Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Centerfire Bullseye pistol recommendations?

I'd like some recommendations for a good accurate pistol. I'd prefer a 9mm or 38spl for readily available ammo (don't reload yet and depending on good commercial reloads)and low recoil.

Dont mind going used for one in good shape. This will be pretty much dedicated to bullseye as I have other pistols for cc, defense and hunting.

I'm thinking of an older Smith 52-1 or 52-2,but maybe it's a little too dedicated as mags only take 5 rounds and only shoots wadcutters.

A good trigger from the get go is a must.

Any suggestions in the $750 to $1,000 range?

Thanks,
Steve

While the 52's are great guns, you would probably do better with just starting of with a 1911 for CF. The 52 is notorious for being tough to shoot accurately - it seems to accentuate any little mistakes in form/follow through.

I'd go with the 1911, start reloading for the 45 (very easy) and get lots of trigger time. I started with a Springfield Loaded and just replacing the ILS gets the trigger much cleaner. Accuracy was decent, but not what you'd want from the long line. I now shoot a Rock River that shoots .75 at the long line from a Ransom. (Unfortunately Chuck @RRA hasn't been building any more 1911s because of the AR market)

Again, I'd go 1911 and not look back.

you can buy really good 45s for a bit more than your budget and plenty good within your budget.

I'm with wt too.... just start loading right away, go with the 45, you get caliber diameter there as an advantage if I can remember right, they are accurate and can be downloaded to be very mild if thats an issue.

I've shot BE with a 45 and while I have gained all my pistol leg points in service pistol with a beretta as they are a better choice IMHO, I"d shoot the 1911 as a starter hands down. Easy to work on. LOTS use them, LOTS know how to tweak and trouble shoot them and so on. And odds are good that if you shoot BE at a club, someone there shooting also builds them up.

Thanks--two for 45/1911's then. Like the advice too, one of my other pistols is a 92FS, which I also like.

What's "BE" (dumb question I know, but had to ask--rather appear stupid once than be stupid forever)

PS, I agree the might be tough to shoot--rear sight to me is a shade too narrow and too shallow, but figured I could always get another and modify it if need be.

Thanks!

Kimber Team Match.

BE, Bullseye, I was lazy this morning.....

Hello Steve
I find it odd that no one has mentioned Revolver's here as there has been more revolver's used at Bulls eye shoots than any other form of hand gun. Why Not got with one of Three of Most Famous Bullseye revolvers out there ? The Smith & Wesson K-22, K-32 or more common K-38 ? The K-22 which is also the Model 17 fires .22 Ammo which is super cheap and always available. They average in price from $400.00-$750.00 depending on vintage and shape of the weapon. The K-32 is a Bit pricey in todays world, due to their Rarity at an average of $2000.00-$2500.00 but there are some K-38's out there floating around for the $400.00-$650.00 mark. K-38's shoot the ever polular .38 Special ammo in wad cutter form it is and has been one of the most accurate Targets loads out there and widly used by many Past successful Bulls Eye shooter's. The K-32 fired the classic .32 S&W Long Cartridge which is Tame on recoil and report, and super accurate and of course the K-22 fires anything from CB to L.R. Maxi-Mags with Unmatched Target results compared to anything else out there. Here are my Three S&W Target Masterpiece revolver's being the K-22, K-32 & K-38 Revolvers. I have seldom seen any semi auto pistols match the Target results of the above mentioned Target Masterpieces...I had a S&W Model 41 in .22 LR that could not shoot as tight as my 1947 K-22 so I swapped it off... ;)Thegeneral.






K-22 1947 Vintage






K-22 Target results 6 shots fired off hand at 20 Yards with the revolver above












K-32 1951 Vintage








K-38 1965 Vintage

GeneralStuart
Holy smokes! Nice shooting at 20 yards! Also, AWESOME condition on your Smiths.
I agree with you about revolvers--use my massaged Ruger Sec. Six for bullsye sometimes already. Just so you know, my father in law will be giving/selling me a matched pair of K22 and K38 CMP's he used as a cop years ago.
What I should have said is I'd like a semi for some pin shooting too. In centerfire we have a revolver class and an Auto class at my club. For auto class I have a Beretta 92 but didn't feel like putting a red dot on it and want something a little more accurate/better sights than it has.

In my younger years I had a S&W Mod 17 which was single action only. Obviously factory tuned. Best trigger, and accuracy of any revolver I've owned. If you could find a nice example of one of these, I would highly recommend it.

Hello
Here is one of those Singe action K-22's I stumbled onto a few years ago. It has a wide target single action Trigger, Wide Hammer and special Order Red Post Patridge front sight blade with Rosewood diamond Target grips and shipped in 1966...Thegeneral

Hello SteveS
Thank's for the Kind words, I appreciate it. D. B. Wesson worked hard to improve the Priming .22 Round to make it more consistent and it paid off Big for him. He named it the Number one round after his Famous Number one revolver's but for some strange reason it later became known as the .22 rim fire. The Early S&W single shot .22 Pistols were very Famous among Bulls Eye shooters and they took many Gold medals in The Olympics as well as The Bisley shoots in England. Later after Much Prompting from the serious Bulls Eye shooters, D. B. Wesson Developed the First edition K-22 Outdoorsman revolver and it was the first Medium size swing out cylinder revolver in target form to hit the market, and widely appreciated and accepted by Target shooters and sportsman. He also was the Pioneer of the famous Recessed cylinder in .22 revolvers. This was prompted by the new high speed ammo that came out in 1930 time span From Winchester Repeating Arms and Remington Arms which clocked a new amazing 1450 FPS{Brass casings were not in use at that time span & The Issue they were having with it was that the Copper cases they were loaded with, were Bursting their Case head rims and causing shooters and Bystanders to get hurt from metal shrapnel. D.B. Wesson was all about safety {In Reference to his Lemon Squeezer small frame revolver's to keep Children from firing them with their Back strap safety} so he designed the recessed cylinders in his First edition K-22 Outdoorsman's and released them to The Public in 1931 without a Patent. That was a Major Mistake on his part as the recessed cylinder design he came up with was one of the most copied designs ever in the revolver industry as all other Manufacturers of .22 revolver's soon stole D.B. Wessons recessed cylinder idea and placed it into their hand gun designs. Below is my 1936 K-22 Outdoorsman Model revolver that shipped in 1936. S&W made these from 1931-1939 time span and the first 500 of them shipped with a Call Gold Bead front sight but after that, it was changed to stainless steel and called Bright silver...Thegeneral.