Springfield Armory 1911 Range Officer .45

[cjoh101]

Does anybody has any experience with this pistol. I will be picking one up in a couple of days that I won off of a Super Bowl board at work. I am not familiar with 1911's, I am familiar with Glocks, S&W M&P's, etc. I can't decide if I want to keep it or trade it on a smaller CCW. Thanks in advance.

http://www.springfield-armory.com/armory.php?version=154

[Army203]

I own one. They are very well built for the price. It is one of the most accurate 1911s I own. Heck, it's been one of the most accurate 1911s out of the box for me. Springfield built the barrel special for the Range Officer line. You will notice that the lock up between the barrel bushing and barrel is tight. This is important for accuracy as slide to frame fit really doesn't improve accuracy that much, but barrel to bushing fit does. That is where the Range Officer shines.

The Barrel has a slight flare at the end where it meets up with the match quality bushing, much like Dan Wesson, Ed Brown and a few others do. This in combo with the adjustable sights and the 4.5lb-4lbs trigger after break in make it an awesome gun to own.

[RiverRat]

The SA 1911 RO is a very solid, full-sized, better-than-entry production pistol. Parts used to be assembled through SA's higher-end TRP/Operator production line, though I don't know if they are now. Either way, the RO looks and feels wells made when you pick up it. You might find youself having to soften some edges, there were some painfully sharp corners on my Springer.

As the implies, several features are intended for range/competition. The RO has a well fitted match barrel, strong side only safety and adjustable sights. A lot of folks also believe the trigger and slide-to-frame fit was better than most of the other SA 1911s. I didn't find this to be the case when I was going back and forth between an RO and an SA Loaded, maybe I just got a great Loaded.

I think you would be hard-pressed to find a production 1911 of similar quality in the same price range. If you were ever interested in trying out the design, the RO would be an excellent way to enter the field. Even better, it doesn't require extensive modification, they are usually good right out of the case.

[FortTom]

I can't add anything, but I can vouch for everything these guys said. YOU WON IT?????? You lucky son of a gun. Stuff like that never happens to me....

FT.

[UWone77]

I can't add anything, but I can vouch for everything these guys said. YOU WON IT?????? You lucky son of a gun. Stuff like that never happens to me....

FT.

It's not their fault you don't enter social media contests. [:D]

[FortTom]

It's not their fault you don't enter social media contests. [:D]

He won it at work, so take that smarty pants.....[:D][:D]

[cjoh101]

Thanks for the input guys, I decided I'm gonna keep it and and buy the wife her own gun, so she will leave mine alone. I have a Kahr CW9 that I carry now. Yes I won it at work on a $20 board. I've never won on these and I've been playing then for the last couple of years. Oh yea, it also comes with 100 rounds of ammo also.


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[mustangfreek]

They are a good gun, they also just released the 9mm version..

Nice win btw...Go hawks!!!

[cjoh101]

I was finally able to pick it up today, and I think I have fallen in love! I'll get some better pics later with my camera, for now my iPhone will have to do.

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag152/cjoh101/Guns/E0E4D293-16D7-41CB-B0B5-E6F2B2C4EA12_zps4w9dojht.jpg (http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/cjoh101/media/Guns/E0E4D293-16D7-41CB-B0B5-E6F2B2C4EA12_zps4w9dojht.jpg.html)

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag152/cjoh101/Guns/FAE64534-A63C-4248-A1DD-800E392664EF_zpsiqkdu1my.jpg (http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/cjoh101/media/Guns/FAE64534-A63C-4248-A1DD-800E392664EF_zpsiqkdu1my.jpg.html)

http://i1303.photobucket.com/albums/ag152/cjoh101/Guns/F36DEE84-635A-4D95-9D16-0B95FBBDA742_zpsiadhrhq9.jpg (http://s1303.photobucket.com/user/cjoh101/media/Guns/F36DEE84-635A-4D95-9D16-0B95FBBDA742_zpsiadhrhq9.jpg.html)


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[RiverRat]

Heh heh. OK, since you seem to like it, I'll mention a couple of things to be aware of with your new RO.

SA warns that dropping the slide on an empty chamber may cause detrimental sear bounce and cause barrel lug damage. Personally, I have no first handle experience with that, and don't plan to. Since the trigger is part of why the 1911 in general (and the RO specifically) is so good, I suggest following their guidance with respect to empty chamber handling.

The Parkerized finish mars easily. If you're concerned about such things, exercise some caution. Along a similar vein, watch a field strip video. My Loaded has a few little foibles so look for a model-specific video. Also, look up "1911 idiot scratch" before your pre-use strip/clean.

Assuming that you're right handed, the inside lower edge of the butt can be brutally sharp. You can easily buff it down enough to be comfortable using leather or cloth, but doing so will wear the finish. Play around with the RO in as-shipped condition and see if you want to melt that edge a little.

Finally, after your first shooting session, I expect you to like the RO even more, but dislike the SA factory mags. I found that Wilson Combat 47DA mags were a worthwhile investment. They extend from the frame less than some other extended-base upgrades, but still get around the ergonomic problems you'll probably observe with SA's stock, flush-fit mags.

Finally, other than for mag upgrades, try to avoid STI's and Wilson Combat's drool-inducing websites :)

[cjoh101]

It came with a factory 7 rd mag and an Armscor 8 rd with the extended butt plate. The Armscor mag is a lot smoother when loading and locks in place without having to slam it like the factory mag. I have a coworker that does duracoating and I'm tempted to see how much he will charge.


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