25m Rapid Fire pistol suggestions

[jenrick]

I've never shot rapid fire before, so I'm stepping off into completely new territory. For a variety of reasons 25m Rapid Fire appeals to me, and I'd like some suggestions on what to use to get started shooting it.

I recently had a bit of a financial windfall, that I can spend on a pistol if I choose, so for once lets just say price isn't a consideration. Fit, function, and performance (in whatever order you deem appropriate), are what I'm most concerned about. I'm obviously by no means an Olympic level shooter, but I'm a "buy once, cry once" kind of person when I can afford to be.

I have unlimited access (well when I don't have to be at work at least) range that runs out to 50ms with turning targets, so a place to practice isn't a concern. I live close enough to International Shooters Services to drive up there to handle a variety of pistols as well, so once I get a short list I can actually put them in hand.

Thanks in advance,

-Jenrick

[JD Mahan]

Pardini sp rf.

Watch any of the world cups on YouTube - it dominates, and for good reason.

[madmax]

Top 2 - pardini sp rf, morini cm22 rf. Worth a try - benelli mp90s.

Things to remember:
* Pistols used at World Cups, Olympics, etc. are being used by (semi)professional athletes. Top physical condition, plenty of top level coaching, virtually unlimited practice time, factory support for their pistol, high standard of grip making. Sounds like you??
* If you are in the position to try various pistols, do that and pick the one that suits YOU the best. Look for balance and recovery when firing, trigger adjustment (weight and position), sight adjustment (positive clicks, width, depth). Grips can be replaced/altered, so are a secondary concern at this stage.
* Try the 3 mentioned above, but don't pass up the opportunity to try others as well. Time spent at this stage will be well rewarded. Try well, buy well, don't cry :)

[jenrick]

Yeah I had seen the Pardini's as pretty much the only pistols on the line in the ISSF stuff I'd watched. I'd read some posative reviews on the Morini and it seems to be a reliable pistol and a good shooter. Also from what I've gathered the Matchguns MG2, IF it runs well is great pistol as well. Reliability concerns leave me leery of that one though.

-Jenrick

[JamesH]

My pick is the Pardini RF - Mechanical. I have one and I like it. It does have a very raked grip from the factory which does not work for everyone.
Trigger setup is a bit unique, and the sear always needs to be greased.

How much experience do you have with other matches and other .22s?
I think its always worth starting out with a basic pistol and upgrading later.

[JD Mahan]

All good points; I would put at the top of the list reliability.

2014 wch, Pardini (rf and regular sp) made up over 80% of the rapid fire field..

53% of the Standard Pistol field

(see igor blog)

toz35blogspot.com/search/label/wch2014

[jenrick]

How much experience do you have with other matches and other .22s?

I shoot free pistol currently, so as far as the semi-autos go, very little. I have owned most of the recommended American target type pistols in the past (various Rugers, Brownings and S&W's), but i don't have any real experience with the foreign officers.

-Jenrick

[jbshooter]

Matchguns MG2 gets my vote.

[jenrick]

Matchguns MG2 gets my vote.

I'd seen some posts on here that they had serious reliability problems. Has that been corrected?

-Jenrick

[Gwhite]

I think they have most of the bugs ironed out by now. The trick in the US is that I'm not sure if anyone is importing them, much less providing good support.

[jenrick]

That brings up a good point, what brands have US support? As far as I've seen it seems like most of the mentioned brands (Walther, Pardini, Morini, Hammerli) have US outlets and folks who can service them.

-Jenrick

[Mike M.]

As far as RF goes, the Pardini is so dominant I would not look at anything else at this time. The only question is which Pardini to buy.

WRT support, most of the major brands have support. Match Guns has been the headache - their support model is to ship the gun back to the factory, which is VERY difficult under U.S. import/export laws. I think if they ever established a maintenance center in the USA, their sales would increase significantly.

[ghillieman]

Keith Sanderson uses a Pardini SP with an electronic trigger. I talked to him at Perry this year and he says he could have never gotten the amount of training in with out the electric trigger. I use an older Pardini SP and it is a very fast shooting pistol.

Where exactly do you shoot Mens rapid fire pistol near Central Texas? Other Texans want to know.....

BTW, do you shoot Bullseye Pistol?

[pistol champ]

Pardini USA has fantastic customer service.

[rmca]

jenrick

For rapid fire you have three choices of pistol:

1 - Pardini RF (you have the choice of electronic trigger or a mechanical one)
2 - Pardini SP (the standard model, and you also have the choice of electronic trigger or a mechanical one)
3 - One of the above

Sounds a bit narrow minded, but for serious rapid fire, anything else is a compromise. You very rarely see any other pistol at a rapid fire final.
The main difference between the two (RF an SP) is the weight of the bolt. The RF is lighter.

http://www.pardiniguns.com/pistols/target-pistols

Hope this helps

[j-team]

Pardini don't make the electronic trigger anymore.

My experience with the electronic was, superb trigger, poor reliability.

Get the SP-RF.

[rmca]

Pardini don't make the electronic trigger anymore.

Yes, but the Pardini USA site still has them, so they might still be available in the US.

My experience with the electronic was, superb trigger, poor reliability.
Get the SP-RF.

Couldn't agree more.

[jenrick]

Okay so Pardini is pretty much the way to go. I've short listed the Pardini RF, Morini CM22, and Walther SSP (I'd add the Matchguns MG2, (but no one in state has sells them to my knowledge) to at least handle. I know that the Pardini is dominate in WC/Olympic competition, but as I'm not trying to medal at those events, I'm not wedded to it if it just doesn't suite me for some reason.

ghillieman: I'm a full time LE firearms instructor, and we happen to have our own range. Unfortunately we are not open to the general public for use or training. Apparently back in the 50's and 60's the PD actually ran small bore shooting classes (rifle and revolver) for the public in one of the city parks. No I don't shoot bulls eye currently, but I'm seriously considering it.

-Jenrick

[morten]

My pick is the Pardini RF - Mechanical. I have one and I like it. It does have a very raked grip from the factory which does not work for everyone.

If the original Pardini grip is to "raked" then buy it with a Nill grip, the Nill grip's rake is closer to the Walther GSP and Hammerli pistols. ( Less rake )

[Gwhite]

My pick is the Pardini RF - Mechanical. I have one and I like it. It does have a very raked grip from the factory which does not work for everyone.

If the original Pardini grip is to "raked" then buy it with a Nill grip, the Nill grip's rake is closer to the Walther GSP and Hammerli pistols. ( Less rake )

There's quite a bit of variation in what people consider a good grip angle. Here's a post I did on sport pistol grips a while back, with some photos:

http://www.targettalk.org/viewtopic.php?t=19764

The Pardini SP New factory grip is tilted about 10 degrees more than the Rink grip I got to replace it.

I can't shoot a severely tilted grip without elbow pain, and getting the Rink helped a lot. I actually shimmed it so it's a few degrees closer to vertical.