Am I handicapped by shooting this pistol? 9mm Range Officer

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Sirs,

I'd like to ask for your advice, and if you have time, thank you in advance for any help you can provide.
I shot for all of 2017 with a 9mm Springfield Range Officer. The barrel rifling has a 1:16 twist rate. I was using PPU 147 gr HP ammo. It's $12.50 for a box of 50, which is pretty cheap. I've never ransom rest tested this pistol (I didn't know anyone who had a ransom rest), but on my best day shooting I shot five 10s in a row at the 50 yard line. But my scores at the 50 yard line in slow fire usually ranged from 60-70. For timed and rapid fire, my average score was 70-75. My highest NMC score was 228 with this pistol and the PPU ammo.

I only have one year of experience so far, shooting bullseye/CMP/EIC pistol. I have a small amount of prior firearm experience from deer hunting and occasionally trap shooting.

I really have my heart set on winning an EIC pistol match. It might take me a long time, but I'll keep trying until I get there some day. I shot in eight EIC matches in 2017 (one rimfire EIC match and seven service pistol EIC matches (five regional and two special matches)). My first EIC competition I scored a 88/300. They made all of us use these beat up rack-issue M9s that were straight out of the armory, and it was too big for my hand and the trigger was awful. I remember when we got back to the picnic tables to clean the pistols, I shook mine side to side and you could literally hear the barrel rattling inside the slide. After that match, I tried using a Glock 17 in a regional match, and scored a 109/300 with that. Then I bought the Range Officer. I had it worked over by a gunsmith, so it has a great trigger, a better barrel bushing and guide rod, and better grips. One thing it does not have is a fitted match grade barrel. It only has the stock barrel. My highest EIC score with that was a 228. I went against the gunsmith's advice, and I peened the rails and squeezed the slide in a vise at home in the garage. I did that because the slide had some slop in the front and the back, and I wanted to tighten it up. It actually worked, and after I filed down the burrs from peening the rails, it was a tight fit, and all the play was gone. I haven't been able to shoot it since then though, so I didn't get to test out if it was shooting more accurately after that.

I think I was steadily making progress in 2017, but then I got deployed, and I wasn't issued a pistol here, so right now my training has come to a dead halt. But I am thinking on whether or not I need to upgrade my pistol. Is it worth it for me to buy a $3000 pistol from AccuracyX right now? It would be ready by the time I finish this deployment. That is the question I am asking myself. I paid $919 for my Range Officer, including the gunsmithing, shipping fee, and transfer fee. I can keep shooting with the Range Officer, or I can buy a Les Baer or a custom made pistol (which would be much better than a production run pistol). If I keep shooting EIC with my current pistol, it won't cost me anything more since I've already paid for the pistol...but is it worth it, to keep trying with that 9mm? I understand the 9mm cartridge is inferior to the .45 in CMP/bullseye. Follow-through is more critical and less forgiving with the 9mm. And I should have bought a .45 instead of the 9mm, but I didn't know what I was doing when I first got into the sport so I bought the 9mm version. What do you suggest that I do? Should I buy a new service pistol? And if so, what should I buy? I'd like to have a better shooter shoot my Range Officer through an entire centerfire stage so I can see how accurate it really is, in the hands of a pro. I'm wondering if this pistol is good enough to win an EIC match with, or is it futile to keep trying with it?

Thank you,
Daniel

The original slide stop in mine was undersized thus causing vertical stringing. I replaced it with a quality (9mm) slide stop that measured .200 and I also replaced the bushing with a tight fit Briley bushing. I didn't have to do anything to the barrel. Eventually I converted the whole thing to a Super because I wanted too. But not because I really needed too. Mine shot fine without changing the barrel YMMV.

Len

The gunsmith replaced the slide stop in mine also. He said it came with the wrong slide stop right out of the box. Now my slide stop is .218 which I guess is oversized and can't go any larger. He put a new barrel bushing in it too. It says "wilson" on it. I'll get a KKM barrel installed in the future, and I think that will make it a pretty decent hardball gun for me to use for a while. Thank you all for your input.

Largest slidestop is 0.203". Are you sure about 0.218"?
Jon

I could be wrong about that then. I remember that the gunsmith said he put the largest slidestop in that could be put in.

The RO slide stops that I've seen measured .195.. way undersized compared to the more normal 198-199 stops. Can make a large difference in lockup.

I'm going to do both. I'll have the gunsmith equip the Range Officer with a new KKM barrel. And I'll also buy a .45 hardball gun. I'll have some deployment money saved up so money won't be a problem. I can't decide whether I want a Les Baer Hardball gun or buy a used hardball pistol off of someone else on the forum. AccuracyX pistols look impressive, but I'm not sure I need to spend $3000. Maybe $2000 would be more reasonable for me. Everyone, feel free to send me a PM if you want to sell me your pistol. I'll have to wait until deployment is over or when I go home on break though.

Jim,
Bushing fit on RO is actually pretty good. Oversized slidestop pin will benefit more.
Jon

A bit of a necro post but I'm a retired NG shooter. Shot on a state team, but I know a bunch of all guard shooters. When you're ready look into state adjacent general (TAG) matches. You can only earn 4 points at a TAG match, can only earn those points once, and that's if you have no leg points. Regional NG matches are called MAC matches, and you can earn points at a MAC match every time you shoot untll you leg out. The All Army is at Ft Benning. All these matches are combat matches shot with arms room pistols. For everything elas you need your own accurized gun.

My 9mm RO has the factory 1\16 barrel and absoutly hates 115 gr bullets. It does however just love 147 gr bullets. Any commercial 147 ammo is accurate at 25 yards, and Federal 9MS will hold the 10 ring at 50 yards. Good luck with whatever you end up going with.