Brock:
There are only between 10 and 20 gunsmiths in the United States that really know how to build a good bullseye gun. It's probably closer to 10. Sam May of Bismarck, ND is one of them. His phone number is 701-258-2360.
My hands are long and slender too and the configuration I like is long trigger and arched mainspring housing.
Cleaning and lubrication are very important to reliability and longevity of the gun. But you don't have to be a fanatic about it. Here's my drill:
1) Every 200 to 250 rounds, clean the top end of the gun as follows
2) You will need two rags. One with a little solvent on it, and one with oil on it. Wear vinyl disposable gloves.
3) Remove the slide and magazine
4) Run the solvent rag through the magazine well from the bottom to the top. Use a toothbrush to push the rag up and through. Wipe the crud off the frame with the solvent rag. Then run the oily rag through the magazine well..
5) Run a solvent patch through the bore and let it soak while you're doing the rest of the cleaning.
6) Dab any crud with solvent soaked toothbrush. Wear an apron for this kind of work or you end up with solvent on your clothes. Use a toothpick to break up any tough globs of crud that typically form in the vicinity of the firing pin hole.
7) Take the slide outside to the garbage can and spray it with whatever gun scrubbing spray is cheapest. The spray lands in the garbage can. Walmart has good deals on it. Some use brake cleaner to save money. You don't need to soak it down. Just spray the nooks and crannies that are hard to clean. One can lasts perhaps 20 cleanings. Maybe more.
Use dry Q-tips to clean the slide and frame rails, and any nooks that still have crud in them.
9) Clean the bore. There will probably be some leading. Two things that work are to stroke a .480 pistol size bronze brush back and forth near the chamber about 50 times. Alternatively, a 38 caliber bronze brush wrapped in fine bronze wool (several years supply is available from Brownells for about $10) can be used to stroke the bore. Do not waste your time or money on lead removing chemicals or cloths or gizmos.
10) The rest is conventional pistol cleaning and won't do the details here.
11) Once a year, clean the firing pin and extractor by removing them. Q-tips are handy for this. Disassemble and clean the frame. To learn to do this, I strongly recommend a good video instead of a book. I used the video from Wilson Combat and watched a few times while taking notes. It's easy and doesn't take much for tools. I did modify a punch by rounding it. I strongly recommend getting the Brownells aluminum bushing wrench. I went through many plastic bushing wrenches before I wised up. The video shows proper lubrication procedure for gun reassembly.
12) Before shooting, and every 30 to 50 shots lubricate the gun according to the diagram at
www.bullseyepistol.com. Use a gun oil that you like the smell of because it will get on your hands. Bullseye shooters are notorious for practically bathing in gun oil. I keep a handy oiler in my gun box to touch up the lube a couple of times during each match.
13) The routine maintenance described above for every 200 to 250 rounds takes about 1/2 hour if you work slowly. I typically get it done in 15 minutes. The vinyl gloves are a time saver because you don't dirty your hands (or soak up any undesirable chemicals).
14) With a Q-tip dipped in lens cleaner, periodically remove the drops of oil that inevitably get on the lenses of your red dot sight. Use a dry Q-tip to get the excess cleaner off.
15) If I get home from shooting and haven't shot 200 to 250 rounds yet, then I just wipe the gun's exterior with an oily rag and store the gun.
16) Periodically spray the inside of the magazine with gun scrubber. You don't need to disassemble the magazine. Speaking of magazines, you'll want 2 magazines.
The above cleaning is just for the 45. The 22 is much easier to clean. I only disassemble mine for a bore cleaning once a year. Other cleaning is just wth a Q tip and a bit of oil, and a cloth.
Can't help you much with finishes. LIke I said, mine are blued and bluing wears off. But it does so gracefully. I've seen some shotguns with other finishes and the finish wears off in blotches.
Your gunsmith is responsible for building a gun that will work with a red dot sight mounted. You do not need to worry about it. But keep in mind that a new bullseye gun will need a break in period of perhaps 500 to 1000 rounds before it is worn in enough to cycle reliably. Don't freak out if it seems stiff at first. You may need to go to 4.1 or 4.2 grains of bullseye powder initially before backing down to the normal load of 4 grains. It is assumed that you are going to use standard bullseye loads only. Nothing heavier. You don't need to learn to tinker. You just need to know how to clean and lubricate the gun.
I have not found fouling shots to be necessary so long as the bore is dry.
Trigger finger positioning is critical and you need to approach it seriously and thoughtfully and systematically. There are individual differences. For example, I shoot better with the trigger about one third of the way from the pad to the first joint of my right index finger. This works for me. It is pretty unlikely that you will be able to shoot your best with the trigger in the first joint of the finger. You will need to work on this as it is of fundamental importance to good shooting. Bullseye is a game of stamina and you need to work out systems that will allow you to shoot your best for the duration of a match.
One little piece of cryptic wisdom that you may want to remember is that you'll soon learn to shoot 10s, but mastering the game is determined more by what you do between shots.
