.22LR pistol for Bullseye & other competitions

[phrogpilot]

I am an experienced shooter who, aside from a few years in SASS events, has never participated in competitive shooting events or associations. As I enjoy target shooting immensely, I would like to begin, but really don't know what is available and what I would be most suited to/for.

I currently own a S&W 1911 .45 acp, Browning Hi-Power 9mm, S&W 617 6" .22revolver and a S&W model 10 .38 spl. My long guns are an A/R m4 carbine and a Savage Mk11 .22 bb bolt (I have many other firearms, but I can't imagine they're suitable ie; AKs, SKS, snubbies).

Do I have enough/correct guns to participate in one of the shooting orgs? I am looking to improve my skills and enjoy the company of other shooters. I was thinking about a target .22 pistol, perhaps a S&W 41 or a Marvel Unit 1 conversion for my 1911. For the .22 pistol, I would like to use an Ultra Dot in competition as my eyes aren't very good with open sights.

I appreciate those of you with experience sharing your thoughts/experiences.

 

[Mike OTDP]

A good .22 pistol will take you a long way.

For NRA bullseye pistol, you will need a .22 pistol and a 1911. A S&W 41 is reasonable...but shop around. If you can find an older S&W or High Standard, they are superior to new guns. The Marvel conversion is well thought of, but you will need a dedicated frame...with a good trigger.

ISSF requires iron sights, but if you try European sights, you'll be pleasantly surprised. They run much wider than American-made sights, and shoot well.

One nice part about the precision events is that you get a lot of trigger time. As in 270 rounds for a full NRA 2700 match.

 

[BCRider]

Go to You Tube and look at some IPSC and IDPA videos. If this "run and gun" seems like something you'd like to try then you're already set up for it gun wise with your 1911 and the Browning Hi-Power. You'd just need to get a belt, holster and mag pouches along with a few more mags.

There may be local club events as well. For example one of my local clubs has a speed steel event. There's classes for a wide variety of guns including revolver. It's actually quite popular. Your .38 would be fine for this. Even your snubby would be fine. For this one there's no running around. Just 5 steel targets shot from a standing position where the gun starts from a low ready hold so folks don't need to buy holsters and there's no worry about holster drawing safety. It's superb fun and we get to shoot a lot since each stage is shot 6 times by each shooter as fast as they can reload and get ready again. The fastest 5 passes count for scoring. I went a bit overboard on how this works in case someone out there wants to try it at their club or range. And shooting steel is great fun since at least you get a DING! out of it

If they shoot steel silhouette rifle classes in your area your Savage Mk11 would certainly qualify for the .22 side of things. There's also a center fire Silhouette event as well. Both are shot using good scopes but from a free standing position other than the longest range stage so it's quite a challenge for a long gunner.

 

[Canuck-IL]

A lot of Bullseye info, including rquipment, on this site ...
http://www.bullseyepistol.com/

I use a 41 and an Advantage Arms conversion in rimfire. Either are more than adequate. Probably most shooters begin with a 5.5" or 6 7/8" Ruger Mark II bull barrel and either add a Volquartsen sear/trigger or have a trigger job done. That'll take you to Master level scores. Same can be done with a Mk III but it's a little harder to get a trigger done.

One inch UltraDots are the most common choice for BE shooting because of the reliability and lifetime qarranty. On a bright day with the right glasses I can just manage iron sights ... red dot the rest of the time (indoors). If you can manage it, you'll progress as a shooter faster using irons -- it's easier to accept (not notice?) the natural wobble and just work on trigger control.

For 45/centerfire, a 1911 is the common choice. The stock S&W will get you started and is likely OK for 50' indoor leagues but won't really have the accuracy for 50 yards. Start with it as is (or add a dot if needed) and get it or another BE prepped when you feel the gun is limiting your scores.

