Rock Island 1911's

[BREATHER]

Thinking about getting a Rock Island 1911. Those that own one, do you like it and are there any problems with them...

[Hayes]

I don't have one yet, but according to everyone that I have talked to, they are great for the money. Do some research online and you will find the same thing. I've read articles from testers, gotten reviews from people who own them and talked to gun shops. None of which have anything bad to say about the RIA1911.

[TEAMRICO]

I bought a standard GI model at Big R here in the Springs earlier this year, I'm very happy with it. Under $500 bucks, big factor for me was the fact I wanted something that if I dinged it up I would get upset about it. I was almost going to buy a Springfield or the New Remington model but I passed. I shoots accurate even with Wolf ammo. Very meaty pistol for the money and it fits all 1911 accessories just fine.
If your on a budget and want a rugged, affordable starter 1911 go for it.
I'm glad I did.

[rondog]

I have three RIA's, they're very worthy pistols and faithful to the M1911A1 design. All they really need are new grips to suit the owner. I think that's why Armscor put the plain smooth grips on them, because they know most 1911 owners will put on what they like anyway.

But FWIW, I would suggest the Tactical model, it already has the cool parts on it.

[SAnd]

I have a standard GI model. I have never had any problems with it.

[rondog]

This was a standard GI model that I customized into a blued Tactical clone, using RIA Tactical parts.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/my%20handguns/DSCN1384.jpg

This was another standard GI model that I put a bunch of WWII Colt parts on. The top one is a Colt WWII repro.

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/my%20handguns/DSCN3627.jpg

[legaleagle]

Ria is good to go. Stay away from the taurus. A buddy had and it went back for broken parts 7 times in a yr. It got real lose after a couple hundred rounds.

[UNFmoose]

I have the 4" mid size. I love it, but I have decided to sell it as I don't shoot it. I always wanted a 1911 and I saw it and had to have it. I will probably regret it, but I am in that stage of not being able to justify a gun I don't shoot when someone else can enjoy it... but every time I look at it, it saddens me some [Abused]

[AirbornePathogen]

I had a Tactical model. Ran fine for the most part, but it would fail to chamber sometimes if you didn't give the mag a good slap when you seated it, and push the bullet down into the case, rendering the round unusable. Probably would have been ok with some tweaking, but I said screw it and sold it. It's a fair amount of pistol for the money though.

[WBAR]

A friend of mine got one about 2 years ago. I was somewhat skeptical till he let me shoot it- great trigger pull & great accuracy. It fires everything he puts thru it (mostly his reloads), and hasn't given him any trouble. I'm impressed and would put it on the same level as my SA GI, except that it had a much better trigger pull than mine out of the box. WB

[porfiriozg]

bought one from a member on here and love it, found out that with the exception of the name its pretty much a colt

I'd buy another if i had some more money

[rondog]

bought one from a member on here and love, found out that with the exception of the name its pretty much a colt

Easy now, you'll be gettin' the haters all riled up![Tooth]

[sneakerd]

Looks like there's a bargain one for sale on here now.

[sneakerd]

Looks like a screaming deal IF these Rock Islands are as good as everyone seems to say they are.

[BPTactical]

Great pistols for the money. Standard 1911 parts interchange readily. Not quite the fit and finish as a Colt or similar but easily overlooked considering what you are saving.
Pick one up and put in quality fire control components and springs and enjoy.
I have built up a couple for guys that turned out to be great carry pieces.
Great foundation for a build.

[sneakerd]

THAT makes huge sense.

[Colorado Luckydog]

Pick one up and put in quality fire control components and springs and enjoy.


Could you go into greater detail on this?[Beer]

[BPTactical]

Could you go into greater detail on this?[Beer]

Fire control components=Hammer, Trigger, Disconnector and Sear. The fire control components on most all production pistols are MIM which stands for Metal Injection Molded. Similar to die casting, metal powder is mixed with a plastic binder and injected under heat and pressure into molds. The parts are slightly oversize and then the are subjected to a high temp furnace which burns off the binder and fuses the powder into "solid" metal where the parts shrink to finished size. It is a quick cheap way to manufacture relatively precise parts. The problem is you have the inherent flaws with any casting process, dimensional variances, voids and inconsistent grain structure.
Quality fire control components are machined from solid barstock tool steel.

Springs- things that go boing! Again manufacturers are typically going for lowest cost so as cheap as springs are just replace the with quality parts from Wolff or similar.
Replace them on a regular basis, they are subject to more wear than other components. That holds for magazine springs as well.

[sneakerd]

BPTactical appears to know what he's talking about.

[Colorado Luckydog]

BP, thanks for the info. What kind of dollar figure are you talking about and where should you get the parts. Is there some place local? Thanks again.

[sneakerd]

I'd like to know also. I've worked some builds before (I say worked- not built, because I paid for it- I didn't do it!) I would love a well-done Commander-size without paying Nighthawk or even Les Baer prices, though I love them both. No bull barrels, just a good quality match barrel, like a Bar-Sto. All of the standard mods included, I've had Brown-style beavertail grip safeties for so long that a standard gun beats on my hand. Ambi-safety because I'm a lefty. I also prefer nites.

[68Charger]

I had a tactical model, was a fine pistol... quite accurate, and a great entry-level 1911.

