shooting4fun
31st May 2004, 22:26
Range report for Springfield Armory Loaded SS Champion
In kicking off this range report I've got to acknowledge my appreciation to the folks at Springfield Armory, and the Manager/crew at the Fort Huachuca Sportsman Center all for a job WELL DONE! Top Notch... Good Form and all that!
I recently had the fortunate opportunity arise for me to purchase a new Springfield Armory (SA) Stainless Steel (SS) Loaded Champion. I appreciate doing business where the crew/staff conduct themselves as professionals. I was presented with the pistol for examination shortly after it arrived and was processed into inventory. One of the things that I noticed after taking note of the polished silvery sides of the slide was the great way the bead blasted front strap of the grip felt. The bead blasting was a nice contrast to the shiny polished flats. It did have a nice grip texture to it, not aggressive but comfortably assuring of a good grip. Should be interesting to see just how this texture performs for me in the upcoming pistol matches here in SE AZ, where the temperatures are going to climb even higher for the summer months.
If your interested in the general details of the pistol then help yourself to the SA web site for this information. I'll share my thoughts an observations on this particular pistol.
Initial observations were that the bull barrel locks up nicely, directly into the frame. On the other end of the barrel, the integral feed ramp is nicely polished. My initial look at the steep angle on the feed ramp of this barrel was cause for some concern. A concern that would have to wait till I had go at the range to asses.
Reciprocating the slide on this pistol was interesting to me as I've never handled a 1911 style pistol that was quite this tight in the area between slide and frame. I've had the opportunity to handle in the past numerous custom pistols and open class race guns that were not this tight. It was smooth, which to me was a good thing. I figured I just needed to put some decent lube on it and run with it. This is my first stainless steel pistol. I figured the history of horror stories on the galling problems pertained to former grades of SS. I was banking on the fact that new manufacturing processes for SS and better lubricants would be just the thing for this new pistol.
Once I got the pistol home that night, the Novak night sites really stood out. In comparison to the other handguns that I've got night sites on, these are really bright. Granted these are new but they are quite intense. Another point of appreciation is the front site, on these Novaks, it does not fill up the rear site notch. I like having some daylight between the post and the sides of the notch. This should help me with critical site alignment required for some of those 'fowl' shots. [Those of you that shot at the Douglas match will appreciate that comment] As for the rest of you, the folks at Douglas host a handgun match where there are steel targets of fowl [quail/chicken/turkey] perched on posts placed at 30 + yrds. The catch is that the targets are on 1.5 meter high posts so you can't use any point of reference to identify where your shot went if you miss. The back berm is still quite a few yards back so a missed shot is challenging to correct for, you've got to have a good sight picture and let it rip with all good intentions.
Ok, fast forward two weeks till my schedule permits an opportunity to launch some bullets. I've got a mix of Winchester White box from Wally World, some factory 230 LRN, and my reloads. WOW! What a hoot! The first shot I launch is using WWB at the 4 inch round dangler at 25 yds. I'm gratified with a center punch on it! I proceed to do it again and again with several magazines. I start getting a bit greedy and push through several quick run through the three danglers [two at 25 yds, and one at 50 yds]. Hee..hee.. This is pistol ROCKS!
Recoil is moderate due to the full SS frame and bull barrel configuration. Note this is not a light gun. It is very comforting to handle and shoot! Target transitions are easy as you can definitely ride it to the next target for smooth fast shooting.
I was concerned before shooting this gun with fixed sights. I was hoping that the Point of Aim matched the Point of Impact. The folks at SA matched the slide profile with the dovetailed front site. They also pinned the front site, nice touch! That first shot along with the several hundred that followed quelled the concern with the site regulation point.
Similarly, the concern of the steep feed ramp was addressed by the pistol's proper functioning. The occasional chambering issue was determined, by close examination, to be due the slide stop catch being a bit too long and catching the bullet as they chambered. Some Midnight Madness Gunsmithing providing a re-contouring with a file seems to have cured the issue of the bullets banging on it during chambering. Some additional attention was applied to the frame's throat area to relieve a few tight spots to facilitate easy chambering of those really wide mouthed JHPs.
I didn't fire on paper targets during the two initial range sessions. However, I can put several magazines through it and hit the 4 inch dangler over 90% under slow fire conditions. I'm really the issue, not the pistol's shot dispersion. Yeah, it was a riot to be able to do Bill Drills on this dangler as fast as I was able to launch follow up shots with the front site setting quickly back on target. Simply a joy to shoot this pistol!
The trigger out of the box did not appear to change noticeably during my shooting experience. It was moderate in weight but crisp in breaking, clean through and through. I had no problems with managing it. I also have no plans of modifying it.
There were two issues other issues that did arise. First was the magazine catch spring. It was way too strong. Godzilla would have had issues with it. You could literally blow a vein trying to remove the magazine. Even pushing up slightly on the magazine didn't help much. So the magazine catch spring was shortened to a more appropriate length. Life is good there now.
The other issue is the dual recoil spring guide rod. At first I was concerned about how I was going to replace the springs on this beast as I know I was going to shoot it quite a bit. It wasn't till I got home after the second range session that I noticed the guide rod was a two piece unit. It had worked itself loose. No big deal? I just put some locktite on it to see if it will hold under operational conditions. We'll see...
So after over 300 + rounds successfully launched, all with what I would consider very good accuracy. I've got the initial subtle [three occurrences] chambering issues relating to the slide stop catch to blemish the pistol's reliability record. All I've got now is the two piece guide rod to possibly deal with. May not be an issue anymore with the locktite application. Action handgun match is in a week or so, so the pistol will get a trial by fire at that point. This consumer is happy with the SA SS Loaded Champion! “Let the Sound of Freedom Roll On!” Cheers!
