Thinking about a Pardini

Back in October I had a post and in that post I talked about a S&W 41 that I bought.  I ended up selling the 41 a couple of weeks ago.  Now I'm toying around with the idea of buying  a Pardini.  Looking at the BE vs the SP.  Which model do most of you  buy now?

Honestly and as long as they are new variants - whichever is cheaper to acquire.  You will not feel the difference either way and most likely will not use the rail cuts on the barrel weight as they are too far forward.

The difference between the Rapid Fire, SP, and Bullseye (BE) edition is the weight of the bolt.  The Rapid Fire has the lightest weight bolt and fastest cycle time, whereas the Bullseye has the heaviest weight bolt and the slowest cycling time.  The difference in cycling time is measured in fractions of a second between the three models.  In Olympic Rapid fire events, one of the requirements is to get five shots off in four seconds, so the Rapid Fire version was developed to target this market although most olympic shooters use the SP model.  


Pardini USA did a small accuracy test and found that the heavier bolt delivered better accuracy, although the difference was tenths of millimeters, rather insignificant, and the number of rounds fired was less then 100 rounds in each model, and only one example of each model was used in the test.  Therefore, the results are at best inconclusive.  

With that being said, American bullseye shooters wanted better accuracy and as such, Pardini came out with the Bullseye Edition which is marketed to the American market and has limited availability outside of the US.   

As to the barrel length to select, unless you want to use the weaver mounting tabs on the front of the pistol, you want to get the shortest barrel length which is 5 inches.  Theoretically, the longer barrel should be more accurate in laboratory conditions but a number of us up here in Michigan got a chance to borrow and share a 6 inch barrel across a handful of accomplished shooters.  Every one of us shot better scores with the shorter barrel and we suspect that the longer barrel exaggerates poor shot technique by tossing the bullet farther out then the shorter barrel.  IE, a pulled shoot would be in the 7 ring as opposed to the 8 ring with the shorter barrel.  

You do not want the compensator model either.  They simply get clogged up with debris and carbon and need cleaning out, and if you are using a very filthy ammo, the debris will build up such that it will hit the bullet as it passes through the compensator section.  I had purchased a compensator for my pardini that replaced the end cap around the muzzle and after the match, the muzzle had collected debris such that a bullet would not pass through the compensator when inserted from the muzzle end.  

Hope this answers your questions and make sure you have a great day!

Regards, 
Crankster

Cranky, that's a great writeup!

I wanted to thank both of you for your input.  I was telling my captain about wanting to get a Pardini and she asked what issues I was having.  She said I'm shooting good so don't change anything. There is about 10 matches left in the league so guess I should wait.  Thanks again.

Greetings,

For information only, the Pardini Rapid Fire barrel is chambered different than the Pardini SP barrel.

The major difference is in the throating.

I have a Pardini factory Rapid Fire barrel in my parts box and it is labeled as such.

Also, Pardini is constantly updating their guns. The above may no longer be true with the latest offerings.

Cheers,

Dave

Great write up. Much appreciated..

Don't get me wrong, Pardini is a great gun, most Olympic shooters use them including Russian! Oylmpic shooters are usually one discipline shooters so one gun works great! However they are of the international style and vary quite a bit from the 1911 type. Bullseye is a two gun match, three if other than the 1911 is used in center fire. Most top shooters are using the .22 conversion on a dedicated frame. Therefore the one gun feel. That's the reasoning behind the grip modifications for Pardinis, AW93s and maybe others with international style grips. The conversion is lower in cost but when everything is done to make it a great shooter the cost will get near the Pardini's, but you have the one gun feel!

Froneck wrote:Don't get me wrong, Pardini is a great gun, most Olympic shooters use them including Russian! Oylmpic shooters are usually one discipline shooters so one gun works great! However they are of the international style and vary quite a bit from the 1911 type. Bullseye is a two gun match, three if other than the 1911 is used in center fire. Most top shooters are using the .22 conversion on a dedicated frame. Therefore the one gun feel. That's the reasoning behind the grip modifications for Pardinis, AW93s and maybe others with international style grips. The conversion is lower in cost but when everything is done to make it a great shooter the cost will get near the Pardini's, but you have the one gun feel!

