Bullseye Competition Handguns

This is new. Using to hand these days would work for me.

Mike OTDP said:

Fewer guns to master, fewer cartridges to load.

Click to expand...

Plus, .45 caliber bullets "cut bigger holes that turn close 9-ring hits into 10s".

DMW1116 said:

Is that really a factor in scoring?

Click to expand...

yes

There is a push on to change that. In Bench Rest, they have gone with a different scoring calculator to compensate for say if you shoot a 6mm as compared to a 6.5 or .30 caliber. However if you look at Bullseye Scores shot with custom competitive hadnguns, I think you will find that the .32 S&W Long Colt and the .38 WC are more accurate than the .45s which might compensate. Even the better 9mm Competitive Pistols.

Bob

Depending on your involvement and ambitions in NRA Bullseye Pistol competition, your investment in equipment can become rather significant. As stated previously, you can shoot the full course with only a .22 and a.45, with which some shooters I've known have done quite well. But when advancing from plateau to higher plateaus, more sophisticated equipment have undeniable advantages. Here are the pistols I competed with when I was more involved in the bullseye game before moving on to International Pistol, which required different equipment. From left is S&W M-41 rimfire, Clark .38 Heavy Long Slide, Kart long slide .22 upper (Which mounts on 1911 lower.) Clark .45 Long Slide, Colt Gold Cup .45 accurized by Clark, for hardball events. The longslide modification is an inch longer than standard slide and the heavy version is extremely accurate and smooth to shoot..

DMW1116 said:

I’ve been trying my hand at 22 bullseye shooting at both 50’ and 25 yards. For centerfire portions, what guns are typically used? A centerfire greater than 22 and a 45 caliber are required as far as I’ve read, but that covers a lot of ground.

Click to expand...

Good for you on trying bullseye pistol! Its a great sport that will last you a lifetime.

If you have a 22 pistol now, may i suggest you get involved and shoot a match? You don't need a centerfire pistol to compete initially. Many match directors will let you shoot the match with only your 22.

In-between the matches, talk to the shooters about their pistols and you won't find a better bunch of people who are willing their knowledge.

Yes. You can shoot .45 Colt.
I still shoot Bullseye pistol. Have a seriously bad spine and scores are not great. It is still fun. I started with a Ruger Mk.II and then went to a High Standard Victor. Lately I have been using a .22 conversion by Nelson Custom. It goes on a Colt Gold Cup. The GC is for the Centefire and .45 stages.
The NRA has a relatively new ruling that allows for “.22 Only” match shooting…..so you can do an entire 2700 match with your .22 pistol.
One still sees Rugers on the firing line. Quite a few shooters use the Smith 41 ( i have found it a tad finicky). Very popular also but pricey is the FWB AW 93. No longer made but available on the Used Market is the Hammerli 208.

DMW1116 said:

For the 45 caliber pistol portion it doesn’t appear the pistol has to be a 1911 except for service pistol competitions. Is 45 ACP required or could 45 Colt be used in a DA revolver?

Click to expand...

I don't see why you would, unless you already had an accurate .45 LC.
However, a target shooter showed me his S&W 1955 .45 ACP/AR and said "I couldn't afford an accurized automatic, so I bought this and shot my way to Master with it."

DMW1116 said:

For the 45 caliber pistol portion

Click to expand...

Shooting a revolver double action is fun in timed & rapid. I shot my M28 in center fire with 38 specials.
ISU had a dueling phase, great for my revolver, also.

ISU Dueling
In the 1970's the International Shooting Union,or ISU , men shot dueling (at silhouette targets). It was discontinued and became womens sport pistol. Now called rapid fire. Men used center fire. Women use 22lr now.
Quote:
During the qualification round every 25m Pistol Women competitor has to fire 60 shots, equally divided in 30 Precision Stage shots and 30 Rapid Fire Stage shots. In the Precision Stage, six 5-shots series are fired within 5 minutes, while in the Rapid Fire Stage the green lights turn on for 3 seconds for each shot, while the red lights between consecutive green lights last 7 seconds.

The qualifications are scored in integer points, with the maximum score per shot being 10 points. The maximum qualification score is 600 points.
I did shoot ISU in the 70's. Not around in 1910.

