It tested so well I sent Springfield a check and kept it.
Within a couple of years, it had become my most frequently carried 1911 .45.
Concept
Springfields Range Officer in its original format filled a niche in the 1911 market.
Its whats called by some target shooters a hardball gun.
Reliable enough to take into combat, but accurate enough to win a pistol match.
A big step up, the Range Officer might be called an entry gun for theseriousshooter.
The build quality is high.
We removed all of the extras to keep costs down and the quality up.
Those big wheelguns were identical in performance, but the expensive ones were fancier.
It made the late, lamented Highway Patrolman one of the best buy handguns of all time.
The same dynamics are true in the 1911 world with Springfields Range Officer.
A gray Parkerized finish lowers the cost of manufacture and therefore the end-users cost of purchase.
Its adjustable sights are both ruggedandprecise.
FMJ or hollowpoint will hit to about the same spot, even with the hot 230-gr.
+P loadings like Federals superb HST.
Even in the subsequently offered 9mm chambering, 147-gr.
subsonic will generally print higher than 124- or 115-gr.
Five-shot groups from a Caldwell Matrix rest at 25 yards ran an average of 2 or tighter.
That, however, understates what I believe to be this pistols true accuracy potential.
Hand-held from the bench, there is potential for unnoticed human error uncalled flyers, if you will.
To allow for that, I also measure the best three hits within each group.
This extrapolates to 1.5 at fifty yards: gilt-edged match accuracy from a service-reliable .45. of one another, center to center.
The ammo was inexpensive MagTech 230 grain FMJ.
Reliability over a decade has been 100% with standard pressure JHP duty and 230-gr.
I had one failure to eject on an empty magazine with department issue 230-gr.
+P HST, probably due to a recoil spring that was past its expiration date.
I replaced the spring and the malfunction was never repeated.
My fault, not the pistols.
Trusted Partner
My now well-worn Range Officer still perks along.
It was my duty pistol for my last two or three years on the police department.
Hard to ask for more than that.
The RO line has expanded during its decade with us.
Want rugged fixed sights?
Springfield has you covered.
Need a light rail?
Thats in the Range Officer section of the Springfield Armory catalog too, in the Elite Operator version.
However, that last one lists for $1,145.
Andthatswhy I think the Springfield Armory Range Officer is a best buy in a sub-$1,000 1911 pistol.
Go to forum thread
1911Range Officer Target
1911Mil-Spec