I would argue Keith Sanderson does fairly well with Pardini and a 1911.

Sanderson is an International shooter, he's the one that told me the Russian's are using the Pardini. Shue and Zurek use the .22 conversion, my son Adam used the 208 with 1911 grip angle modification. As a civilian he's working with a .22 conversion and was trying the .22 conversion while with the AMU. Zinns and White used the AW93.
 I know of a lot of top shooters that are looking at the .22 conversion so that it will be the same as the 1911. Getting very familiar with the 1911 will result in good overall scores and up in the cutoff in the President's 100 and Service Pistol.

Froneck wrote:Sanderson is an International shooter, he's the one that told me the Russian's are using the Pardini. Shue and Zurek use the .22 conversion, my son Adam used the 208 with 1911 grip angle modification. As a civilian he's working with a .22 conversion and was trying the .22 conversion while with the AMU. Zinns and White used the AW93.
 I know of a lot of top shooters that are looking at the .22 conversion so that it will be the same as the 1911. Getting very familiar with the 1911 will result in good overall scores and up in the cutoff in the President's 100 and Service Pistol.

Zurek has said good things about the ruger mark pistols. Shue has been know to shoot a 208 from time to time too. Zins also shot a 41. Henderson shot 208's but shot and 897 with a Trailside at Perry, but he also shot 41s. I would argue Henderson did fairly well in the international games as well.   
Also as far as P100 is concerned the record is still (and next closest score to the record) were shot with an M9. Long story short top shooters can shoot what ever gun well, it is the more the shooter than the gun.

Yes I agree it's the shooter not the gun! The main thing is to learn to shoot good! Having different guns makes it harder! The 1911 rules because of the .45 match. If you can't shoot the 1911 your not going to do well! Best gun to learn with is the .22, recoil is low and ammo cheap. What better gun to start with than the .22 conversion? Years ago many use the 41, Ruger came up with the 1911 angle so did High Standard. Because it was the attempt form the single grip. Day and  Kart .22 conversions became popular for that reason too! In addition there are grip modifications available for the Pardini and the AW93. I had a set of grips Printed for my MatchGun 2 so too get 1911 angle. But I'm working on a .22 conversion that's almost complete. I need to make time to do it! Simply put all these attempts to make a .22 similar to a 1911 were done due to demand. Best will be a Pardini like .22 on a .22 frame. Simply put it will have a completely adjustable trigger like all of the Olympic style guns. Yes the trigger can be adjusted to the shooter in the domestic guns but not as simple as to use a screw driver.

285wannab wrote:Back in October I had a post and in that post I talked about a S&W 41 that I bought.  I ended up selling the 41 a couple of weeks ago.  Now I'm toying around with the idea of buying  a Pardini.  Looking at the BE vs the SP.  Which model do most of you  buy now?

I have a Pardini SP New in 22 LR. It is a Larry's Gun import. It has the barrel weights. I am told it is not compatible for the newer .32 conversions. It has 6 magazines, box, tools, a Kodiak Mount and an Aimpoint H1 with Shue shades. I also have the original wood grips and my guess is they are small. I also have two sets of Precision Target Grips grips. Both 1911 angle. One set is basically a 1911 slab grip. The other has the palm shelf and thumb rest. Gun is flawless in operation, excellent or better condition and very well taken care of. I sent it to PardiniUSA a few years ago for them to go through it. Honestly the gun is great, I just shoot Marvel conversion better, which as Froneck states, supports the .45 shooting. If you're interested, PM me with textible phone number or email and I will send you some pics. It is not for sale here or anywhere else, yet. I shouldn't care, but I want it to have a good home. I'm in No. VA if you want to shoot it.

~Martin