Range Officer?

[boatdoc]

I've decided to pick up a 1911, I have one now but nothing that I would use for competition. I have an $800.00 budget. The Range Officer looked like a good starting point. I like dark colored pistols (personal thing) although stainless is ok but would eventually cerokote. This is not a Carry gun. this is for CDP in IDPA. What are your thoughts? Please remember I have a budget.

Thanks Chuck

[Butterpuc]

I have a RO and like it a lot. It's not pretty but it is accurate and reliable. I have changed all the internals, external controls, and added grips/magwell... so I have ~$1300 into it. With everything it has it is a very competition friendly.

Basically, the only that is still original is the frame, slide, barrel, bushing, and recoil spring.

That's a little more than your budget, but that is where I ended up, short of having a fully custom built 1911.

[Glock34Guy83]

I have a range officer in 9mm and it's been absolutely 100% reliable one I ditched the factory mags for Tripp Research cobra mags. I changed the black front sight for a Dawson fiber optic front and put a Dawson ice mag well on it. I use it for steel challenge and walls of steel matches. I plan to use it for uspsa or idpa this summer.

[ttolliver]

I have an RO that's run flawlessly for me as well. Was my main competition gun for the 2013 season. I didn't do a darned thing to the internals. Just swapped in a 16lb spring and hung on a few user-friendly aftermarket parts: S&A magwell, VZ grips, extended mag release, and Dawson front sight. Oh, and I tossed a strip of grip tape on the front strap. And it's happy with the Chip McCormick 8 round Power Mags I started with, so I haven't had a need to look elsewhere for mags.

I don't play IDPA to know if any of those are verboten, but that set me up for USPSA.

That pile of add-on parts has got to be at least $350. Given local RO prices, I'm going to guess the RO itself is all of your $800 after tax or transfer fee or however you get one. Call it another $100 for 4 x 8-round magazines to start and you're at $900.

The rest of the stuff in my pile can be picked up and bolted on over time. But it's fair to say that'll end up a $1100 to $1200 setup by the time you're done.

Hope it helps!

[boatdoc]

Thanks for your replies. I'm going to go with an RO. I think for a budget gun it will work for me. Although I did come across a post on here that was about a high round count RO and what the owner had to do to keep it running. I'm going to spend the money, just can't do it all at once.

[Ultimo-Hombre]

Springfield is a good gun amigo!

My first 1911 was a loaded. Wish I still had it!

[19852]

I have owned two SA 1911s. Liked them well enough but sold to fund something else. Both were accurate enough for me and reliable. I used SA's customer service twice and they were outstanding twice. They will take care of you. So I would say buy with confidence and if you manage to wear out something they will fix it.

[boatdoc]

I have owned two SA 1911s. Liked them well enough but sold to fund something else. Both were accurate enough for me and reliable. I used SA's customer service twice and they were outstanding twice. They will take care of you. So I would say buy with confidence and if you manage to wear out something they will fix it.

What was your "something else" if you don't mind me asking?

[TPMINAZ]

I have the RO. I have put in excess of 50,000 rounds through it! It has been a great gun. I put magwell on it, VZ grips and a Dawson FO front sight. Other than replacing the springs it has been perfect. I also put some skate tape on the front strap. I get fantastic results with WST and SnS 200 gn SWC. I can't say enough about the gun.

[Jammer1911]

I have an RO in 45 ACP and 9 mm. Both are amazingly accurate. The only thing I suggest changing immediately is the ILS Mainspring housing. For IDPA I would reccomend an Ed Brown MSH w/Magwell (Need new internals as well), Tweek the Sear Spring get good Mags and run the crap out of it. I put Grip tape on front strap, Dawson FO Front sight and aggressive VZ Grips. Accurate, Accurate, Accurate!!!!!!!!

[twister]

TPMINAZ, what was your load with WST, if you don't mind sharing. Thanks,Dave.

