Lloyd:
There's a difference between bullseye and PPC. Here are the details of why I can't recommend spending money on a generic 1911 (like the gold cup) and a dedicated bullseye gun:
1) By the time a bullseye shooter buys a 45, he already knows he likes the game. They typically start with a generic 22 then realize they need one with a good trigger and a red dot scope. That's where they lose money-- by buying a generic 22 first, then upgrading to a bullseye 22. Some go on to compound the mistake by buying a generic 45 thinking that it will serve as a bullseye gun. It takes them about six months to realize it was a mistake. As I said, I see it all the time. I fell for the generic 45 when I got started and it was a mistake. I reasoned that the Kimber Gold Match was adequately accurate, and it was. It just didn't have any of the other qualities that make a good bullseye gun.
2) The price of a used bullseye gun is around $1000 for an older but servicable model. These are frequently available if you ask at a bullseye league. They are readily available if you post a want ad on the bullsey l-forum. If you sell it after 2 years it will still be worth around $1000, so no money is lost. If you buy a new custom bullseye gun and need to sell it after a couple of years, you lose maybe $300 to $350, with most of that drop being due to depreciation of the gun from new to used status. If you bought a new gold cup and decided to sell it after a couple of years, you'd lose at least $200 on it.
3) A dedicated bullseye gun is not like a PPC gun. They have have the slide rail and a red dot sight. They are reliable, extremely accurate, superbly refined, and designed and balanced for suitability to bullseye. Generic guns just aren't. Almost nobody uses a generic 1911 for bullseye. I don't think I've even seen one with just iron sights in three years, except for some centerfire tyros who quickly upgrade to dedicated guns. Since Ned is 64 and claims his eyesight is not perfect, he needs the red dot. Just the cost of adding a suitable red dot scope to a 1911 is a $250 job. That alone gets the cost of the gold cup into the realm of a custom bullseye gun, but with none of the other tuning that goes into a bullseye gun.
4) Accuracy and reliability is vital, but shootability is important too. Bullseye guns are designed for their purpose. Using a generic 1911 imposes a severe handicap. I have a Stainless Gold Match that I used for bullseye for a little while. It's a piece of junk compared to any of my three dedicated bullseye 45s. The only thing that keeps it viable for me is that I learned to do a first rate trigger job, changed out some parts, and converted it to a Marvel 22 conversion.
Maybe they improved the metal in the stainless Kimbers since I got mine. Mine has maybe 10,000 rounds through it and the frame shows visible wear. I cleaned and lubed it every 200 rounds or so, using the best lubricants available. My carbon steel guns show virtually no wear and each have many times the rounds through them. My aluminum framed Pardini 45 shows no wear and it has about 15,000 rounds throught it. Clark Custom still won't do a bullseye converson on a stainless gun without adding their costly "slide guide" apparatus to the gun. I think it's because bullseye guns are expected to last from 250,000 to 500,000 rounds before major work is needed.
Nice discussion, by the way.
