Colt Competition vs. Springfield Armory Range Officer in 9mm

rocket500 said:
Range test went great. 250 rounds without any problems. Ejection is fixed- nicely to the right side. The pistol shoots accurately.

My Springfield Armory rear sight shot loose again though even after I used loc tire. Now that my Colt is back i’ll Give them a call. It’s a ridiculously sloppy fit in the slide. Without the set screw if you turn the pistol on it’s side it falls out.

Interesting because the rest of that pistol is very tightly fitted.
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Man you are having bad luck.
Reading over on the 1911 forum they seem to recommend Colt a lot but it sure sounds like there's lot of issues, which is a pity since I really wanted one as my first.
 
I have a couple hundred through my 9mm competition that I bought in November & a hundred through my .45 GCNM purchased the end of April, so far no issues with either pistol
 
Other than the rear sight shooting loose I have been very pleased with the range officer. The chamber is very tight and it won’t chamber every brand of ammo reliably, but it runs fine with most. The slide to frame fit is almost custom gun level. Tight and smooth as glass.


gscott said:
I recently picked up a Springfield RO . I'm impressed with it so far. Its accurate and has run without any issues. Its fit and finish are on par with some of the more expensive pistols I've shot . If my back sight falls off I'll come back and edit my post but 2 thumbs up as of now.
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I’ve owned a lot of guns over the years and it isn’t all that uncommon to have warranty issues with one. I’ve sent quite a few in for repair. Only that Rock Island couldn’t be sorted out in one trip back to the factory. That’s also the only one I’ve ever had replaced. I will say that the service from Rock Island was fast and courteous.
 
I picked up a 9mm Colt Competition recently to replace my old 9mm 1911 that I use for anything steel-related. From the get go the front sight needed to be drifted to the right, and the extractor had too little tension. I fixed both and the Gun has been serving me well at steel challenge. Looking forward to using it at Fall Walls!
 
rocket500 said:
Other than the rear sight shooting loose I have been very pleased with the range officer. The chamber is very tight and it won’t chamber every brand of ammo reliably, but it runs fine with most. The slide to frame fit is almost custom gun level. Tight and smooth as glass.
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Exactly the same issues I got. Rear sight got shot loose, sent it back and they replaces, I think loctited too. Came back and its been super accurate.

As for ammo, mine loved CCI and Federal, also prefers 124g over 155g. I havent had good luck with Sellers and Aguila.

Still, extremely happy with it.
 
I just ordered a Springfield RO Operator in .45. I went back and forth on the 45 or 9 choice but decided 45. I have way to many other guns in 9mm.

I did a lot of research on what brand I wanted. Everything from Dan Wesson, Springfield, Sig, Colt. The general feedback was the Springfields are a hell of a gun for the money ($800-875 range). I'll throw on some cool VZ grips, maybe add a magwell and be good to go.

If anyone is looking for a holster check out Squared Away Customs. Their "niner" holster is kydex with a strap for retention and uses the safariland mounting system if like me you use the QLS system.
 
I have a Dawson CRP 9mm Springfield RO. I found myself getting occasional light strikes with a 17lb mainspring and winchester primers. I thought I may have had a few that weren't fully seated. What I didn't realize was that it has a titanium firing pin and overpower firing pin spring. The firing pin spring is WAY stiffer than my 9mm STI Spartan. A steel firing pin and regular power firing pin spring are on order.
 
rocket500 said:
I’ve wanted one of these two for some time. Up until now options for a MA approved 9mm 1911 were pretty thin.


The Springfield slide is much more tightly fitted. It doesn’t rattle. The barrel bushing is super tight. When the gun was new i ruined a plastic bushing wrench trying to turn it. Now that the gun is a bit broken in its a little easier but still very tight. Metal checkered mainspring housing. The barrel is ramped if it matters to you. The Colt barrel is not. The Colt has a dual recoil spring. They claim less recoil (I don’t feel much difference) and extended service life. Recoil springs are cheap and easily replaced. Meh.


!
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Here's a tip for removing tight barrel bushing, just pull the slide back a little bit so the barrel protrudes through the bushing. Then it's usually easy to turn.
 
Ranger officer IMO. Mainly do the fact the Colt doesn't have a ramped barrel. Just about all other manufacturers use a ramped barrel in 9mm besides colt. Ramped barrels generally feed better. The SA is also series 70 Colt is series 80 I much prefer series 70. The Springfield will also be fit better then the Colt 90% of the time and if you have an issue Colt takes months for a repair SA will take a couple of weeks. The SA is also cheaper so IMO it's a no brainer buy the Springfield. And the Glued Ejector is a non issue IMO SA CS is so good they will fix it up fast if there was ever an issue. Which there aren't a lot of issues with the Glued ejectors that I have seen.
 
I can confirm that SA’s repair service is much faster, and that the Range Officer that I have is much more tightly fitted.

The barrel bushing has loosened up a bit with use and I can now remove it without having to use a bushing wrench.