Edited December 21, 2014 by twister

[mgrs]

I've had a .45 5" Range officer for just under two years. It has been a solid gun that has not malfunctioned outside out of spec ammunition or bent magazines

What I've done-

STI Ambi safety

S&A MSH/Magwell

Dawson FO front

19lb mainspring

14lb recoil spring

replaced sear spring

trigger breaks at 2lbs 1oz on a scale

I now have 7000 rounds on the pistol with no broken parts. The slide/frame and slide/barrel remain tight with no wobble. That's a low number for the time owned, but I do not compete in SS.

It seems to like 230gr LRN better than 200gr LSWC. I will post my WST load data later.

[boatdoc]

This might be a silly question, have you had any problems with CMC mags? I have 7 of them and have had issues with my other gun they've been used in. I'm convinced it was the firearm and not the mags. Also did the S&A magwell fit as nice as it looks?

I've had a .45 5" Range officer for just under two years. It has been a solid gun that has not malfunctioned outside out of spec ammunition or bent magazines

What I've done-

STI Ambi safety

S&A MSH/Magwell

Dawson FO front

19lb mainspring

14lb recoil spring

replaced sear spring

trigger breaks at 2lbs 1oz on a scale

I now have 7000 rounds on the pistol with no broken parts. The slide/frame and slide/barrel remain tight with no wobble. That's a low number for the time owned, but I do not compete in SS.

It seems to like 230gr LRN better than 200gr LSWC. I will post my WST load data later.

[mgrs]

boatdoc-

I have used the CMC Power, Power+, and Shooting Star. The power+ are the best of the three, but none of them caused any feed problems unless damaged. I like wilson better than all the CMCs though.

I was wrong about the magwell brand- it is an Ed Brown "Maxi well" mainspring housing/magwell and it did not require any fitting to go on the gun.

I also had to pick up a dawson extended firing pin (these guns use the 9mm pin size) to get it to light CCI LPPs with the 19lb main spring. Stock, it was fine, but I could not get the pull weight below 3lb without the lighter MS.

WST Load Data:

200gr LSWC at 1.25

4.5gr 40F 874 AV 16ES 867LO 7SD 174PF

with the 230gr LRN, it took 4.1gr at 1.260 to achieve the same PF.

[MislMan]

I bought a Springfield Mil-Spec for $599 about 1 month back. I have about 1k rounds through it now and love it. Very accurate and never had any issues yet (none). Of course I have older eyes and put a mini red-dot scope on it so the non-adjustable sights (also no dove-tail front sight) had no impact for me.

... Larry S.

[bceglinski]

RO are nice by the time you add everything you can buy a trophy match.

[PatJones]

RO are nice by the time you add everything you can buy a trophy match.

But then you still need to swap out for a bigger magwell and a different front sight, the same as the RO.

[zzt]

Chuck, there are a boatload of ROs at my club. In fact, they are so highly though of as a starter 1911 there is a poster stapled to the wall recommending them. LOL, think of it as a non-electronic FAQ.

I'm a RO and we are a friendly bunch at the club I shoot pistol at. I'm offered a look/see and asked to shoot a lot of the new pistols the members bring in. They want to show off, and they want my opinion. Here is my take. A Springfield Range Officer at $700 to $750 is a good value for the money. If the store has several, ask to see them all. Examine them for fit and trigger pull. The trigger pull in particular appears to be quite variable. The grinchiest, creepiest triggers seem to sort themselves out a LITTLE after about 400 rounds. Other than the trigger, I would not mess with anything else, as the pistols already shoot better than most of the shooters who buy them.

One of my shooting buddies shoots Glocks. He tried my 1911 and fell in love with it. He went out and bought a RO, because that was what everybody recommended in the low price range. He loves the pistol, shoots it well, but complains about the trigger being gritty and creepy. It's not like mine. Well, my 1911 is custom and has a custom trigger job. I tell him, what do you expect. Give it to a good smith and for between $55 and $75 you'll have one just as good. He won't do it. He shoots Glocks which have, next to the M&P, arguably the worst trigger pulls on the planet, and won't spent up to $75 to make a trigger that is already an order of magnitude better, perfect. I don't get it.

The RO is a good pistol and a good value. If you like it, buy one. If you get one with a bad trigger pull, a little bit of money fixes that. Unless you cannot stand the sights that come with, that's all you need for IDPA. Geez, a looong shot is 25 yards.

