Pistola Pedro
New member
I often still come here for reviews and spent tons of time lurking here for reviews when I was a new shooter, so I thought I would add some reviews for guns I've owned for a while now. There will likely be no revelations to experienced guys. More for the newbies.
The Range Officer is a well known entity in the 1911 world at this point so there shouldn't be many surprises here. From the factory it comes with a good trigger and everything you need to become a very solid shooter. In order to compete with it, you should probably do a few upgrades. A magwell, fiber optic front sight, and some sort of grip are all good ideas.
Accuracy from mine has been absolutely outstanding. Simply put, it fires well with everything I feed it and if my sights are set for the load, it hits exactly where I aim every single time.
Reliability has been 100% for me. The closest thing I've had to a problem is when my recoil spring started getting a little too old I saw some problems forming on ejected brass. Replaced it with a 12 pound spring and like it better. I will probably switch out to a flatwire spring next time.
Trigger was good and I have improved mine. My only complaint is that there's a slight bit of "play" or "take up" that has zero resistance, but adds perhaps a millimeter to overall trigger travel on the first shot and I can't seem to adjust that out without changing out the whole system. It's too good of a trigger for me to want to mess anymore with it though.
The sights are excellent and not so good at the same time. The front post is black serrated and a fine sight, but I replaced mine with a Dawson Precision and that has been a VERY good improvement. The rear sight is where the excellence and problems lie together. Springfield opted for an LPA cut which is just weird and really limits your options for replacements. Also, the edges of the sight blade will draw lots and lots of blood. They are sharp enough that you could use the sight as a weapon if you run out of ammo. Both of these problems beg the question....why? I have had to really focus on becoming a slide release user on reloads from slide lock in order to keep from losing skin (not a huge problem, but my previous competition guns had me doing exactly the opposite ). However, it is a very precise and easy to use rear sight. I wouldn't care about the sight cut if they would have just made it less sharp.
Fit and finish is great as long as you don't mind a parkerized finish. Mine has been fine, but eventually I will probably coat it. The lack of a front strap checkering is obviously a cost saving measure, but it sure would be nice. The grips are beautiful and I will never sell them, but I also don't use them because they are a little slick. The serrations are a little sharp and too narrow for me and I'm one of those weirdos who likes the forward serrations (the Trojan got this perfect!)
Overall, I would say that this is a wonderful option. To have had zero reliability issues with 3 different brands of mags in a 9mm 1911 is pretty awesome. Even my Trojan choked on some stuff. The accuracy and low felt recoil make this a very fun to shoot gun and, because it's a 1911, the aftermarket options are endless. You can buy this gun and make it what you want it to be over time and still come in at a far less expensive gun than some of the other options out there. Great value in an American made gun. I will likely get my front strap done when I get the pistol refinished (i'll also work off some of the sharp edges on the sights). Other than that, it's pretty much set up perfectly for me. Other competitors that might get your consideration are the STI Trojan ( I'm not crazy about the chainlink stippling or the corrosion prone finish job), the Spartan (not an American made gun if that matters to you, otherwise very similar), and a handful of others like the Kimber Stainless Target II. With the seemingly constant mag rebates that Springfield runs, it's the best deal IMO.
Pete
P.S. tons of pics and videos online by better photographers than me, so no pics
The Range Officer is a well known entity in the 1911 world at this point so there shouldn't be many surprises here. From the factory it comes with a good trigger and everything you need to become a very solid shooter. In order to compete with it, you should probably do a few upgrades. A magwell, fiber optic front sight, and some sort of grip are all good ideas.
Accuracy from mine has been absolutely outstanding. Simply put, it fires well with everything I feed it and if my sights are set for the load, it hits exactly where I aim every single time.
Reliability has been 100% for me. The closest thing I've had to a problem is when my recoil spring started getting a little too old I saw some problems forming on ejected brass. Replaced it with a 12 pound spring and like it better. I will probably switch out to a flatwire spring next time.
Trigger was good and I have improved mine. My only complaint is that there's a slight bit of "play" or "take up" that has zero resistance, but adds perhaps a millimeter to overall trigger travel on the first shot and I can't seem to adjust that out without changing out the whole system. It's too good of a trigger for me to want to mess anymore with it though.
The sights are excellent and not so good at the same time. The front post is black serrated and a fine sight, but I replaced mine with a Dawson Precision and that has been a VERY good improvement. The rear sight is where the excellence and problems lie together. Springfield opted for an LPA cut which is just weird and really limits your options for replacements. Also, the edges of the sight blade will draw lots and lots of blood. They are sharp enough that you could use the sight as a weapon if you run out of ammo. Both of these problems beg the question....why? I have had to really focus on becoming a slide release user on reloads from slide lock in order to keep from losing skin (not a huge problem, but my previous competition guns had me doing exactly the opposite ). However, it is a very precise and easy to use rear sight. I wouldn't care about the sight cut if they would have just made it less sharp.
Fit and finish is great as long as you don't mind a parkerized finish. Mine has been fine, but eventually I will probably coat it. The lack of a front strap checkering is obviously a cost saving measure, but it sure would be nice. The grips are beautiful and I will never sell them, but I also don't use them because they are a little slick. The serrations are a little sharp and too narrow for me and I'm one of those weirdos who likes the forward serrations (the Trojan got this perfect!)
Overall, I would say that this is a wonderful option. To have had zero reliability issues with 3 different brands of mags in a 9mm 1911 is pretty awesome. Even my Trojan choked on some stuff. The accuracy and low felt recoil make this a very fun to shoot gun and, because it's a 1911, the aftermarket options are endless. You can buy this gun and make it what you want it to be over time and still come in at a far less expensive gun than some of the other options out there. Great value in an American made gun. I will likely get my front strap done when I get the pistol refinished (i'll also work off some of the sharp edges on the sights). Other than that, it's pretty much set up perfectly for me. Other competitors that might get your consideration are the STI Trojan ( I'm not crazy about the chainlink stippling or the corrosion prone finish job), the Spartan (not an American made gun if that matters to you, otherwise very similar), and a handful of others like the Kimber Stainless Target II. With the seemingly constant mag rebates that Springfield runs, it's the best deal IMO.
Pete
P.S. tons of pics and videos online by better photographers than me, so no pics