New Gear: Springfield Range Officer 1911 9mm

I love my Kimber 1911 Stainless Custom II .45. The 1911 platform, in addition to being among the most proven around, just works for me. I love the ergonomics. The balance. The feel. How everything on it seems so perfectly logical. The wide range of aftermarket parts you can get to customize feel, improve accuracy, and just make it "yours".

What I don't love is the cost of .45 ammunition. Ouch.

I'm a big fan of Springfield Armory products. I own both a full-size and subcompact XD models. And the 1911's I've shot were always solid. They make a great product, with good features, at a very fair price. With their new Range Officer 1911 in 9mm they're definitely showing that they listen to customers.

The Range Officer is a relatively new offering that's geared for competitive target shooting. They've given you everything you need, and nothing you don't. A gun that's supposed to be a tack-driver right out of the box, but that leaves you room (and cash) to customize. For a very reasonable price you get a match-grade barrel and bushing, extended beavertail grip safety, and adjustable target sights.

And now, you can get it in a 9mm. I had the opportunity to shoot a Smith & Wesson Custom Shop 1911 9mm a few years back. I came away extremely impressed. The ergonomics of a 1911, combined with the low cost and recoil of 9mm. Well, now Springfield has done it with the 9mm Range Officer.

So, I put one on order (takes a while -- turns out customers really wanted these). Today I picked it up. Although I haven't shot it yet, I can see this will become a favorite. Feels like a well-built 1911 in-hand. Fit and finish are nice and tight. Grips are both elegant and hand-grabbing.

More to follow after I shoot it and give it a thorough clean and lube.

-Sean-

1911 - Phase II

While I've been very happy with my Kimber Custom Stainless II 1911 .45, the tweaker in me just can't resist. The 1911 platform affords so much opportunity for customization, that I knew this would happen before too long.

What initially fueled this was shooting my friend's Kimber TLE model. The checkering on the front strap really makes a huge difference. I'm more easily able to get a solid, consistent grip and as a result accuracy increases greatly.

These days it seems like finding a good gunsmith is a real challenge. Fortunately, I have a friend who shoots competitively and loves 1911's. He recommended I talk to Marianne Carniak - "The Accurizer". On Saturday, I paid Marianne a visit at her shop to have a look at my gun. This lady knows her 1911's! Super cool, incredibly knowledgeable, and really able to talk me through what I liked and didn't like about the gun. I knew at the outset that she'd be doing more than the checkering, I just didn't know what. With Marianne's guidance we were able to identify some modifications to make this MY gun. To say that I'm eager to have it back in my hands is a vast understatement.

Upon pulling the gun from its case, Marianne immediately identified a weakness -- the plastic mainspring housing. I'd never even noticed that this part was plastic! Though it's a non-critical functioning part, she said, "it just should be metal...". Music to my ears, I found the right resource.

I've not had a lot of luck with gunsmiths in the past, but I think that's because I was going to general, mass-market places. In the hands of specialist, I was really able to uncover areas for both significant and minor improvements that will customize this gun to me.

I'll write more after I get it back in a month or so!

Planning Ahead

Summer is quickly winding down. The days are shorter. The nights chillier. Soon the woods will be ablaze with color and we'll be into the thick of college football season. Of course, in typical Michigan fashion, it will be 95 degrees here tomorrow. Seriously, you can't make this shit up.

All of this change hasn't led me to abandon warm-weather pursuits -- I'm going to try to stretch my cycling season well into October, and I figure there's at least one more smallmouth fly fishing float in my September. But my favorite cold weather activities are coming. As is my bent, this has my head spinning so I'm ready when the time comes. With that in mind, here are a few of the current projects:

1. I've been looking to upgrade my base layer bottoms for skiing. It's time to leverage technology and get into the new millenium. So I have a pair of CW-X Stabilyx Insulator 3/4 tights on order. I'm hoping these will enable me to ski without an additional knee brace, and will provide some solid muscle support.
2. Scored a deal (I love the off-season; $57 shipped free!) on some SWEET lime green Marmot Motion ski pants to match the new coat I picked up last year. I've been looking to get out of dullsville and step up my look a bit. Rather than shredding them with my crappy, toothy $7 clip-on hunting suspenders I'm putting in some Duluth Trading suspenders using real buttons. We're finally doing it up right.
3. Considering a boat net for steelheading. The Fisknat Grande Ronde is the current leading candidate. I have a Fisknat trout net and it's sweet. No more beaching. It's just not nice.
4. Looking at an oar upgrade for the Clacka. Sawyer Dynelite Square Tops are the current leading contender. Everyone I talk to says the difference from the Cataracts that came with my boat will be "life changing". I want to row the flywater of the Pere Marquette, so I think this will definitely help my manueverability and make a long day in the rower's seat shorter.
5. The boat bag is on the workbench, ready for the Summer-Winter switchover. Goodbye smallmout and trout gear, hello STEELHEAD!!!!!
6. I'm thinking about guns. I think this year, my Kimber 1911 is going to get a few upgrades. I've started a discussion with a gunsmith about the best bang for my buck in upgrades (bad pun intended).

Beyond this, some important issues have already been handled:

1. After breaking the winch strap on my trailer, a new heavy-duty repacement has been installed. And at the sage advice of Jon Ray, a back-up is in my tow box.
2. Winter boat storage has been secured. Parking in the garage is driveway is swell and all -- until you have to scrape.
3. Cycling season has given me a solid level of both cardio fitness and leg strength. Western ski slopes, be prepared...
4. I've started to transition from cycling to gym. Painful, but don't want to lose the fitness (and weight loss) base I've built.
5. Starting to tie up some cool swing flies. Greg Senyo's Artificial Intelligence and Slim Shady will be key this year.

So, yeah, I'm kind of fired up for the cold. Bring it!!!!

FirePOWER

One of the earliest pistols I had the opportunity to shoot was a Kimber stainless Custom 1911 in .45ACP. As it was a rental unit at a local shooting range and had seen a lot of rounds fired and minimal maintenance, I loved that gun. So guns just fit and feel right - that was this gun's story.

Subsequent to that, I had a number of opportunities to shoot a friend's 1911's. These included a rather basic Springfield Armory that I could just never make friends with and a rather fussy Colt. While I liked the 1911 platform very much. Neither of those guns compared to that Kimber.

Last week, I was fortunate enough to finally own the object of my affections. While I haven't yet had the opportunity to shoot it, I love it already. The heft -- just right. The simple, logical action. The exceptional level of fit and finish is outstanding. Barrel lock-up seems perfect and the action is precise and controlled.

I'm glad I waited. I'd considered a Taurus, but that just didn't seem quite right for this very special pistol. A Remington seemed like a cost-effective American-made option, but the R1 is a pretty bare-bones model. This would have necessitated a bunch of work with a pistolsmith to do a trigger job, polish and flare the feed ramp, swap out the hammer, etc. Before long, you've got a $600 gun with $600 worth of custom work. Or, I could just buy the Kimber that already has all of that and more.

Finally, I must confess to some personal vanity. I can't explain WHY, but I just had to have a stainless model. Do I have any practical reason for this? Nope. It's just shiny and I like that.

More to follow once I've had the chance to shoot this beast.

-Sean-