Help picking an Armscor officer's size 1911 for CCW

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How much fitting (if any) was required to get the longer slide to function well?
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When the slide came in, he simply slid it on, we tried disassembling it once whe it got stuck, so my 'smith took it in the back for about five minutes and came back. Been running like a champ since.
Obviously it's not perfectly fitted in the rear, Les Baer style, but the fit is pretty much standard factory.

I got really lucky, probably.
 
smalls said:
Ahh, I wasn't aware the Citadel's were offered with Novak style sights, I've never seen one with them. I knew the RIA's could be had with them, though. Thanks for the clarification, BFD.
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I wasn't aware there was a NON-novak compact model, honestly ... I sort of stumbled onto the Citadel when I was looking for my first 1911, and I've been a rabid Armscor CS fan since

How much fitting (if any) was required to get the longer slide to function well? I know there are companies that produce this combination (commander slide on an officer's frame), but I never really thought about making my own. I've heard that people who own these tend to really love them. It seems like a great combination of concealability and accuracy.
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Dig up the old thread Rittmeister and I discussed this in, if you ask nicely the lead gunsmith at ArmscorUSA will do it for you, at a reasonable price (so reasonable compared to other manufacturers' CCO models that I won't put it out publicly)
I had my faux-CCO outfitted with tritium night sights and a 4" bushingless bull barrel slide, built on a CS tac frame.
Go look up how much other CCO models run for, then get in touch with Arnel at the RIA/Armscor facility in Nevada, you'll be amazed at the price, unless he's significantly raised it since.
Here, I remembered that the thread I was referencing was in my "subscribed" list:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=599890
 
bigfatdave said:
Dig up the old thread Rittmeister and I discussed this in, if you ask nicely the lead gunsmith at ArmscorUSA will do it for you, at a reasonable price (so reasonable compared to other manufacturers' CCO models that I won't put it out publicly)
I had my faux-CCO outfitted with tritium night sights and a 4" bushingless bull barrel slide, built on a CS tac frame.
Go look up how much other CCO models run for, then get in touch with Arnel at the RIA/Armscor facility in Nevada, you'll be amazed at the price, unless he's significantly raised it since.
Here, I remembered that the thread I was referencing was in my "subscribed" list:
http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=599890
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Thanks for the link and the heads up about Arnel. VERY good to know. I'll keep it on the down low. ;) Unfortunately, I'm going to have to hold off on doing anything like that until my "fun fund" recovers a bit after my upcoming CS purchase, but I'll definitely read up on it and keep it in mind as a future mod/addition. That would be really convenient to be able to choose which slide to use depending on the situation and need on any particular day.
 
bigfatdave said:
interestingly, Legacy no longer offers anything without Novak ramp sights in their Citadel 1911 line, they're all pretty close to the tactical RIA line

http://www.legacysports.com/products/cit_m1911.html
(warning, link opens a REALLY annoying/loud audio "multimedia" "feature" ... open on mute and find the pause button at the bottom)
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No kidding, that advertisement is loud! I've gone there before at night when everyone else in my house was sleeping, and I thought the whole house was going to be awake by the time I got it down to a reasonable volume.
 
Its a shame you arent looking for a used gun. I have a RIA CS officers(the one mentioned earlier in this thread. About 500 or so down the tube, a great shooting gun. Looking to move it and the galco leather small of back holster down the line to fund a new bullseye pistol.
 
ljnowell said:
Its a shame you arent looking for a used gun. I have a RIA CS officers(the one mentioned earlier in this thread. About 500 or so down the tube, a great shooting gun. Looking to move it and the galco leather small of back holster down the line to fund a new bullseye pistol.
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I've bought used before, but for this one, I think I want to go with new. Thanks for the option though, and good luck selling it. It sounds like they're popular enough that you shouldn't have too much trouble.
 
If you intend to stake your life on it, of your choices, I would go with the STI Spartan III. Personally I cannot trust the 3" 1911 in .45ACP to be reliable enough to be my CCW of choice. I use a SIG RCS 1911 a CCO sized pistol, with a 4.2" barrel and an officer frame. Cost will be about $500 more than the Rock Island, but I can shoot it much better, and faster than I ever could any 3" 1911. Well worth the extra $$ in my experience, actually a very good shooting 1911, equal to most 5" 1911s I have shot.
 
I've bought used before, but for this one, I think I want to go with new. Thanks for the option though, and good luck selling it. It sounds like they're popular enough that you shouldn't have too much trouble.
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Cant say I blame you! I had two hits on it today and a local guy too. They arent hard to resell because they have a great reputation. You will definately like it when you get it!
 
Thanks again for all of the advice. I ended up getting an STI Spartan III from Budsgunshop.com. When it was all said and done, I ended up paying $588 (insured and shipped to my LGS) + a $25 transfer fee. I can hardly wait for it to arrive! I think I'm really going to like it. I'll post again with an update once I get it and am able to get out for my first range session with it.
 
Well, here it is. I've had it to the range twice now with a total of just over 250 rounds through it. I've had a few failure to feeds, but nothing unexpected considering that it's still in the break-in period. I love the feel and I've been really happy with my accuracy so far... and I'm hoping that will just improve with time and familiarity with the particulars of the gun. I had a local gunsmith install an ambi safety (only $25 + what I paid when I ordered the thumb safety from Dawson Precision), so now I'm good to go for carrying it as soon as I get a couple hundred more rounds through it. Thanks for all of the advice.
 

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Thanks.

I generally like the look of the gun a lot, but I agree that the hammer is a bit out of place with the rest of the gun. The only other stainless that is visible is end of the bull barrel on the muzzle end. I actually considered getting a stainless version of the ambi thumb safety (instead of the blued I went with), but I thought doing that would necessitate replacing the slide stop with stainless as well so that everything would match. I think it would look great with those added stainless parts, but I just couldn't justify spending the money right now. I might eventually make those changes, but for now I just plan to leave it the way it is -- simply as a utilitarian gun that will be carried daily, and will undoubtedly acquire a lot of beauty marks over time. I'm good with that for now.
 
I just think the hammer looks kinda goofy. When I bought my IV, I thought it was coming with STI's square hammer. I was a little disappointed, but got over it. I still may switch it out, though.
 
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