What is the most versatile competition gun?

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jackenape

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After sacrificing a goat to the great CGN search function, to no avail, please forgive me if this has been asked before.

I want to buy an auto to shoot as many disciplines as possible, with emphasis on PPC auto 1500, Distinguished Auto and Duty. I would also like to use this gun in CDP and IPSC (just for fun, don't care about major/minor if I'm bumped to Standard)

Would the sp-01 Shadow fit the bill? I can't find the Distinguished Auto rules, but the Duty book says the CZ-75 is ok, so I assume the Shadow is included in that?

Maybe a S&W? Their numbering scheme hurts my head so I didn't do much research on them.

I could always go with a Glock or M&P, but I would prefer better accuracy at 50 yards than a true duty gun would provide.

Since this will be a one-purchase-does-all, I wouldn't be afraid of spending a bit more than I would for a one category gun, so to speak.

Any ideas or suggestions are most welcomed.
 
Any 1911 style handgun is versatile and they can be had in many different chamberings. After that it becomes a matter of taste.
I like my STI!
 
I'm not familiar with the rules of all the competitions you posted but there are a lot of threads about the Shadow being a little bit too heavy to fit into the IDPA rules. Folks have replaced some of the parts to get the weight down so it just squeaks in under the wire so it can be done but I gather it requires grips made from really light stuff to do it.
 
BCRider is right, I saw these thread on the CZ forum. I dont know your budget , but if you want a great one , there is a PC 5906 for sale, price is high, $2099. , but these are excellent gun. I shot one at my range, it is a single action. Cops around here bought them for PPC. Just send a mail to EPPS and they will send you pics.

Yves
 
NorthernPF said:
You also have the option of a SIG.
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The Sig x-five Allround looks like a great fit. Way to heavy for CDP, but our club shoots CDP informally (ie, to hell with the rules, just shoot it for fun :)) It is costly new...so used is a must (and be a steal...there's one in the EE for 1975 :eek: I was thinking 1500 tops for my new gun..)

Now, it is a 226 according to Sig, so can it be used for Duty matches?

Gibbs505 said:
Any 1911 style handgun is versatile and they can be had in many different chamberings. After that it becomes a matter of taste.
I like my STI!
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I never thought of one, but the Para LDA fits the bill. In duty and distinguished you have to shoot first shot in DA, so that eliminates almost all 1911's. Todd Jarrett seems to do ok with his LDA :)

SMITH45 said:
BCRider is right, I saw these thread on the CZ forum. I dont know your budget , but if you want a great one , there is a PC 5906 for sale, price is high, $2099. , but these are excellent gun. I shot one at my range, it is a single action. Cops around here bought them for PPC. Just send a mail to EPPS and they will send you pics.

Yves
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I read the posts BCRider was referring to as well. I have no problems hacking mags or replacing parts to make weight. I treat my guns as workhorses, and if they don't do the job, they get whipped (or dremeled, in this case)

I shoot with a S&W armorer and advocate. I'm sure he or someone else in our club has a 5906 I can try. I have shot his PPC9 which is an largely upgraded 5906, but that was during competition so I didn't really get to know it. Trial by fire is not the best way to sample a firearm.
 
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CZs are popular, but will require a bit of work. Economy wise, Glocks are accurate, cheap and easy to do trigger work, with tons of inexpensive accessories available. The bread and butter staple of IPSC seems to be the venerable STI 2011: good to go out-of-the-box, but a bit spendy...

YMMV
 
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I suspect it's pretty fair to say that any of the sub $1000 pistols will require SOME custom trigger work to suit the tastes of the owner. Or just bite the bullet and buy the competition rated option from the get go and pay the extra $500 or more to ensure it's got the really light trigger, magwell and other considerations.

However this all comes down to what events the shooter wants to enter. For example Production IPSC, PPC pistol and IDPA can all be shot with one gun. But IPSC Standard means you need a tournament gun right away or mod one of the production guns to install the magwell and other bits that are pretty much expected in Standard. And I won't even mention the Star Wars race guns in Open......

For my money I went with the Shadow. I'm starting out in Production this summer but I may mod it to Standard with a mag well and other bits later on.

