Hi,
I live in MA and would like to get a nice pistol for precision pistol competitions. Am not very good yet, still need to work on my technique clearly, but I want a pistol good enough to outshoot me (and ideally everyone else in the club) for a few years.
So my requirements basically are:
- .22lr
- If benched, must hit at least the 9 ring on the slow fire target (i.e. shoot at worst 9 MOA groups). That'll ensure that the pistol itself is capable of 290 points on the national match course, and thus anything lower is the shooter's fault, not the gun's.
- 1911-ish grip angle, as I'm also gonna shoot .45 ACP at times and not having to adjust for different grips is a plus.
- Picatinny rail, ideally together with fallback iron sights (preferably but not required to be adjustable) to use in case the dot fails. If rail is long, I may consider putting a small scope on it just for the hell of it, i.e. extra fun. Bonus points if rail is not attached to the slide to keep the optics alive for longer.
- So easy to clean I'll actually do it. I'm bad at this stuff. The 1911 field stripping procedure is about as complex as I can tolerate.
- Easy and effective to lock against children, just in case the safe wasn't good enough (really love Ruger Mark IV's approach with the hole in the bolt there, as I can use one of my "known hard to pick" padlocks once I heatshrink the shackle to it won't scratch up the gun, but AFAIK most guns at least allow for a cable lock through the action, which is kinda OK).
- Target trigger - with pull weight around 2 to 4 lbs - possible. Would give the stock trigger a try first, though, just to see if I really want that modification - so good factory trigger is sure a plus. May also need someone to install that - do gun stores generally do that?
- Extra magazines need to be readily available. Will need a total of four magazines minimum.
- Actually obtainable in Massachusetts (likely means: must be on the roster).
- Not banned by possibly upcoming HD.4420. In particular, no threaded barrel.
What I've considered for now is:
- Ruger Mark IV Target 22/45: not on the MA roster (except for the Lite version; but the Lite is rather short, will it even be accurate enough? Otherwise, I could clearly get both the 22/45 Lite and the Target, and exchange their uppers, to get a 22/45 Target - just what to do with the other frankengun, basically a Standard Lite? How would I sell that which I am not gonna use, given it's not on the roster? Is it even legal to buy two guns, fully well knowing one of them [or two halves] will be sold soon later, even if to a FFL?)
- 1911 + Nelson conversion: does it matter which 1911 to start with (other than quality of the trigger)? Does the MA roster requirement apply to the conversion? If so, that'd be bad, as it's not listed. How hard is it to undo the conversion and use the same gun as .45 ACP again, compared to the usual 1911 field stripping? If switching calibers isn't much more complicated than the cleaning one has to do anyway, this is basically two guns for the price of... two, then (OTOH this setup means I can't use it if I ever want to carry, so it's not REALLY two fully usable guns in that setup, while with any other option, I'd probably opt for a separate .45 ACP gun eventually, ).
- Browning Buck Mark SS Camper: seems cleaning instructions don't even require any disassembly - is that actually true in practice? And does this gun hit stuff well enough?
- SW22 Victory Target: have to stay away from the Performance Center version as it may count as a salt weapon soon. Also, definitely not a 1911-ish grip angle, but at least not like a Ruger Mark IV Standard.
Are any of these really bad ideas, especially accuracy wise? Anything on the MA roster I really should consider too?
Not opposed to revolvers either, but no concrete ones on the list. If it's a revolver, as I won't have time to manually load a cylinder before a shot string, speedloaders definitely must be available.
Thanks!
I live in MA and would like to get a nice pistol for precision pistol competitions. Am not very good yet, still need to work on my technique clearly, but I want a pistol good enough to outshoot me (and ideally everyone else in the club) for a few years.
So my requirements basically are:
- .22lr
- If benched, must hit at least the 9 ring on the slow fire target (i.e. shoot at worst 9 MOA groups). That'll ensure that the pistol itself is capable of 290 points on the national match course, and thus anything lower is the shooter's fault, not the gun's.
- 1911-ish grip angle, as I'm also gonna shoot .45 ACP at times and not having to adjust for different grips is a plus.
- Picatinny rail, ideally together with fallback iron sights (preferably but not required to be adjustable) to use in case the dot fails. If rail is long, I may consider putting a small scope on it just for the hell of it, i.e. extra fun. Bonus points if rail is not attached to the slide to keep the optics alive for longer.
- So easy to clean I'll actually do it. I'm bad at this stuff. The 1911 field stripping procedure is about as complex as I can tolerate.
- Easy and effective to lock against children, just in case the safe wasn't good enough (really love Ruger Mark IV's approach with the hole in the bolt there, as I can use one of my "known hard to pick" padlocks once I heatshrink the shackle to it won't scratch up the gun, but AFAIK most guns at least allow for a cable lock through the action, which is kinda OK).
- Target trigger - with pull weight around 2 to 4 lbs - possible. Would give the stock trigger a try first, though, just to see if I really want that modification - so good factory trigger is sure a plus. May also need someone to install that - do gun stores generally do that?
- Extra magazines need to be readily available. Will need a total of four magazines minimum.
- Actually obtainable in Massachusetts (likely means: must be on the roster).
- Not banned by possibly upcoming HD.4420. In particular, no threaded barrel.
What I've considered for now is:
- Ruger Mark IV Target 22/45: not on the MA roster (except for the Lite version; but the Lite is rather short, will it even be accurate enough? Otherwise, I could clearly get both the 22/45 Lite and the Target, and exchange their uppers, to get a 22/45 Target - just what to do with the other frankengun, basically a Standard Lite? How would I sell that which I am not gonna use, given it's not on the roster? Is it even legal to buy two guns, fully well knowing one of them [or two halves] will be sold soon later, even if to a FFL?)
- 1911 + Nelson conversion: does it matter which 1911 to start with (other than quality of the trigger)? Does the MA roster requirement apply to the conversion? If so, that'd be bad, as it's not listed. How hard is it to undo the conversion and use the same gun as .45 ACP again, compared to the usual 1911 field stripping? If switching calibers isn't much more complicated than the cleaning one has to do anyway, this is basically two guns for the price of... two, then (OTOH this setup means I can't use it if I ever want to carry, so it's not REALLY two fully usable guns in that setup, while with any other option, I'd probably opt for a separate .45 ACP gun eventually, ).
- Browning Buck Mark SS Camper: seems cleaning instructions don't even require any disassembly - is that actually true in practice? And does this gun hit stuff well enough?
- SW22 Victory Target: have to stay away from the Performance Center version as it may count as a salt weapon soon. Also, definitely not a 1911-ish grip angle, but at least not like a Ruger Mark IV Standard.
Are any of these really bad ideas, especially accuracy wise? Anything on the MA roster I really should consider too?
Not opposed to revolvers either, but no concrete ones on the list. If it's a revolver, as I won't have time to manually load a cylinder before a shot string, speedloaders definitely must be available.
Thanks!