ETA - if you don't reload, you will soon enough. BE uses up a lot of ammo and you really need to reload to tune for the gun, distances shot and the $$ savings.
/Bryan

 

[Clarence]

M-41 S&W - Best .22 semi-auto that a working man can buy.

 

[weisse52]

M-41 S&W - Best .22 semi-auto that a working man can buy.

Yep, that about sums it up.

 

[Pilot]

I don't like the grip angle of the S&W M41. I prefer a modded Ruger MK II for this purpose.

 

[Mike OTDP]

Having said all that, I highly recommend saving your pennies and getting one of the high-end European target pistols. Outstanding performance. A joy to shoot.

 

[ArmedBear]

European pistols, Model 41s and old High Standard Victors are all excellent pistols. They're all represented at the club where I shoot and compete.

That doesn't mean a Ruger with an improved trigger can't beat them.

If I were you, I'd run what you brung. There's no reason a 617 and a 1911 can't get you through everything that falls under "bullseye". 5 shots at a time, the revolver will work. After you've tried it some, THEN figure out what you want to buy. What you like to shoot can be quite personal. If you buy before you try, you're likely to want something different soon, anyway. Might as well save the money.

 

[belus]

I second the idea to try a couple matches before sinking money in a new gun. The advice of people actively involved in the sport is first rate.

I shoot USPSA myself and would advise making sure you have 5 or 6 mags for your 1911, a belt holster and some mag pouches, and then showing up at a match with ~120 rounds of ammunition.
Pretty much every sport has a place for a 1911 where it will be competitive.

 

[SwampWolf]

I shoot Bullseye competitively ("old school", I refuse to use anything but irons-maybe that's why I don't win anything anymore :banghead and the pistol currently being made that is relatively affordable for most of us and that is plenty accurate for your purposes that I would recommend is the Ruger MKIII with a bull barrel and adjustable sights. For a lot more money (but definitely worth the extra expenditure), a good, used Smith & Wesson Model 41 is hard to beat.

 

[Deanimator]

I have three bullseye semi-auto handguns:

Rimfire - High Standard Citation - Superbly accurate, and with the right ammunition, reliable.

Centefire - Giles .38 Special M1911 - The most accurate centerfire semi-auto I've ever fired.

.45 - Colt Series 70 Mark IV - My .45 wadcutter gun. It was my first handgun. I carried it in college and on the DMZ. It lost its sights and picked up a Weaver rail.

All three guns have Weaver rails and 1" UltraDots.

I started out shooting bullseye with a long, tapered barrel Ruger MkII. I did very well with it until I switched to High Standards. A LARGE percentage of shooters in the Cuyahoga County Pistol League start out with Rugers.

 

[ArmedBear]

The nice thing about a Ruger is that you can feed it damn near anything and it will shoot straight and feed well. And no commercially-available .22LR will hurt it. Ditto for the 617. There's nothing like a few thousand practice rounds to improve one's shooting.

Most of the higher-end target pistols either require subsonic ammo, or are picky about what they like to shoot, or both.

 

[phrogpilot]

Great advice, thanks to all for posting your thoughts. Yesterday I purchased a Browning Buckmark 7.25" Bullseye model with target grips. I look at many Rugers, but at least for me didn't like the grip angle. The Browning has a beautiful, crisp 2.5 lb trigger, which pushed me over the top. I'll shoot it for the first time tomorrow.

I shoot the 617 well, and have found it to be extremely accurate. Has anyone seen a competitive BE shooter use a revolver?

 

[SwampWolf]

Has anyone seen a competitive BE shooter use a revolver?

I still do. On occasion, especially in the slow-fire events, I break out my Smith 1955 Target and/or my Colt Officer Model Special. IMO, no semi-auto pistol ever made, including my Series 70 Colt Gold Cup or my Smith Model 52-2, can equal the trigger pull on a fine, target revolver. If it wasn't for the rapid-fire stage of a bullseye course of fire, I'd consider using revolvers exclusively. Revolvers are fully competitive in terms of the time parameter of the timed-fire event.