3.50 inches at 25 yards is more than the diameter of the 10-ring at that distance -- 3.36 inches. If I was SA, I'd be ashamed to ask a customer for another $500 on top of $700 already laid out to make the gun right. I don't care about the group size -- no pistol using good quality factory ammo should keyhole -- and those are definitely keyholes.

When the CS rep said "slightly out of spec" she was hanging a fig leaf of gigantic proportions. There is something wrong with the barrel, IMO. Most likely culprits are poor rifling or a barrel that is out of spec in terms of diameter (too large), or damage to the barrel crown. I've never had a problem with a Springfield barrel, but then again, I replace them with Karts or Bar-Stos.

This is why some of us lay out $1800 to get a truly hand-built gun (not a Baer or a Kimber or any of the other "semi-customs") that will shoot < 2.0 inch groups all day at 50 yards.

The best bullseye gunsmiths I know are David Sams, former head of the AMU's gunsmithing program, and Robert and Sandy Garrett of Northern Virginia Gun Works. These guys will still do an old-fashioned peen and squeeze job to get a good slide to frame fit, but the new way of building accurate 1911s is to start with a Caspian oversized naked frame and slide and a "Marine cut" Kart or Bar-Sto barrel, and to hand-fit everything till it perfectly meshes and locks up tighter than a bank vault. You can't get closer tolerances using any other method, and the guns built this way stay exceedingly accurate for a long, long time.

Sorry for the slight digression, but it bothers me to see the gun companies marketing 1911s as "match grade" when they ain't even close. I'd make 'em get it right, or, demand my money back.


Bullseye

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Five screws and 3-1/2 inches.