Hi I am going to shoot in my first Bullseye comp and currently own 3 center fire handguns.  A Springfield XDm 9mm, Springfield Range Officer Champion in 45 and a Ruger GP100 6".  

I plan on practicing the Bulls Eye format with each but I was also looking for recommendations on what firearm you think would be best suited.  I know these would not be your first choice for Bulls Eye but I have no permits in hand to buy now.  Plus my skill level is at a novice level.  So even the best weapon I don't think would make that much of a difference.

Thanks,

Greg

Shoot whatever you are most comfortable shooting and shoot the best.

I'll bet that 6" GP100 is your tac driver......

Individual NRA Bullseye Leagues are fired using .22, Centerfire and .45 Caliber pistols. The course of fire is the National Match course, a combination of slow, timed and rapid fire stages using the B2 and B3 targets. Slow fire is 10 shots fired in 5 minutes, timed fire is 2 strings of 5 shots fired in 20 seconds per string and rapid fire is 2 strings of 5 shots fired in 10 seconds per string. Each National Match course covers 30 shots. The shooting is one-handed and there are no sight categories. 

 

Shot a Ruger Security six for years with no problems.  Colt GCMN for 45 portion. Ruger Mark II Gov't for 22lr.

As T Bill already mentioned, you'll need a .22 to compete in a complete 2700 match. You don't have to shoot all stages though. Some people only shoot the .22 portion.

 

Your Springfield would be the natural choice for bullseye.

As T Bill said there's 3 courses per round ( slow, timed and rapid fire) and there are 3 rounds making a max score of 900. So that's a 900 match and can be in 22, Centerfire or 45. Take all three of those matches at once and you have a 2700 match. Most folks use the 45 for both centerfire and 45 matches for consistancy but nothing says you have to do that. If you wanted to, you could use 38 special or 9mm for a centerfire match.

 

9mm doesn't have a great rep for accuracy but I am of the opinion that until you get to consistently above 250-260 a match, you probably won't notice a great accuracy difference. I also suspect in the right gun with the right load, 9mm can be very accurate. 38 special revolvers used to be the centerfire round of choice for bullseye so there is a lot of history around getting good loads and excellent accuracy with that cartridge. I am starting in the bullseye league next week so once I get my 22 numbers where I want them, I am thinking about 38 for centerfire just because I like shooting them

 

Good luck with whatever you choose to use. It's a pretty challenging game, but fun too.

-Jim