have to remember to do at a match the better you will shoot.

DavidR wrote:RO is a good choice and Sounds good, but imo "doing it right" would require rethinking the marvel unless you get a dedicated frame for it, trying to break down a gun and reassemble at a match can be frustrating being you can only handle your guns when the range is considered hot. Also you will be trying to shoot a 22 with a 3.5 pound trigger instead of a 2 pound you could have with a separate 22 or dedicated frame. A good ruger 22 would be cheaper than a marvel and shoot as good or better. Another thing, a match dot is useless unless you need the extra 3 dot sizes, it weighs a ounce more too, ive tried them as many others have and most end up using the 4moa dot which is what regular ud's all have. Just my findings from my experience, the less things you have to remember to do at a match the better you will shoot.

Don't overlook the 4 dot UDs. Some of us just use one of the large dots without switching around. I use the 1" 4 dot on 22 and 45 set on one of the middle two size dots.

Thank you all. I've now just about convinced to bite the bullet and get another RO right from the get go I will have the Marvel dedicated 22 and the other for other stages. My intent is to try to wind up with identical "feel" from stage to stage.

Re: the red dots, my pistolsmith also recommended the less expensive 1" 4 dot UD. I know that the UD Match II will add another oz, but don't know yet what my eyes will like so wanted to maximize options. So, I've bought one to get familar with a red dot on a Walther SP 22 M3 while I was going through the Springfield process. Unfortunately, the Walther broke so have not been able to test it till SP comes back from Walther. So, the UD is still a work in progress for my eyes.

Ok, with all that said, what have y'all found to make a bell ringer out of a Ranger Officer that I can talk with the Pistolsmith about? From posts thus far I have: trigger job on both; hammer, sear, and bushings. BTW, he is great guy and I have lots of confidence in him. But, like you folks, I like to go into a conversation well armed witht he best advice I can get. Thanks again everyone, this is great! (P.S. Sorry for my long posts)

A RO out of the box, with a adjustment to the sear spring to lighten it to 3.5, and a clark scope rail is all you really need to get started, that with quality accurate ammo will shoot 10 ring at 50 yds, a lighter recoil spring of 11 -12 lbs will be needed with bullseye loads with a dot on it. you can spend 5-600 more but the accuracy increase will be minor and until you get extremely good will never be noticed.

Thank you DavidR, that is very helpful for the 45, any other advice for the dedicated Marvel conversion?

Thats the main reason i suggested a dedicated frame, they can be finicky unless you just luck up and get a frame that works perfect. I had mine built from a caspian frame but this is not a cheap way out if you plan on doing it right, with quality match parts i could have bought a new RO had they been available at the time for what it cost. If a budget way is needed i would look for a used 1911 in the 400-500 range, but if i could do it i would buy a second RO, then you would have one top end with its iron sights, then you could have at some time a standard hammer and grip safety fitted, and you could change those out in a few minutes and have a RO that could also be used in EIC hardball matches.

I have my Marvel Precision Unit 1 mounted on a Springfield Armory "Loaded" frame. It fit without any trouble. I did some trigger work, but I wanted and have a 3.5# trigger, not a lighter 2# one that most folks want on a .22. I did add some lead stick-on weights to the top of the scope rib to get it closer to the weight of my wad gun.

DavidR... A second RO is now the plan. In fact, I just purchased the first one at an online auction for David Salyer to convert to the Marvel Precision upper. All the comments here helped me to decide.

Dave is a great guy, he will fix you up, when you see him ask him for some of his 45 -160 valant bullets and his load recipe and you can compete with the best of them.

DavidR... He sure is a great guy and has a lot of respect from the folks here (Middle Tennessee) who are looking to meeting him in person at the Tennessee Regionals during the Memorial Day Weekend. I'll remember to ask about the 160 valants. I also like the suggestion of having the dedicated 45 with another upper just with iron sights. My primary objective however, would be to have an upper UltraDot since that is what I see myself shooting most (i.e., 2700). I'm a little past it to be shooting iron sights at 150'. I have to confess, though, after last weekend with a borrowed S&W 41 and a borrowed Marvel Precision Type I, both with iron sights, it was like going back 40+ years and home.