I'm thinking about IDPA as well but I'm more than willing to buy a separate gun for this use. In fact I'm considering a CZ 75b as a brother to the Shadow since it'll easily be light enough at 35.2 oz for the 75b compared to 41.6 oz of the Shadow. The grip angle and feel will obviously be the same and it won't be hard to mod the internals to achieve the same sort of trigger performance as the Shadow with a few stock parts swaps and tuning. Plus I can use the same magazines so no need to buy extra stuff. I'd just need a new holster setup compared to the IPSC holster and belt.
 
That really narrows it down.

I'd say that the CZ-75 SP01, or the CZ-75 Shadow, is the obvious choice.
 
If you are looking at the CZ line I might suggest the 75B/85 wuld be a better option. They make weight, without alterations for IDPA SSP, can be shot in IDPA ESP and are good for IPSC Production as well. You could use them in PPC and meet the requirements of the CPCA.

Take Care

Bob
 
If you're going to be shooting the PPC 1500 at 50 yards, I would say that any standard 9mm twist barrel is going have accuracy issues. They tend to open up at that distance because the twist is too fast. Bullseye shooters will replace the standard twist (1 in 10 for a Beretta, for instance) with a 1 in 32 Kart barrel for the 124 grain bullet or 1 in 16 for the 147 gr. This provides excellent accuracy.
 
Canuck44 said:
If you are looking at the CZ line I might suggest the 75B/85 wuld be a better option. They make weight, without alterations for IDPA SSP, can be shot in IDPA ESP and are good for IPSC Production as well.
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Good point, but our club shoots the Action pistol comps informally, so basically it's shoot what you bring. It's just for fun. If I were to actually want to compete in sanctioned matches, I'd eventually purchase a gun just for those competitions. For now, I'm mainly interested in PPC and Duty matches, as I shoot those in sanctioned matches.

BCRider said:
However this all comes down to what events the shooter wants to enter.
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Yea, I think I'm asking too much of one gun to be competitive in too many disciplines.

Wendell said:
That really narrows it down. I'd say that the CZ-75 SP01, or the CZ-75 Shadow, is the obvious choice.
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I'm starting to think that either a Shadow, or Sig x-five allround would be my best bet. They're kinda at two DRASTICALLY different price points...decisions decisions...

EdGCNM said:
If you're going to be shooting the PPC 1500 at 50 yards, I would say that any standard 9mm twist barrel is going have accuracy issues. They tend to open up at that distance because the twist is too fast. Bullseye shooters will replace the standard twist (1 in 10 for a Beretta, for instance) with a 1 in 32 Kart barrel for the 124 grain bullet or 1 in 16 for the 147 gr. This provides excellent accuracy.
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Thanks for the wet blanket :( :D The Sig Allround is guaranteed to shoot 2" at 50 (or so they say). I couldn't find a twist rate for the barrel, but did find this:

Rifling Length: 250mm

I assume this is 1 in 9.84" (250mm = 9.84") which would be average. The rest of the gun must be very tight for that kind of accuracy. Maybe that's why they charge so much ;)
 
I believe Mathew Mink shoots a 75B in IDPA SSP and is one of the top shooters in IDPA so I wouldn't think you would be any less competitive with this gun. The only knock on the Sig line is their high bore axis which, for most, increases the muzzle flip. I guess it depends on how compeititve you want to be.

Take Care

Bob
 
The CZ in one of ...many... configs is the route I'm probably going to take. I do still like the Sig's though. I'll also have to try out a S&W 5906...

Oi, who would'a thought buying a new gun would be so tedious...:)
 
I shot the ranges Sig 226 or 229. I'm not sure which it was. I liked it but for me the CZ made me really grin. Totally personal tastes though.

Tedious? I suppose.... or you could just do it my way and buy one of each. The laminate on my R-PAL is still cooling down and my ATT is about a day or two away and I've already got 6 handguns paid for and lined up for transfer as soon as I give the word. Life is good, variety is the spice of life and I've got a BAD case of SOS (that's Shiney Object Syndrome)..... :D
 
Since there's no rule in PPC that I'm aware of that requires the pistol to be a 9 or 40, the Para LDA in 45 would probably work for an "everything gun". 50m is established territory for .45 shooters- no real secrets involved, and many of the parts (barrels especially) used on the 1911 can be used on the LDA.

ETA. Just checked, the 45 LDA is listed as acceptable for Duty Pistol
 
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