I got the bug to build my own, and when I found a screaming deal on a couple Caspian frames, I went that route...

One other thing to note- as I understand it, their frame heat treat is about par with the old USGI pistols, but not as good as say a Springfield, Caspian, modern Colt, Kimber, etc... shouldn't be a big issue unless you're running .45 Super or hotter... I ran some Magtech through mine (which is +P rated) with no issues...

[sneakerd]

99% of my pistol shooting is done with ball.

[jerrymrc]

I built mine with a RIA frame. I bought a parts kit from Sarco then bought the other parts I wanted. When all was said and done I had the parts I wanted in the govt model I wanted for around $450 after all was said and done. Some items I sold off out of the kit and I will say that I spent 3 months fitting the parts but in the end it was worth it for me.

[Atrain1]

I have 3 RIA 1911's and 2 taurus 1911's they are both great guns, I love my RIA pistals. I have had taurus pt1911's before so if I had to choose it would be the taurus. Dont get me wrong, they are very close as far as reliability and accuracy. But the pt1911 has more bells and whistles out of the box, and is a nicer gun. I have shot 1911 pistals ranging from a $75000 singer, to the $379 RIA. I also build custom 1911 pistals, so I think I know a little bit about them. Currently I am rebuilding and full customizing a pt1911. But I would do the same thing to a RIA actuly I have, I have a 1911 a2 I have done custom work to, and I would put that gun up against any kimber any day.

[Ah Pook]

My first 1911 was a lightly used RIA GI. I say lightly used because there was very little wear.

The only thing I changed on it was the grips. Also took some white model paint to the tip of the front sight. There was an initial break in period (about 150 rounds) that had a some feeding issues. After that, is ran really well. 90% of the ammo run through it was round ball.

The fit and finish was definitely not that of a Colt or Springfield. Didn't seem to effect it's operation, just something to keep in mind.

If you want to put some inexpensive grips on it, Kimber (http://store.kimberamerica.com/Products/tabid/67/ProductID/1284/SearchID/5/SearchValue/grips/Default.aspx) makes some nice rubber ones.

http://pic100.picturetrail.com/VOL686/2648371/6918264/395939376.jpg

[rondog]

I have 3 RIA 1911's and 2 taurus 1911's they are both great guns, I love my RIA pistals. I have had taurus pt1911's before so if I had to choose it would be the taurus. Dont get me wrong, they are very close as far as reliability and accuracy. But the pt1911 has more bells and whistles out of the box, and is a nicer gun. I have shot 1911 pistals ranging from a $75000 singer, to the $379 RIA. I also build custom 1911 pistals, so I think I know a little bit about them. Currently I am rebuilding and full customizing a pt1911. But I would do the same thing to a RIA actuly I have, I have a 1911 a2 I have done custom work to, and I would put that gun up against any kimber any day.

Ooooo, you got to handle and shoot a Singer? You dog, you. You've touched The Holy Grail!

[Atrain1]

Yes number 375 of 500 it was awsome, the wierd thing is it was louder than my other 1911 pistals. The singer is my friends and it looks brand new, I mean this thing has had great care. Not a fake and I would say it would probably sell for over 100k, I have heard stories of them selling in that condition for 160,000.

[Ah Pook]

Never heard of a Singer 1911 before today. Interesting story.

http://forum.m1911.org/showthread.php?t=16784

Kind of the opposite end of the RIA.

[Atrain1]

Yeah they could not produce 100 units an hour, so colt got the contract, I believe in 1941 the tooling went to Remington rand and also ithica. There is also a few that went to the workers that did not have seriel numbers, the value on those would be some were in the high 6 digits. If I remember right remington started making 1911 pistals in 1941, but did not produce them until 1942. The singer I shot was seriel number S800375. I believe it would sell in the 100,000 range. We did not know what we had at the time, if we did we would not have been shooting wal mart ammo through it. The story I got was my friends grandfather brought it back from WW2, and did not turn it in. It was told that it was his service weapon. I remember it cause the 1911 has always been my favorate gun, and I remember thinking this gun was to clean to have been in a War. So I did some research, and that was when I found out that colt had the contract. The gun did say us government property of the us army. So i believed the story at the time. But the gun was suppossed to be in the war, so that is why it had the markings on it. I have seen fakes a real singer will not say singer on it, it will be s.mfg company i think or maybe just s.mfg, it has been along time since I have held one.

[rondog]

Nut.....

http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b150/rinselman/guns/misc%201911s/singer10.jpg

[Atrain1]

Nice were did you get the pic from?

[Mazin]

Now thats what i want for my 1911 collection. I just got a SA mil spec in ss in on a partial trade for my wifes db so im in the process of picking out parts now. Before i got the SA i wanted to pick up the RIA for just a base project gun. All of the people i have talked to absoultly love thiers. I might go a head and pick up one for a second project gun, my brother in law needs a 1911 and with such a good price i can dink eith it and then give it to him.

[rondog]

Nice were did you get the pic from?

Google Images search for "Singer 1911".

[Atrain1]

[Top left is a Desert eagle 1911g, next is a Taurus pt1911, then there is the Chiappa 1911-22 then my Ria compact 3.5 inch barrelhttp://i1127.photobucket.com/albums/l628/atrain18/011-1.jpg