Philippine M1911s

I worked on a friend's RIA 1911 (also nickel plated), and I was impressed by what I saw when I had it apart. I added a polished stainless beavertail grip safety along with a new hammer and trigger. All the parts went in with little if any extra fitting required. The plating was evenly applied and was very nicely finished. Overall I thought it was an excellent buy for the money.

It would be great to have an RIA a nickel plated .38 Super. Reminds me of Colt's El Presidente and would go great with my nickel plated Combat Commander.

I bought one when they first hit the market around 15 years ago, a basic High Standard/Armscor GI model. It has been a great gun. IMO you won't get a mechanically better gun without spending significantly more money. The Springfield, Ruger, etc, make a prettier gun for a couple hundred dollars more, but they generally aren't any more accurate or reliable.

I'm quite satisfied with my RIA 1911 Tactical .45. I have yet to experience a failure with it. (poor quality cell phone photo)

I am satisfied with 2 RIA and 1 ATI. Good serviceable, reliable, inexpensive weapons.

I have an ATI with the 22 conversion. It has been great as a range toy with 45 but a bit finicky with 22 LR. Imagine that!

My RIA 1911-45 was a gift from my wife in 2008. Its a bug smasher.

Deananimator

The polished stainless parts (now that I think about it I also replaced the thumb safety with an extended stainless one), looked great with the bright nickel and my friend was pleased with the overall appearance of the gun. All it took was several sessions of polishing the parts with Mother's Mag Polish til the desired level of brightness was achieved.

My bright nickel Combat Commander came with a matte nickel arched mainspring housing from Colt's Custom Shop and I'm pretty sure that's how they all were finished with the bright nickel Colt Governments. I checked with gunpartscorp.com and all they show for Colt are dull nickel arched mainspring housings. Midway also shows Ed Brown making one in stainless with a matte finish.

I'd noticed them for a while on the shelves in one my LGSs ... finally, a work buddy bought one (the full-size black tactical version with the fiber-optic front sight) ... and holy cow, it shoots great. Good trigger, great slide-to frame fit and decent accuracy. Good lookin' 1911 now that RIA has done away with the ugly billboard on the slide in favor of that little lasered logo behind the left-side cocking serrations.

So yeah, my initial impression is quite favorable. Will be interesting to see how these pistols hold up to long term or heavy use. Was wondering how that matte black finish holds up, too, if anyone out there can tell me.

A nickeled .38 Super would be tres cool...

Here is my RIA Tactical. The gun is very accurate and reliable with the right ammo. For some reason it likes Winchester White Box but doesn't care for Armscor 230 FMJ.

Really like my Rock Island Armory M1911-A1 FS GI model. I swapped out the grips for some M1911 reproduction checkered grips. Other than that it's bone stock.

I like everything about it... shoots great for $350. Looks great too... I love the parkerized finish. My only complaint? It doesn't like cheap magazines at all. As long as I stick to the ACT-Mags, I'm good.

I finally picked one up a few weeks ago. I get to shoot it tomorrow morning. It looks and feels like a good quality pistol.

rule303 said:

I bought one when they first hit the market around 15 years ago, a basic High Standard/Armscor GI model. It has been a great gun. IMO you won't get a mechanically better gun without spending significantly more money. The Springfield, Ruger, etc, make a prettier gun for a couple hundred dollars more, but they generally aren't any more accurate or reliable.

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Pretty much my thoughts exactly. There's little difference in other manufacturer's 1911's and whatever else they do, isn't worth the extra Benjamin's, but I think they cost more because the labor is more expensive from Ruger, Springfield, etc. If someone wants to pay for extra work and supremo fit and finish, they should be looking at Dan Wesson's and Kimber's for $1500+.

I like the Rock Island doublestack 9mm's with the .22 TCM conversions. That .22 TCM is a damn fast bullet with velocities on a 40 grain bullet exceeding 2000 fps from a 5" barrel. That's 5.7mm speeds and with a heavier bullet no less.

Rock Island's 1911's are so well priced and decently made, I would not buy another 1911 from anyone else because I don't believe a 1911 is worth an extra few hundred of thousand dollars. If they worked for GI Joe in Europe and Asia for decades, the bare bones version will work for everyone as well.

Ive got 2 ATI's and one RIA.

Commander sized ATI has been flawless for years and thousands of rounds.

Titan had initial problems with reverse plug destroying itself. Replaced with a Colt Defender set and Wolf mainsprings and it has had no issues for years. Have about 1200 rounds through it now.

Purchased an RIA CS 9mm in Officers size. It has had no issues at all. All my guns get my handloads and a few boxes of Goldots for SD purposes. I am really happy with my Filpino guns and they rate right up there with my 1911's that cost up to 4 times what the Filipino guns cost.

I wouldn't hesitate to pick up more if the opportunity presented itself.

My GI 1911 RIA has been fantastic.....dead on reliable (using only 230 gr. ball ammo from different brands, that is what a 1911 diet is supposed to be) extremely accurate, excellent slide to frame fit (feels like is on bearings). Only coat finish is not top notch (still perfectly acceptable) but I actually like it that way...a 1911 is not supposed to be a piece of jewelry.


It is incredible that even in these days there are people still believing that is not possible to get a very good inexpensive 1911 on the market :banghead:

My very first RIA 1911 a 22TCM/9mm combo. Very happy with the purchase, hopefully down the line they come out with a sub compact in 22tcm

Rock Island 45

I bought one a couple of months ago, $450 on sale. My Son snatched it, went to the range and hasn't brought it back. Said he would keep it for me. Let me shoot it a couple of weeks ago and I was impressed. I'm looking for another one but will hide it from my other Son.

My American Classic has been a great pistol I have one of the 1st in country I was presented it by the Importer .
Metro Arms makes some really great pistols .

I have the Metro Arms Amigo. Perfect size and fit as an officer sized. 50/50 carry with my XDS 3.3" 45

I have four RIA's, ain't giving any of 'em up for nothin'!

I'm another RIA owner with no regrets. Mine is a 1911 commander and it's a great
shooter. After 2 years and 1500+rounds,no failures of any kind.
My next purchase will be a RIA 1911 in .2TCM if they ever produce it in a 4.25" size.

...................... Jack

How do these Filipino pistols handle a variety of magazines? I own nothing but Colt's and one Kimber and use Colt & Kimber factory mags, but also run Chip McCormick's with great success... not trying to threadcrap here, just truly interested. My buddy's RIA has issues w/ MOST aftermarket magazines.

No issue with ACT, Kimber, Colt or McCormack mags