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.