Click to expand...

“shot my way to master with it”
No doubt people do it. It is, though, the exception not the rule

I just missed out on an older Bullseye pistol and I'm still kicking myself. It was a government issue 1911 accurized by a big name pistol smith from back in the 60's or 70's. It had a NM barrel and slide, Bo-Mar sights and probably the best trigger that I've ever found on a 1911. The guy that had it joked that someone took a $20 pistol that would have been worth $2000 and turned it into an $800 pistol! At one time you could buy a GI 1911 for $20. Did I mention that I'm still kicking myself???

Technically you could shoot all three events with one pistol, or at least one frame. 1911 Frame with .45 barrel and .22 conversion kit.

For those looking for a Model 52 or other Bullseye Pistols there are usually some listed for sale on BullseyeForum.net.

Bob

I think you mean https://www.bullseyeforum.net/

Yes I do ........ Thanks for correcting. My Favorites Pages just come up so I forget the exact web address's.

DMW1116 said:

When I tried it the first time I had little choice. We have an Olympic level pistol shooter that frequents our range and he was cutting business cards in half from 10 yards. We were the only two there and went cold so he could change targets. He moves his to 25 and then staples 2 cards to my stand on the way back. He shoots his two rounds of five while I try to hit the cards then tapes his target and motions for me to try his target. I got a few in the black so I’ve been shooting that way at least a little every trip to the pistol range since then.

It’s very difficult to do well and I’ve never gotten all 10s. I rarely keep all the shots in the black. I keep getting just close enough to try again. I was doing ok at 25 yards and then switched to some indoor targets at 50’ and it was like I started over. To make myself feel better I started shooting air pistol targets at 10 yards. Those things are tiny so I’m not really doing any better, but at that distance it’s less intimidating.

Click to expand...

Air pistol practice transfers very nicely to NRA Conventional/Precision Pistol. Some years ago, The fellows that I shoot with in a league in NYC decided to shoot Air Pistol Postals every week in the winter. The result was that I had my best season ever and was High Aggregate for the league when we got back to Bullseye. Even though Air is iron sights only and I used a dot for NRA matches, my scores went up.
I probably should do it again.

DMW1116 said:

pellet pistol

Click to expand...

The .177" is used in competition, indoors during winter. Doesn't have to be a high priced one, like the 1970s Feinwerkbau 65, i got to use.

Shot my Beeman P17 gun & a Remington Vantage 177 air rifle in the basement this morning. 15 degrees out.

My two include a Browning Buck Mark Target and a Wilson Stainless Professional, which is also my EDC.

ADKWOODSMAN said:

Most .45acp reloads are around 3.7 bullseye. easy recoil.

Click to expand...

Interesting. I tried 3.7 with both 185swc and 200swcs. I could not get the gun to function reliably. Changed springs, etc. Nothing worked. I know that the load works for others but not in my gun.
For years, since I have used the classic Bullseye load of 4.0 grains of Bullseye and a 200 grain SWC. The gun, now, has something over 100k rounds through it. I can count the FTFs on the fingers of one hand.

rabid wombat said:

My understanding, most shoot two…22 and the 45 in the centerfire and 45 portions….real competitors, please chime in

Click to expand...

Distinguished Pistol #586, Presidents 100 pistol, 2600 Club, NRA Master cards for almost everything. Like many old timers, I started out with revolvers in 2700 matches (1956). Shot with, and knew many of the real greats in the shooting world. Current is a High Standard Military model for .22, and several different 1911 Colts. For centerfire and 45 my loads are 200swc pushed with 3.9 gr 231 for the short range, and bumped powder to 5.0 50yd. Same POA/POI, same recoil. Used the issued 1911 (match conditioned) for the Service gun and leg matches with 230gr HB as issued. Some of the ammo was good, some terrible, but we all shot the same stuff so it was pretty much on an equal footing. My X won 3 legs against the Marines (2 Silver, 1 Bronze) with the same guns and bullets. She would have been double DX but they had just started to shoot the 9mm and she got a bronze but Ruby Fox protested it wasn't a "Service Pistol" so did not get her DX. However, she get Intl DX and set several Ladies records. Also outshot Ruby in many matches. Semper Fi