Why shouldn't I get a SA Range Officer

Z

zanemoseley

New member
I'm looking to get a .45 early next year to get me started in bullseye pistol shooting. I'm looking at getting a SA Range officer and a Dillon 550b reloader. Tell me why I shouldn't get the SA Range officer, I'm also about to buy equipment to cast my own boolits, pretty exciting to think about reloading top quality rounds for less than decent .22's cost.
 
Bullets man, bullets :)

The range officer is an excellent pistol, but I prefer my sig 1911. I had a springfield but I sold it after trying a sig. STI, Ruger, Smith and Wesson, all make good 1911's in that price range that I like better. I think the locking thing Springfield adds to their 1911's makes the trigger a little mushy. Also their guide rod is really annoying.
 
Because you lack the proper length anchor line, and have no boat?

:D

They are a best in class pistol, IMO.
 
In general, a longer sight radius will get you tighter groups.

Longer barrels in the 1911 format tilt less than short barrels. Less tilt, less feeding problems. Seldom an issue once you get your feed ramp and your bullet shape to work well together.

Are the stock sights on the Range Officer adequate for Bullseye competition?

Dillon is good. If you are wanting to shoot large quantities of a single chambering (as bullseye shooters are wont to do) you would do well with a 550. A Square Deal might be even better (SD has autoadvance, where the 550 does not). 650 has case feeder options that (I think) the lesser Dillons do not. But don't neglect looking at the Hornady (or, if you are on a budget, the Lee Loadmaster).

Do you have experience loading already? Starting out on a progressive is not easy, but it is doable. If you take sufficient care will have no problems.

Good luck, Thanks for asking our advice.

Lost Sheep
 
I have experience with a progressive MEC grabber for my skeet shells. I'd rather stay with the 550 as I prefer manual advance as it's saved much frustration on my grabber when something goes wrong. I'll likely use the 550 as a single stage for the first few hundred rounds at least to get used to the reloader and the "personality" of each station.
 
If the bullseye shooting you mentioned is the organized competition version, before buying anything, if you haven't yet, read the rule book backwards and forwards, a couple of times.
It will have an effect on the choice of gun, sights, ammo, 'etc.
And make sure the advice you get is from others who are involved in bullseye and not something else.
 
Why shouldn't I get a SA Range Officer

I'm looking to get a .45 early next year to get me started in bullseye pistol shooting. I'm looking at getting a SA Range officer and a Dillon 550b reloader. Tell me why I shouldn't get the SA Range officer, I'm also about to buy equipment to cast my own boolits, pretty exciting to think about reloading top quality rounds for less than decent .22's cost.
Click to expand...

Unless you're dedicated, or have a cheap/free source of good casting lead, you'd probably be better off buying cast lead bullets in bulk. I just bought a box of 500 from a gun show vendor, 230 grain LRN .45, for $42. Which is 8.4 cents each.

It's good to have the capability, but casting is a huge time sink, honestly.

Do you have experience loading already? Starting out on a progressive is not easy, but it is doable. If you take sufficient care will have no problems.
Click to expand...

Yup, that's another thing. If you have no handloading experience, a progressive probably isn't where you want to start.
 
There's only two reasons I would bring up when considering the purchase of a Range Officer.

First thing is that I've really become attracted to the idea of front strap checkering on a 1911 and if the handgun you purchase does not have it, it's neither easy nor low in cost to have it done unless you have the skill to do it yourself. The Range Officer does not come with front strap checkering.

The other point I'd mention is that I'd want to handle the Range Officer before I purchased (as opposed to buying one online) because I have handled a half dozen or more of these guns and I have come across a couple duds amongst them. It seems (to me anyway) that not all of them are built to exactly the same standards. One of my shooting buds has one (.45) and it is absolutely terrific, deadly accurate, fine trigger, runs like a top and is a pleasure to shoot. He's got a very good one.

Otherwise? I say go get yourself a Range Officer. It's a lot of 1911 for the money.
 
For NJgunowner, just a quick FWIW:
Bullets man, bullets :)
Click to expand...
In the chance that perhaps you weren't aware, "boolits" is the accepted term in the casting community for lead slugs poured and molded by hand and not purchased from a commercial source. It's typically said with love by those who cast.
 
Sevens posted:

First thing is that I've really become attracted to the idea of front strap checkering on a 1911 and if the handgun you purchase does not have it, it's neither easy nor low in cost to have it done unless you have the skill to do it yourself. The Range Officer does not come with front strap checkering.
Click to expand...

