The recent thread "9mm Pure Target Gun" received several replies recommending the SIG P210 Target, and it got me thinking about my own experience.
Some background: I've been shooting for more than 50 years and reloading for almost 50.
I have owned and shot a lot of centerfire autoloaders.
About 20 years ago, I started shooting in some informal 25 yard "Bullseye" shoots.
I did very well in the rimfire match - not so much in the centerfire.
My gun at the time was a well worn, refinished Colt 1911. An older and wiser shooter told me, "You need a better gun, because you are more accurate than the gun". I had never really evaluated the intrinsic accuracy of my handguns so I started to do some bench rest shooting and recording the results. That was when I started using a revolver for the matches.
But I like shooting autoloaders and I began a quest to find an auto loader that could equal the accuracy of a good revolver - without costing more than whatever car I was driving at the time (yes I am a cheep skate).
IIRC, true bullseye guns need to shoot 1" groups at 25 yards from a machine rest (4 MOA) - not too hard for a good rimfire, but difficult to achieve with a gun that has a tilting barrel.
So I set my bogey at 2" 25 yard groups. And I tried a lot quality guns including guns from S&W, Kahr, Ruger, CZ - even an HK PSP; and none of them could consistently hold a 2" group. And then...American Rifleman ran an article about the new P210 Target. And it was the holy grail - sub 1" 25 yard groups and at a price that wasn't much higher than the value the value of my car.
So I bought one and it was great, superb trigger, great grips, nice finish, and when I racked the slide - O what a feeling.
And the testing commenced.
And I was disappointed.
I tried factory ammo, I tried various handloads, I even bit the bullet (no pun intended) and tried SIG factory ammo.
No matter what I fed it, it was an 8-10 MOA gun. It didn't do what I wanted and I didn't keep it.
So now I am back to shooting a revolver.
Your mileage may vary.
Side note: If you are going to talk about how accurate a gun is then specify range, shooting method and group size.
"More accurate than I am" is not useful information.
Some background: I've been shooting for more than 50 years and reloading for almost 50.
I have owned and shot a lot of centerfire autoloaders.
About 20 years ago, I started shooting in some informal 25 yard "Bullseye" shoots.
I did very well in the rimfire match - not so much in the centerfire.
My gun at the time was a well worn, refinished Colt 1911. An older and wiser shooter told me, "You need a better gun, because you are more accurate than the gun". I had never really evaluated the intrinsic accuracy of my handguns so I started to do some bench rest shooting and recording the results. That was when I started using a revolver for the matches.
But I like shooting autoloaders and I began a quest to find an auto loader that could equal the accuracy of a good revolver - without costing more than whatever car I was driving at the time (yes I am a cheep skate).
IIRC, true bullseye guns need to shoot 1" groups at 25 yards from a machine rest (4 MOA) - not too hard for a good rimfire, but difficult to achieve with a gun that has a tilting barrel.
So I set my bogey at 2" 25 yard groups. And I tried a lot quality guns including guns from S&W, Kahr, Ruger, CZ - even an HK PSP; and none of them could consistently hold a 2" group. And then...American Rifleman ran an article about the new P210 Target. And it was the holy grail - sub 1" 25 yard groups and at a price that wasn't much higher than the value the value of my car.
So I bought one and it was great, superb trigger, great grips, nice finish, and when I racked the slide - O what a feeling.
And the testing commenced.
And I was disappointed.
I tried factory ammo, I tried various handloads, I even bit the bullet (no pun intended) and tried SIG factory ammo.
No matter what I fed it, it was an 8-10 MOA gun. It didn't do what I wanted and I didn't keep it.
So now I am back to shooting a revolver.
Your mileage may vary.
Side note: If you are going to talk about how accurate a gun is then specify range, shooting method and group size.
"More accurate than I am" is not useful information.