Springfield Armory Range Officer 9mm

[Robinson]

Okay so now I have a few more hundred rounds through this stainless Range Officer 9mm and it is running fine. I am now using a Wilson Combat chrome silicon 11# recoil spring.

I have also purchased a Range Officer Elite target model 9mm and have the same WC 11# spring installed in this pistol. I also dumped the thin grip panels for normal thickness VZ grips. Pretty nice shooting guns.

I've been using WC ETM mags pretty much exclusively with these Springfield pistols, but recently I did order a Brownells magazine. So far it works great, so I will probably order several more at some point.

[Trooper224]

Took Mrs. Awesome to the range on Saturday and she put another hundred rounds through the Springfield RO 9mm without issue. This has become her main fun gun. I can't remember the last time I cleaned it, with only an occasional lube job and it hasn't malfunctioned as much as once in the time we've owned it. This is with a combination of factory and Wilson Magazines and a variety of handloads.

[Doc_Glock]

I really enjoy mine. I have had many failures to lock open on empty with: Springfield OE, Metalform, Wilson ETM, and Mecgar mags. They all do it occasionally. But the OE are worst.

I only had one feeding stoppage in 1000 rounds and that was a Wilson ETM.

Overall it is a great gun but mags are definitely the weak point. Single stack, low capacity for size, the tend to toss rounds occasionally and aren’t all that reliable.

[TC215]

I really enjoy mine. I have had many failures to lock open on empty with: Springfield OE, Metalform, Wilson ETM, and Mecgar mags. They all do it occasionally. But the OE are worst.

I only had one feeding stoppage in 1000 rounds and that was a Wilson ETM.

Overall it is a great gun but mags are definitely the weak point. Single stack, low capacity for size, the tend to toss rounds occasionally and aren’t all that reliable.

If you’re having problems with all those different magazines, it’s probably not the magazines.

[sharps54]

Okay so now I have a few more hundred rounds through this stainless Range Officer 9mm and it is running fine. I am now using a Wilson Combat chrome silicon 11# recoil spring.

I have also purchased a Range Officer Elite target model 9mm and have the same WC 11# spring installed in this pistol. I also dumped the thin grip panels for normal thickness VZ grips. Pretty nice shooting guns.

I've been using WC ETM mags pretty much exclusively with these Springfield pistols, but recently I did order a Brownells magazine. So far it works great, so I will probably order several more at some point.

Sorry about pulling up an old thread and if I’m asking a question that has been answered in the half year since this post but do you still have both pistols? Any new observations? I’m especially interested in any issues with or changes you have made to the Range Officer Elite.

[Robinson]

Sorry about pulling up an old thread and if I’m asking a question that has been answered in the half year since this post but do you still have both pistols? Any new observations? I’m especially interested in any issues with or changes you have made to the Range Officer Elite.

I do not. I came to a conclusion that Springfield Armory doesn't really have the 9mm 1911 thing quite figured out yet. Even though I was able to get the guns running reliably, they are just not as smooth as my Colts. The main reason is that the disconnect drags on the slide more than is normal. This can be fixed but requires a bit of work and might be beyond my skills, or might require spending the time to learn some new ones. I'm okay with fitting thumb and grip safeties, swapping mainspring housings, stuff like that, but modifying the disconnect interface is something I would want to learn a lot more about before trying it myself.

That is not to say that the SA 9mm guns are no good, or that Colts are always better. But my own personal experience has been better with Colts -- others on this forum have had different luck. I'm actually down to a single 9mm and have been carrying a 45 instead. I've recently found out that my 9mm gun shoots 124gr ammo much better than the 147gr ammo I'd been using for years, and if it keeps going well I just might get another 9mm Colt and start carrying one again. Finally, I've come to the conclusion that for carry a 9mm 1911 is better in the Commander format. Not necessarily more reliable, but it's a more appropriately sized gun for the cartridge. For range use it doesn't matter as much of course.

Sorry, that's a bit of a ramble. I wouldn't necessarily advise you to stay away from the Springfield Armory 9mm guns because they are decent. I just never quite warmed up to them and the mentioned disconnect issue bugged me (maybe more than it should have). When it comes to Commander-sized guns I also prefer a true Commander length as opposed to the 4" length Springfield Armory uses.