Suggestions: Competition .22 and .45

[WastedTime]

What would you get? $550 max per gun and the ammount saved on one cannont be added to the ammount to buy the other!

Categories:

Bullseye -



USPSA -



IDPS -

[Yoder]

.22 I would pick up either a Ruger Mark I,II,III whatever number they are up to by now, a Browning Buckmark or an older High Standard. All reliable and good shooters.

Do you reload? If not shooting a .45 in competitions is going to be really expensive. It's running around $17/50 rds vs $10/50 of 9mm. IDPA I would go with a Glock 17 9mm. There is no penalty for shooting a 9mm vs a .45. You can pick up a nice used Gen 3 G17 for around $400. The money you save you could invest in ammo, training or reloading equipment.

If you must have a .45 decide what you want. Do you want a 1911 style or just a standard pistol? 1911's can get pricey and can be finickey. They range from a few hundred dollars to a few thousand depending on what you want. Since you only have $550 to spend you're looking at an entry level 1911. Some of the low end guns can be problematic, but usually you can get them to run with a little tinkering. For a 1911 I guess I would probably pick up a Springfield full size GI. I have the Loaded model and it's been really good. If it was me, with your budget and I had to have a .45 I would go with a Glock 21. Not trying to push Glocks on you but they are really cheap, super reliable and easy to fix. You can buy tons of mods and parts are cheap and easy to replace.

Hope this helps. Gun games are awesome. You will get addicted and want to shoot as much as possible, that's why I recommended the 9mm.

[mjporreca]

Too bad you can't move money around between the guns. .22 in that price range I think you can go cheaper and not give anything up, then use the extra for a .45. So given your restrictions I'd go with...

Ruger Mark III, the Hunter version with the 6 7/8" barrel

Competition .45, I think Taurus might be in the that price range? I'm not a big fan of Taurus but you can get it worked on.

That would be for Bullseye, and the .45 could pull double duty for the others. If you're just starting out you probably won't out shoot anything for a while. Save up, start reloading, the $1,000 tier of pistols is pretty sweet.

[RobW]

Bullseye:
.22 - Buy a used Ruger that is already set up for Bullseye. Monitor the Bullseye-L mailing list until something suitable comes up for sale. Generally, not a long wait.

.45 - Tough nut to crack for $550. You must have decent sights and a "Bullseye" grade trigger job to not pull your friggin' hair out in frustration. If you are handy, buy a used base model Springfield and upgrade sights/trigger yourself. You will not be competitive at 50 yards at this price point.

USPSA/IDPA - Shoot production in USPSA and you can do as others have suggested, buy a Glock 17, some mags, pouches belt and holster, and go shooting in either discipline without giving much up to the competition.

What would you get? $550 max per gun and the ammount saved on one cannont be added to the ammount to buy the other!

Categories:

Bullseye -



USPSA -



IDPS -

[dewalt-2]

Get the 1911 you like in that price range, and a Marvel Unit 1 conversion to add to it. Kimber makes a good conversion as well. I have both, the Marvel is much more accurate but the Kimber is no slouch.

[harold63]

If you have good trigger controll, the PT 1911 is good right out of the box. Getting the all blue will keep you around $550, but you have to keep it oiled and you have to coat the inside of your case with oil if you store it in the case. The slab side Ruger MKIII would be a good choice for a .22. It is under $500 and will shoot thousands of rounds. CCI ammo is actually quite good out of the MKIII. JMHO

[thomae]

I will only answer your question for Bullseye:
.22: There is no new pistol you can purchase for that price which will allow you to be truly competitive.
Used pistols:
1st choice: Used Baikal IZH-35 (Have one, like it, very accurate.)
2nd choice: Used Ruger Mk II, heavy barrel (either bull or slab side, it really doesn't matter) Used, already set up for bullseye (Not a competitive pistol if not specifically tweaked for bullseye - even then the grips are not very good). Even then, it is only a beginner gun. You will want to move up as soon as you get reasonably good. I started with this pistol, and although it shot really nicely with a trigger job and the right ammo, once I had tried a really good pistol, I realized how far out I was. I went from it to a Hammerli 280. Worth every cent I paid.
3rd choice: Used Pardini SP. (still a world class pistol: harder to find, don't know if it would be in your price range.) or Benelli
4th choice: Used high end gun, such as FAS 602, S&W 41, older High Standard.

I would not waste my money with a buckmark or any inexpensive .22s. For shooting bullseye, they simply don't have what it takes. Even the Ruger is borderline and you will soon tire of it, especially after friends with Hammerlis, Pardinis, etc..let you shoot their guns. Shooting something is better than nothing, but honestly, you will have to work hard to get a pistol that is competitive in your price range. The exception is the IZH-35, but they are hard to find on the used market.

No matter what .22 you buy, you will have to spend time and money getting the grips the way you want them (very important) and finding out what ammo your particular gun likes. Just because a friend's MkII likes a particular ammo, does not mean that your pistol will do well with the same ammo.

The only exception to this is that every world-class competition pistol seems to shoot Eley 10x really well (at $18.00 or more per box of 50 it ought to shoot well!)

As for a .45, at your price point, as an above poster stated, you will not be very competitive, especially on the long line (50 yards). You absolutely must purchase a 1911-style .45 because they are the only ones that can be made accurate enough.

(But wait, a competition revolver is just as accurate, but you will have a very steep learning curve with timed and rapid fire. Not impossible, but there is a reason almost no one shoots a revolver any more).

It is important that the .45 you purchase is made of good steel, otherwise the action job will not take and the slide will loosen up quickly. You can't go wrong with a used basic Springfield GI version. You will need a trigger job and good sights right away, and then you will have to begin saving your money to have the rest of the accuracy work done (competition barrel, bushing, link, slide and rails tightened up, etc... Back in the mid 90s I bought a used bullseye gun (Colt gold cup 70 series), all set up for around a grand. Later I had a service pistol built for about a $1000 using a Springfield 1911 GI model (about $450 for the original gun back then).

I have heard that (but have no personal experience with) Rock Island 1911s (Charles Daly) have good steel. (If you come across a used Norinco, let it go. Their slides are too soft.) Since they are about $400 new, maybe you can purchase one used and still have money for a good trigger job. Make sure whatever gunsmithing you have done is completed by an experienced competition gunsmith, not simply the local guy who is not really familiar with the ins and outs of competition.
Also, have your gunsmith tweak about 4 magazines so they feed perfectly with the semi wadcutters you will use for competition. Number those magazines and rotate them.

Caveat: Even if you don't get the best competition equipment, go out and shoot and compete with what you have. You will meet lots of very friendly people, and if you are willing to admit your ignorance, they will give you facts and opinions and may even allow you to shoot their pistols so you get a real idea of what to get or what to have done to your pistols.

Be patient, look for used pistols at auctions, pawn shope, etc...take an experienced bullseye shooter with you, go to matches, shoot with borrowed guns if you need to, ask lots of questions of the good shooters there. Ask them about their equipment. Who knows, they may have some good beginning stuff for sale in your price range. They were once new shooters as well, and usually they will be very generous with their help and advice.

As for the other disciplines, I don't shoot them, so I can't offer any constructive advice.

All the best. Good luck!