No feeding problems with the Colt since they repaired it. Runs like a top- any kind of ammo.

The Range Officer, however, is a bit picky about what it will chamber. With the wrong ammo it can jam with a live round chambered and it’s a huge pain to clear it as the round is wedged in the chamber very tightly.

I’m eventually going to sell one of them but I haven’t decided which yet.
 
rocket500 said:
I can confirm that SA’s repair service is much faster, and that the Range Officer that I have is much more tightly fitted.

The barrel bushing has loosened up a bit with use and I can now remove it without having to use a bushing wrench.

No feeding problems with the Colt since they repaired it. Runs like a top- any kind of ammo.

The Range Officer, however, is a bit picky about what it will chamber. With the wrong ammo it can jam with a live round chambered and it’s a huge pain to clear it as the round is wedged in the chamber very tightly.

I’m eventually going to sell one of them but I haven’t decided which yet.
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I had a live 9mm get stuck in a RO also, that cheap Turkish ammo from Wally World. It took a good amount of persuasion to free it up. Not a fun experience at all. Maybe that is the price you pay for shooting cheap ammo in a match barrel?
 
Great thread. I'm a lefty and am about to order an SA 1911 Range Officer Elite in 9mm (no rail). My SA Mil-Spec in .45 ACP shoots way better than the price would suggest, and made me think about an SA in 9mm to run with my Browning Hi Powers. I'll post a report on the Elite when it comes in. I have shot the S&W 1911 Pro in 9mm and was impressed with the accuracy and reliability, but just don't like the bling of the stainless. ;-) They really need to come out with a full-size E-series in 9mm. That I would buy in a heartbeat.
 
I think I have settled on keeping to Colt and selling the Range Officer but it’s very close. I intended from the get go to only keep one. In terms of accuracy they are pretty much dead even.

I actually like the SA sights better but otherwise mostly prefer the Colt. It will eat up cheap ammo while the SA is a little finicky.
 
both are nice 1911's but the current state of production no question the SA has better quality control. the colt is more of a dice roll.

my colt competition stainless 9mm had to be replaced by Colt. given all trouble I've had with 9mm 1911's (two different manufacturers, both sucked) I told Colt to just send me a 45acp stainless model. they clearly sent one that had been worked over or hand picked. everything is snug, runs smooth, ejects perfectly. now I have to decide if it's worth keeping since I never shoot the thing.

i think i just have bad luck with 9mm 1911's. it seems others out there are plenty happy. even with the highest quality mags, Tripp Research, etc they still never ran correctly for me. oh well.
 
My Colt 9mm competition still randomly gives me FTF's but they are rare and I think caused by large rimmed Federal brass. I reload 9mm and don't bother to separate by headstamp or anything. If it were a carry gun, it would be unacceptable but I only use it for steel competition stuff so I live with it. It actually seems to be getting better with use. I put an Ed Brown extractor in it to replace the factory one and that made a big difference in frequency of stoppages.
 
I had to bump this thread. Im currently in the same boat as the OP, but I definitely want a .45 and considering the RO Elite versus the Colt Competition.

A couple weeks ago I was at the range and a "1911 guy" said to go with the Colt because Springfield GLUES their ejectors. Is this true? Something to be concerned about? I'm not too familiar with 1911's.
 
JayCaliber said:
I had to bump this thread. Im currently in the same boat as the OP, but I definitely want a .45 and considering the RO Elite versus the Colt Competition.

A couple weeks ago I was at the range and a "1911 guy" said to go with the Colt because Springfield GLUES their ejectors. Is this true? Something to be concerned about? I'm not too familiar with 1911's.
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Apparently it's true; apparently it's also not an issue:
Glued in ejector on Springfields - 1911Forum
 
I’ve put several hundred rounds through my Competition Stainless (.45ACP) and love it. It’s actually one of my favorite guns and always goes to the range with me. The first mag I shot had a FTE after every other shot, but since then, not a single hiccup. It’s well built, feels solid in my hands, is well balanced, and I think it has less recoil than my HK 45C (might just be in my head though).

I like the SA RO, but I love my CCS.
 
Loving my RO Elite Compact tho it's in .45. two range trips and zero malfunctions. First trip was right out of the box no lube etc etc..
 
SKumar said:
Most new guns come lightly pre-lubed.
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Not quite, they come with anti-corrosion measures for storage, not lubrication. If you read most manuals they will tell you to clean them before shooting them as they are coated to protect them sitting in boxes and shelves, not use.

"You may notice this funky grease covering your gun. That’s an oil that most firearm companies use to protect the gun while it’s sitting in a warehouse waiting to be sold. Its purpose is for protection, not functionality.

It has gotta go."
I Bought a Gun! Now What? - Pew Pew Tactical
 
If the gun can't run out of the box that just doesn't make sense to me. If it wears premature I guess I'll be ok with that. It'll probably still be many years down the road. I hope to have some custom work done eventually anyways.

Just went through the manual again. No where does it say it lube etc before shooting for first time.
 
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