RIA 10mm FS GI 51508

I got my 1911 today. I got an email late yesterday evening that it had arrived but I didn’t have a chance to go get it. I was less than a half mile from Rural King today due to a fortunate mistake made by one of the companies I make deliveries for (car parts)

What I have so far is a basic unboxing.

Picked it up today. The Rural King process is a bit different than others I have done but I like it. Counter worker starts the process, kicks you over to a computer to click a few boxes regarding race and ethnicity, click yes once then no a bunch of times, then back to the counter worker. I bought dog food while I waited for background to clear. Thankfully this time it went right through. I like the RK setup very much.

Initial inspection went well. The gun is parkerized with black rubber grips. It was absolutely drowned in oil but inside a heavy plastic bag. Came with one mag, one of the few downsides of the GI model, but for $409.99 I’m not griping about that. Mags are $30 bucks plus shipping. I will buy a couple more, not a big deal. Came with a chamber flag in the chamber, a lock in the hard plastic box, and 2 fired cases. Some literature but not much. I did inspect the fired cases and they are clearly expanded above the case head, but they are not guppy bellied like my old Delta Elite did. Satisfactory seems like the right word. Could be better, but it’s adequate. This gun has a flat MSH which is new to me. I’m used to arched MSH but this feels good. The minor changes from a true GI design seem well done and well thought out.

Got home and did a very basic wipe down just to really look it over and handle it. It’s definitely new and feels tough around the edges. I have read similar comments and it seems the gun will break in and smooth up pretty quickly. It does not feel cheap, or look cheap, but the initial impression is that they could have done better for polishing the slide to frame fit. It may just be the rough parkerized surfaces grinding against each other for now, but it doesn’t seem as refined as most pistols, but again I was expecting this and it is a fairly common thing for folks to say that these need a box or two of ammo to break in. I hope to find out this week, but I’m not really expecting to until the weekend.

Im happy with the gun so far. Happy enough I am already considering another RIA 1911 in more of an officer platform in 9mm. It’s a bit of a shame there’s not more info out there about this model.

Sorry there aren’t more pics. I didn’t realize one I had taken had the S/N on the info card, and my youngest is now snoozing in my lap. She’s teething and I’m not messing up the glorious peace and quiet we are enjoying at the moment.

I was able to edit. Back to the opening post.

Skylerbone said:

Any 1911 at that price is a feat for certain and 10mm is all icing. Like ok’ing forward to a range report (if you can find ammo).

Click to expand...

I had a delta for a short while. My standard operation when I get a new caliber is to buy about $100 worth of factory ammo to see what factory ammo feels like, sounds like, etc, and to save the brass. I buy reloading dies before the first range trip most of the time. I never fully divest from a caliber unless I flat out don’t like it. I still have dies, brass, bullets, and 4 boxes of factory ammo.

And 10mm isn’t hard to find right now. It’s about a dollar a shot for plinking ammo, 3 dollars a shot for defensive or hunting ammo. I’m not paying that, but I will be buying a mold to cast 180gr truncated cones if what I have now plays nicely in this pistol.

At some point I should probably mention that I got this as an anniversary gift from the wife. 10 years, 10 millimeters, seems fitting to me. I was going to buy a prettier version (likely a super jagare) but last weekend I stumbled into a deal on a Wrangler Rubicon so most of what I was going to get went towards the difference between my Accord and the Jeep. I also got an IOU for grips (of her choosing) and a 3D printer which will come after I get my first checks from my vendors with the new job.

I pulled the gun apart today just to finish out the inspection and check out the barrel situation. The reviews I have read say that the RIA guns have FULLY supported barrels. I disagree with that statement, but I would say that it is adequately supported. There is a thin area of the case that is not supported, but it will definitely be in the web so I guess you could kinda call it part of the casehead but I would call it the transitional area of the head to the wall. My only concern is that this may cause weakening after reloading but I’m not sure that the cases will deform at all as thin as the unsupported area is. I expect that it will be OK. This is far better support than the delta elite I had.

earlthegoat2 said:

Im interested to know where/what that fired casing came from. The pin strike on that primer is quite interesting.

Click to expand...

There were 2 fired cases in the box from where the gun was fired at the factory. What you see is one of them.

Skylerbone said:

Any perceptible oddities or damage to the two? No bulges/smiles? I think from what I recall your new 10 is considerably more supported than an old Delta would have been. I recall hands on with one Alchemy Custom was rebuilding and Rob went into some good detail about the good, bad, and ugly of that Colt; so much so that it was scrubbed from my grail list that day.

Enjoying the pictures and measured review here as well. One of my pet peeves are people expounding virtue after pulling the rat out and dry firing once lol.

Click to expand...

The cases are a bit chewed up where the extractor got them, but it’s pretty rough so I’m leaving that alone until it’s at least 500 rounds in. It should be broken in nicely at that point. The cases were clearly expanded, but not guppy belly bulges or anything of that nature. They have the same head stamp as the armscorp light plinking ammo I have. I would hope they are using proof loads but I’m not sure.

Still no range time, but I had to update with a current picture. New grips from Amazon. My wife picked them out as another small part of my anniversary gift. The exaggerated mag button cut is in a good spot for my strong hand thumb, and my weak hand thumb locks it in place. For a $20 set of g10 grips these things are great. They look great, they feel great, and I’m fully expecting them to perform well.

Steve762us said:

I jumped on the RK bandwagon too.

Overall, good impression of the pistol. Shoots fine with a couple of loads
(reman 165 FMJ and Creedmore 180 XTP). Only feed problem was with
an old GI .45 ACP mag--that was a no-go!

Does yours have a wiggly extractor? I can push the hook end sideways,
with light finger pressure. Doesn't seem to matter--function's been 100%
--just different.

Click to expand...

There is movement on the extractor, but not enough for me to call it wiggly. I still haven’t got a chance to go try it out. Work and kids… sick kids… there’s nothing worse than a sick 1yr old in your bed sweating like crazy and screaming because her new tooth hurts and she has RSV at the same time.

BUT the gun is in the work van so that if I ever get off a few mins early I can hit the range.

I finally got a few rounds through the gun. 16 to be exact, and they were kinda hurried at that. No malfunctions at all. I lost 4 pieces of brass to the gremlins in the grass. I shot at 7 yards and 11 yards, one magazine at each distance. At 7 yards the group was baseball sized. At 11 yards it was slightly bigger but not much. I had 3 fliers that I called when I shot. I’m shaky right now due to piles of cold and sinus meds. Here are the results… and yes the 3 not under my wallet were the called fliers. 3 of the holes are doubles.