Checkering or stippling is a nice touch on the frontstrap, but I might suggest a set of Pachmayer (or similar) checkered rubber wrap-around grips as I have on my 1911 .45 as a relatively inexpensive alternative. I know it is not the same but the OP might get an idea about whether (or not) this is the route to take. I also have a home-built 1911 .22 with checkering on the frontstrap with smooth rosewood grips and there is a difference in feel.

Just my $.02.
 
I also like the Pachmayr wrap-arounds, not the ones with the finger grooves. Like these on my Gold Cup on the right:

 
They are a nice pistol for the money. I would look at one before I bought it if possible. Had one and sold it in 2012 to fund one of the new Colt Gold Cup National Match (GCNM) round tops. I thought Colt might "flash the pan on these" and make them for only a short time. At the gunstore I bought the GCNM in they had an area with 1911s with adjustable sights. The RO was the cheapest, followed by the Colt GCT then the GCNM. After that other SAs, Kimbers, Colt SCGs, S&W Performance Center guns, etc.
 
I bought a Range Officer as my first 1911 several years ago. Very nice gun, especially for the money. I was totally happy with it. I traded it only because I always wanted a Colt in stainless and my LGS got a Colt XSE in stainless and gave me a good amount for my RO otherwise I would still have it.

Also, I have a Dillon 550b and I love it. I was torn between a 550 and a 650 and the lack of auto indexing was pushing me towards the 650. Then I talked to Brian Enos, who is a Dillon dealer. He told me that if I change calibers more than once a month I'd be better off with a 550b because changing calibers on a 650 is a pita. He told me he thought the 550b was Dillons best all around machine and he didn't have to tell me that because I was prepared to purchase a 650. He also told me that unless I was going to spend several hundred dollars more on a case feeder I would probably not get full benefit from the 650. I was hung up on the manual indexing thing but bought a 550b anyway. I am totally happy with it and I still crank out rounds at a pretty rapid pace.

You won't be unhappy with a 550b.
 
I use skateboard tape in place of any kind of front strap checkering, I cut a piece just big enough to fit under the grip panels so that they hold it on in addition to the adhesive.

Most people shooting bullseye are going to be using dedicated wadcutter guns, you're going to want to ask around to see how the RO feeds with at least semi-wadcutters, as people are going to hate scoring your targets if you are shooting ball.
 
Springfield makes a nice 1911 for the money, and you would be well served if you get a range officer.
IMO stepping up to a Colt XSE, combat elite, or a gold cup would be money well spent.
A gold cup would be best for bullseye competitions.
 
The Springfield 1911's have a number of mim parts.../ and while I think they are decent guns, they are not high end 1911's....( in the last 6 months on springfield 1911's...I've seen more failures than I would have expected among guys that I know casually from my local range. One gun had a fracture in firing pin stop with less than 5,000 rds thru it / fractures in a couple of main spring housings.../ one had an issue on the barrel lug link ( and lots of mid priced 1911's - like Kimber etc - have MIM parts as well )....but I've been really surprised at these failures.

If you can't stretch the budget up to the Wilson Combat / Ed Brown arena...then I think the higher end springfields or the Sig 1911's would be your best bet...over the mid priced range officer models...but just my opinion. If you don't know...the slide profile on the Sig 1911 ...means it will not fit a standard 1911 holster...you'll need something that is specific to the Sig profile.
-----------
I have a lot of experience with the Dillon 550 and the 650 ...and the 650 is no more difficult to change calibers than the 550 / so whoever told you that hasn't really worked with the loaders. The case feeder option / especially on the 650 is almost mandatory in my view ..if you want to produce high quality ammo relatively quickly. 650 with a case feeder easily turns out 1,000 rds an hour ...and I like reloading, and have been doing it for over 45 yrs off and on...but I like shooting more...and since I shoot 10 - 15 boxes a week in a variety of calibers...the 650 easily exceeds my needs.

Manually indexing - introduces another place for human error / and on top of that, the 550 does not have the 5 station tool head that allows for a powder check die. So I would suggest another look at the 650 / handgun loads are a lot more precise than any shotgun loads ( and I used a Grabber for a long time too )...but on a 1 oz 12ga shell ...where the min might be 16 grains ..and the max over 19 grains...you have a lot of leeway. A lot of handgun loads have the min and max only 0.4 grains apart...and that powder check is a big deal in my opinion.

But I converted all my shotgun gagues to MEC 9000 HN's over Grabbers years ago as well...and I'm not going back to the Grabber either...
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top