Re: Best 1911 under $1,000.00; under $750.00 ??
<div class="ubbcode-block"><div class="ubbcode-header">Originally Posted By: Sapper12b</div><div class="ubbcode-body">Springfield Armory Range Officer would be my vote. It has alot of the same features as their TRP and Trophy Match. Its alot of pistol for the price think I have seen some for about 850. </div></div>
Both the Trophy Match and the TRP have 20 LPI front strap checkering, a feature that costs at least $250 to add to the gun alone ($175 for the checkering, + some amount for refinishing, unless it's stainless, + shipping both directions, $250 is probably a conservative estimate).
Maybe I should start a separate thread on this, but for now, I want to point out a few things:
1. The "Range Officer" doesn't offer anything that the current models didn't already. It's marketed as some sort of competition pistol, but with the exception of a beavertail grip safety and perhaps the adjustable rear sight, it lacks nearly every feature that I would want for competition. In fact, its shortcomings are as obvious as the grips, which are smooth and slippery rather than having some decent grittyness.
2. The "Range Officer" is <span style="font-style: italic">absolutely </span>overpriced compared to its competition. The STI Spartan offers a better fit, has all of the features that the "Range Officer" has, and a MUCH lower price.
3. The Range Officer is <span style="font-style: italic">relatively </span>overpriced compared to the "Loaded" models that were available already. The loaded model has ambies and front cocking serrations--both features that I'd want in a competition gun but perhaps not for a carry gun--that the Range Officer lacks.
The stainless loaded adds the adjustable rear sight, which Springfield is trying to tell you is an essential competition feature. I don't buy that. I'd much rather have a narrower/fiber optic front sight than an adjustable rear, although for a gun that I'm not carrying on the street, an adjustable rear sight is okay. And I'd much rather have ambies for weak hand shooting.
4. The Range Officer lacks some of the most important competition features which are not "frills." Besides the sights mentioned before, and the ambidextrous thumb safety which I think is important for weak hand high-thumbs shooting, the Range Officer lacks the most important feature of all--a magwell. A magwell on a single stack gun is probably the most important feature that nearly all competition shooters add. Marketing a gun as a competition gun without a magwell is like selling a Corvette with 150 horsepower. It's such a gross oversight that Ray Charles could see that it was a stupid move.
5. Last, but certainly not least, is that the analogies to the Trophy Match and TRP series of guns fail miserably. All of the TRP/Trophy Match models have front cocking serrations, ambidextrous thumb safeties, magwells, and front strap checkering, which the Range Officer lacks. Adding these features to the Range Officer would cost a small fortune. Let's estimate it conservatively:
Front strap checkering, machine: $175
Front serration machining: $50-100
Complete gun refinish: $100-200+
Ambidextrous thumb safety + fitting: $75-100
Magwell + fitting: $100-125
Minimum to add these features: $500. In other words, the parts that they took off the premium models, the TRP and Trophy Match, which are much easier and cheaper to add at the factory than they are to add them later, are worth much more than the difference in price between the models.
The new Range Officer is a marketing joke. Don't believe me? Look at the spec sheets for yourself and decide if I'm telling the truth:
http://www.springfield-armory.com/1911RO/1911RangeOfficer.htm
http://www.springfield-armory.com/assets/pdf/SPRINGFIELD_Book_armory_PI9132LP.pdf
http://www.springfield-armory.com/assets/pdf/SPRINGFIELD_Book_armory_PX9109LP.pdf
http://www.springfield-armory.com/assets/pdf/1SPRINGFIELD_Book_armory_PC9108LP.pdf
When we talk about the Range Officer, we should be frank about what it actually is and isn't. It isn't a cheaper Trophy Match or TRP. It's a cheaper "Loaded," with fewer features and a similar price tag. And if they're going to claim that the barrel fit and bushing are what make the difference, then they ought not offer a lifetime warranty on the Loaded, because if it were me and I had to buy a Springfield Armory gun, I'd buy a Loaded all day long over the Range Officer, and if the barrel fit was sloppy, I'd send it back to them and tell them to try again.
The Trophy Match is probably the model I'd pick if I wanted a SA gun for competition and I wanted to change as little as possible. The Trophy Match, + a narrower front sight and grippier grips would basically replicate a gun I'd compete with. If I was limited to the $800 range, I'd pick the Loaded over the Range Officer, as it has much better bang for the buck.
Oh and after I typed all of this, I discovered one more thing the Range Officer lacks--a full length guide rod. Many have disagreed with me that this is an important feature to increase spring life in any 1911, but it could never be more obvious than in a competition gun. The Loaded has it; the Range Officer does not.
I'd much carry gun with no forward serrations, a single side safety, and a GI guide rod than compete with one....but somehow Springield got that exactly backwards.
