Springfield Range Officer 1911 “Limited” Edition
Springfield Armory has introduced a new competition ready 1911 called the Range Officer. It is essentially a cheaper version of the Springfield Trophy Match and TRP pistols.
There is a "limited edition" of the Range Officer. The above pistol, the 1st of 500, is on sale on GunBroker. Here is where things get interesting. There is no difference between the limited edition and the regular pistol, other than the "X of 500" engraving. The limited edition even shares the same SKU as the normal pistol. This means it is not a limited edition at all. These guns are simply the first 500 made. It would be much more honest to call it the "First Batch" or "First Edition" ( like the Walther PK380 First Edition ). Giving it a slightly better, or different, grip and/or finish would also go a long way to make it unique and would be far more honest.
| Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Caliber | .45 ACP |
| Capacity | 7+1 |
| Finish | Blued |
| Grip | Cocobolo |
| Barrel | 5" stainless steel |
| Total Length | 8.5" |
| Weight | 40 oz. (empty) |
| Rear Sight | Adjustable target |
| MSRP (Price) | Not yet announced. "Limited" edition selling for $1000. |
| Availability | Now |
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To save my left hand from being torn-up by the adjustable rear sight, I installed a Harrison rear sight. Easy to do. First remove the top screw of the rear sight, pivot the sight bar upwards and remove the setscrews. Tap out the sight with a brass punch or hard wooden dowel (left to right).
Insert the Harrison by tapping in place from right to left. Loosely tighten the set screw and go to the range and shoot. Windage adjust the sight by loosening the set screw and tapping the sight in the direction you want the impact of the bullet to change. Retighten the set screw and enjoy. I have found the RO to be very accurate, no failures after 250 rounds.
Mine works fine. The tight slide-frame fit was not a problem even throught the first 100 rounds. Three tweeks of the adjustable sight and she’s good to go….as a range pistol. Don’t pay more than $750………….
To Sonny Jones. You will love shooting the R.O., have fun.
Getting ready to order my Range Officer. Can’t wait to shoot it. I’ll try posting the results when I do.
Hey, I’ll take a 2″ hit at 25 yards anytime. I am changing my adjustable sights to the 3 dot trijicon’s and upgrade the magazines. I like the way my R..O. shoots.
Purchased a Range Officer for Bullseye. The 25 yard groups dissapoinnting to date (2″). The 200 gr. SWC Lazer Cast w/5.5 gr. Herco best so far. Any loading success anyone can share?
fired 150,230gr. FMJ rounds with the range officer lamited edition, without any misfires or hangups of any kind. Shoots great, recoil is heavy but manageable. The rear sight extends well beyond the slide and will do a job on your non-shooting thumb and finger unless you spread them very, very quickly. Loading first round in the magazine was difficult but remaining six rounds went easily. The OTB rear sight requred a lot of adjusting to hit the target at 25 yards. No intructions in the owners manual on how to adjust the rear sight. I like the way this weapon handles and shoots and I will keep it for home/self protection and replace the sights with Novak Tritium and the magazines with Wilsons. Loved shooting this gun. /Mike
shot my springfield range officer today for first time, shoots great, 50 rounds and no problems except first hits were all to the left, 7′oclock, about 4 inches.adjusted the rear sight with a bore sighter and put it right on center target. can’t wait to shoot it again.
picked up some 45acp ammo to shoot my range officer handgun tomorrow.
I can see the looks now when this conversation takes place:
“Hey, what are you doing out here today.”
“I just came out to shoot my Range Officer.”
“You’re going to shoot the RO?”
“Not just any Range Officer, my Range Officer, but yup, been looking forward to it all week.”
“Um, hey, listen, we been friends a long time time but I can’t let shoot your RO!”
“Why not, I’m a member, the ranges are open, of course I can shoot my Range Officer.”
And so on…
Just purchased a range officer, can’t wait to shoot it at the range.
The limited edition thing is BS. I have a range officer 1 of 500 with a lower serial # than the one shown on gunbroker. Looks like they’re doing multiple limited runs.
Col. Cooper says: “What’s it for?”
Popping up everywhere (out of stock of course so who knows if they ever had one) online at sub $700. Now THAT makes sense.
As the woman of the house often says to me, “That (this 1911) doesn’t even make sense.”
Well……..
Technically EVERY model is a limited edition, right? I mean, there aren’t infinite numbers of any gun
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1 of 500 is misleading. This pictured gun is not the FIRST of 500, it is merely 1 of the 500 or 1 out of 500. Many people are going to be mislead by this.
Nice 1911, maybe $200.00-250.00 too nice, but I’d like one.
As for the Imbel reference, I think these higher end SA 1911′s are machined and assembled in IL from Brazilian forgings, no? I’d like to know.
I can’t stand it when companies are dishonest like this, especially on something that just preys on the ill informed.
Even if I have no doubt about the quality of Imbel’s forgings, I think some people will like it to see “geneseo il usa” instead of “made in brazil”.
Now, let the bitching about range officers (the people, not the guns) begin !