Very happy with Springfield Range Officer Champion!

[Balrog]

I have been looking for a 4" 1911 for a while. I have had these in the past, didn't feel they were as reliable as my 5" 1911s and so moved away from them. I recently got the bug again for a 4"1911 primarily because they are lighter and easier to carry.

I ended up getting a Springfield Range Officer Champion today in 45 ACP. Overall I liked it better than Kimbers in the same price range. It has an alloy frame, 4" bushingless bull barrel, fiberoptic front sight, and single sided safety. The only thing it doesn't have that I wish it had is checkered front strap, but thats not really a big deal.

I took it to the range immediately. I didn't break it down or oil because rain was heading my way and I didn't have too much time.

I was shooting at 50'. Reliability was 100% with S&B 230g FMJ, WWB 230g FMJ, Winchester Ranger-T 230g JHPs and my handloads (230g FMJ over Win 231, don't recall the grains of powder off top of my head). Absolutely 100%. No problems of any kind. I didn't mess with the cheap looking Sprinfield magazines it came with, just used my usual Wilson 47Ds. I couldn't make the dang thing jam, even trying to limp wrist. Round count today was about 250.

As for accuracy, I got 4-5 inch groups at 50', shooting offhand, and it shot slightly left of point of aim. I can fix this easily with a minor adjustment of the rear sight.

I just took it home, cleaned it, lubed it up, and think I may go ahead and put it into service, though I think 250 rounds is a little low on round count to be totally convinced yet.

Overall, very good start with this gun!

 

[Edcnh]

I just picked up a Springfield Range Officer last week and was very impressed with the accuracy. I agree about the mags-really cheap looking.

 

[TomJ]

I bought one a few months ago. It's been great, with no malfunctions. It's light enough to carry comfortably while being heavy enough to tame the recoil well. I couldn't be happier with it.

 

[Quentin]

Glad to hear you like your RO Champion! I was torn between it and the Range Officer Compact, finally going with the Compact which has worked out well for me. I believe the only difference is the RO Champion has the full size grip while the Compact has the Officers length grip (so holds one less round in a flush fit magazine).

Excellent 4" 1911s with all the features most of us want, and at a good price! Very nice that Springfield offers both grip lengths as one or the other will fit most hands.