In kicking off this range report I've got to acknowledge my appreciation to the folks at Springfield Armory, and the Manager/crew at the Fort Huachuca Sportsman Center all for a job WELL DONE! Top Notch... Good Form and all that!
I recently had the fortunate opportunity arise for me to purchase a new Springfield Armory (SA) Stainless Steel (SS) Loaded Champion. I appreciate doing business where the crew/staff conduct themselves as professionals. I was presented with the pistol for examination shortly after it arrived and was processed into inventory. One of the things that I noticed after taking note of the polished silvery sides of the slide was the great way the bead blasted front strap of the grip felt. The bead blasting was a nice contrast to the shiny polished flats. It did have a nice grip texture to it, not aggressive but comfortably assuring of a good grip. Should be interesting to see just how this texture performs for me in the upcoming pistol matches here in SE AZ, where the temperatures are going to climb even higher for the summer months.
If your interested in the general details of the pistol then help yourself to the SA web site for this information. I'll share my thoughts an observations on this particular pistol.
Initial observations were that the bull barrel locks up nicely, directly into the frame. On the other end of the barrel, the integral feed ramp is nicely polished. My initial look at the steep angle on the feed ramp of this barrel was cause for some concern. A concern that would have to wait till I had go at the range to asses.
Reciprocating the slide on this pistol was interesting to me as I've never handled a 1911 style pistol that was quite this tight in the area between slide and frame. I've had the opportunity to handle in the past numerous custom pistols and open class race guns that were not this tight. It was smooth, which to me was a good thing. I figured I just needed to put some decent lube on it and run with it. This is my first stainless steel pistol. I figured the history of horror stories on the galling problems pertained to former grades of SS. I was banking on the fact that new manufacturing processes for SS and better lubricants would be just the thing for this new pistol.
Once I got the pistol home that night, the Novak night sites really stood out. In comparison to the other handguns that I've got night sites on, these are really bright. Granted these are new but they are quite intense. Another point of appreciation is the front site, on these Novaks, it does not fill up the rear site notch. I like having some daylight between the post and the sides of the notch. This should help me with critical site alignment required for some of those 'fowl' shots. [Those of you that shot at the Douglas match will appreciate that comment] As for the rest of you, the folks at Douglas host a handgun match where there are steel targets of fowl [quail/chicken/turkey] perched on posts placed at 30 + yrds. The catch is that the targets are on 1.5 meter high posts so you can't use any point of reference to identify where your shot went if you miss. The back berm is still quite a few yards back so a missed shot is challenging to correct for, you've got to have a good sight picture and let it rip with all good intentions.
Ok, fast forward two weeks till my schedule permits an opportunity to launch some bullets. I've got a mix of Winchester White box from Wally World, some factory 230 LRN, and my reloads. WOW! What a hoot! The first shot I launch is using WWB at the 4 inch round dangler at 25 yds. I'm gratified with a center punch on it! I proceed to do it again and again with several magazines. I start getting a bit greedy and push through several quick run through the three danglers [two at 25 yds, and one at 50 yds]. Hee..hee.. This is pistol ROCKS!
Recoil is moderate due to the full SS frame and bull barrel configuration. Note this is not a light gun. It is very comforting to handle and shoot! Target transitions are easy as you can definitely ride it to the next target for smooth fast shooting.
I was concerned before shooting this gun with fixed sights. I was hoping that the Point of Aim matched the Point of Impact. The folks at SA matched the slide profile with the dovetailed front site. They also pinned the front site, nice touch! That first shot along with the several hundred that followed quelled the concern with the site regulation point.
Similarly, the concern of the steep feed ramp was addressed by the pistol's proper functioning. The occasional chambering issue was determined, by close examination, to be due the slide stop catch being a bit too long and catching the bullet as they chambered. Some Midnight Madness Gunsmithing providing a re-contouring with a file seems to have cured the issue of the bullets banging on it during chambering. Some additional attention was applied to the frame's throat area to relieve a few tight spots to facilitate easy chambering of those really wide mouthed JHPs.
I didn't fire on paper targets during the two initial range sessions. However, I can put several magazines through it and hit the 4 inch dangler over 90% under slow fire conditions. I'm really the issue, not the pistol's shot dispersion. Yeah, it was a riot to be able to do Bill Drills on this dangler as fast as I was able to launch follow up shots with the front site setting quickly back on target. Simply a joy to shoot this pistol!
The trigger out of the box did not appear to change noticeably during my shooting experience. It was moderate in weight but crisp in breaking, clean through and through. I had no problems with managing it. I also have no plans of modifying it.
There were two issues other issues that did arise. First was the magazine catch spring. It was way too strong. Godzilla would have had issues with it. You could literally blow a vein trying to remove the magazine. Even pushing up slightly on the magazine didn't help much. So the magazine catch spring was shortened to a more appropriate length. Life is good there now.
The other issue is the dual recoil spring guide rod. At first I was concerned about how I was going to replace the springs on this beast as I know I was going to shoot it quite a bit. It wasn't till I got home after the second range session that I noticed the guide rod was a two piece unit. It had worked itself loose. No big deal? I just put some locktite on it to see if it will hold under operational conditions. We'll see...
So after over 300 + rounds successfully launched, all with what I would consider very good accuracy. I've got the initial subtle [three occurrences] chambering issues relating to the slide stop catch to blemish the pistol's reliability record. All I've got now is the two piece guide rod to possibly deal with. May not be an issue anymore with the locktite application. Action handgun match is in a week or so, so the pistol will get a trial by fire at that point. This consumer is happy with the SA SS Loaded Champion! “Let the Sound of Freedom Roll On!” Cheers!