Regarding mags, just buy the Wilson Tactical 8-round mags and be done with it. Yes, there are a little more than the CMC and Magpul mags, but they run and are worth it. The Tripp Research Cobra II mags are equally well made, but in many pistols, mine among them, they sit too low and when loaded, the first round will not strip from slide lock. I have four brand new ones, and that is what happened in both my custom 1911s. As I said, I'm a RO. I run a lot of the stages and get to see what people shoot and where the problems lie. There are a lot of Failures to Feed. I can't tell if it dirty guns, bad ammo or the mags haven't been cleaned in a year, but so far, the mags with the least problems are the Wilson Tactical.

BTW, if you need 10 round mags, buy the Wilson 47s. You will probably have a problem getting them to seat properly (without a big hit) if there is a round in the chamber, but they seem to be way better than the rest. Here is a tip. Buy the Trip hybrid follower only from the Cobra II mags and replace the follower that comes with the Wilson 10 round. The Wilson follower has a convex bump on the follower and that compresses the mag spring more. The Tripp is convex and when fully loaded, you can push the top round down about 1/2 cartridge worth. That little bit of slack is the key and makes inserting a full mag into a gun with a chambered cartridge an no-fail proposition.

You can shoot USPSA SS with your IDPA rig (you'll need at least two, and preferably three more mag pouches and 10-round mags for Limited 10 and all the games that are set up around those rules).

Good luck with your new pistol whatever you get. Shoot it stock, except for the trigger job and possibly sights. Then after two three seasons of hard practice, games and IDPA you'll have worn some of the internals down. For $135 you can order a complete 5-piece trigger kit from Nowlin, Brazos or my fav, Cylinder & Slide. Drop the pieces in and you are good to go for 4-5 years more. I don't own a stock 1911. My Sig was custom built. I'm in the process of building two more from scratch. I like dong it, and I'm a tinkerer, plus, in another life I was a tool and die maker. You get the picture.

That being said, if you said I could eventually do anything I wanted, but I had to start with a stock pistol, I'd probably pick the RO. I'd get the trigger job ( I really am a trigger snob ) and I'd shoot the gun until the internals started to wear. Then I'd replace them with really good after market parts. There is not a lot to go wrong with 1911 pistols. If you need it, $135 buys you a preconfigured, drop-in trigger parts kit. $150 buys you a Clark Custom drop-in match barrel that shoots better than anyone I know. An Ed Brown spring and pin kit ($17) takes care of all the little annoying things that break or get lost. So maybe 2-3 years from now you have to plunk down up to $300 to make your pistol better and longer lasting than new. So what. I've had to have a trigger job on my custom 1911 and it only has 15,000 rounds through it.

For what my opinion is worth, I don't consider the RO to be a "budget" gun. At $800 for the pistol WITH a good trigger job, I consider it to be a no brainer. You start with a good pistol; one that has good bones and can be used as the basis for a good customized pistol in the future.

[cakedog02]

I just purchased a RO 9mm. Shot it twice and really liking it.

[cakedog02]

I did have a couple hiccups my first time out using my reloads. Switched to factory new and not a single failure.

[cakedog02]

Do the RO's have a break in period? This is my first 1911 and I'm used to shooting plastic guns.

[Bluemooncricket]

Do the RO's have a break in period? This is my first 1911 and I'm used to shooting plastic guns.

Mine ran right out of the box and hasn't skipped a beat yet.

[boatdoc]

So I finished my side work and got paid so I bought the RO, I paid $729.00 NIB. Thanks for the replies and help given. I'll pick up some Willson 47d mags and a FO front sight and just shoot it. I am looking for a Leather holster though only thing I own now is for a rail gun. Been loading up a lot of 200gr lswc with BE. Think I'll start with that.

[boatdoc]

ZZT, thanks for the info. I'll make changes as I become accustomed to the gun. That front sight has to go. After I zero it I'll get the right height. Unfortunately will have to wait until tue's as I bought it in Orygun.

[boatdoc]

So I got it. It goes bang and hits what I aim at.