Rock Island Armory 1911

I don't have any of that information, but I've wondered also.

Say, while I'm here, how does it shoot? Any malfunctions yet?

Thanks and good luck.

Wes

Made in the phillipines by Armscor. http://www.armscor.com.ph/ Mark

Never seen one personally, but I've always heard they are "rough" and yet at the same time a good value if you happen upon one for a good price. I await your range report.

Yes. The Philippines, which curiously enough, figures in the 1911's origins and legendarium.

The "Rock Island Armory 1911" is the market name in the US for a stricter version of the Armscor "GI series" of 1911-based pistols, built from 4140 steel.

IIRC the objective was to present to the market an affordable and reasonably faithful representative of Browning's warhorse semiauto pistol, something for both aficionados to collect and use (and darn it, these guns are meant to be used) and for amateur 1911 gunsmiths to customize.

MHB,

I remember reading an article about the RIA in www.1911forum.com

Here it is: http://www.1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=42458&highlight=Rock+Island+armory

Long read, but it might help...

A little history here: http://www.1911forum.com/forums/showthread.php?s=&threadid=49742&highlight=Rock+Island+armory

HTH

RIA owner here.......

I bought mine in February of this year. I have since put around 750 round thru it in various IDPA matches and some informal plinking. The only modifications that have been made are a trigger job to lower the pull to about 4.5 lbs, swapped in a slightly longer colt GI grip safety (not a beavertail!), slightly bobbed hammer, and had a trijicon front night sight installed.

So far I have been using the factory supplied Novak 8 rd. mag, and two Springfield factory SS mags. The result? Zero, zilch, Nada and none in the way of malfunctions of any kind. Accuracy is running 3-5" at 25 yards depending on ammo (Winchester White Box, CCI Blazer, local ammo manufacturer's reloads -185 lswc , WW SIlvertips, Speer Gold Dot 230 & 200, Cor-Bon 185).

My gunsmith was impressed with the fit and finish for a sub-$400 1911. It is finished better than other more expensive GI-style 1911's and the only difference is that the slide and frame are cast, not forged like the big boys. The finish has held up well thru hundreds of draws from mostly synthetic holsters, and is a very nice parkerizing.

Overall, it is a good "starter" 1911. I bought it with the intention of finding out if I even like the 1911 platform without breaking the bank and maybe learning some tuning fundamentals later if I liked it. My gunsmith did make the comment that it was much harder steel than he expected for this price point.

The only bad point so far has been that the slide stop on mine is made form VERY hard stock and has made a slight mark in the under-edge of the slide where it rides when cycled. I very slightly filed the front edge of the slide stop and it seems to have fixed it.

Mino

As I recall the RIA is 2nd cousin to the Charles Daly.

More like siblings...


Armscor Philippines churns out from the same foundry the parts for the Standard Armscor, the Medallion (these are beauts!), CD's, and Rock Island Armory.


A sales rep at the last gunshow told me that CD's are assembled there in the US, while RIA's are done by a local outfit, Twin Pines, Inc.


Look at www.armscor.com.ph and www.advancedtactical.com for samples of the products. RIA doesn't have any, unfortunately.


HTH

"Crappy slag gun"??? Interesting how you only hear these kind of misinformed comments from those who've never owned one. Rock Island Armory pistols are mfgd w/4140 ordnance grade steel on ISO-9001 certified CNC equipment. My RIA .45 has an excellent finish, very good trigger, hard chromed bbl (inside and out), very good accuracy and hasn't stumbled once in nearly 500rds fired so far (including Winchester, CCI Blazer & Wolf ball as well as Federal's 200gr +P EFMJ). The only mods I've made are Pachmayr Signature grips, Wilson 18.5 lb recoil spring, Meprolight night sights and having the hammer/grip safety tang dehorned (btw, my 'smith was very impressed w/the quality of the RIA after working on it). I've read far fewer posts about problems with the RIA .45s than I have about "name brand" models costing 5x as much. IMHO they're a superb value as a budget/entry level .45.
Tomac

http://www.shootersarms.com.ph/pistols.html#

My experience with Phillipino 1911's has been extremely positive.I own a S.A.M. combat grade,government model that quickly replaced the "wonderful" Sistema i once had the misfortune of owning.The S.A.M. is MUCH nicer in every way!

on ISO-9001 certified CNC equipment.

Click to expand...

Speaking of misinformed comments, CNC equipment, or any equipment for that matter, isn't certified to ISO 9001. ISO 900x standards aren't (directly) concerned with the specific machinery used by a company at all. Saying your widget-making tool is ISO 9001 certified is meaningless.

Armscor guns

I've owned an Armscor and a Colt Series 70.

The Colt was better, but certainly not twice as good, although it cost twice as much. In fact more than twice as much. Malfunctions happen even to the most expensive Kimbers.

Armscors are not "slag guns". Only a person who has not owned one would say that. There are uninformed snobs everywhere.

Now there is a silly line of reasoning... "you can't talk, you've never owned one!"

Right. And I've never owned a Pinto or an Edsel, voted Communist or eaten human flesh, but I know those are all bad ideas.

My local shop sells them and I had never really paid much attention until a few weeks ago when I noticed a lot of really good shooters were buying them. And none of them were coming back in to be traded in for something else. I have not shot one, but have spoken to no one who has one that doesn't appreciate it. Can't say that about the Kimbers, Springfields, Glocks, HKs, or Sigs.

I have one. over 500 rounds and only a very few problems in the first 100. Now it shoots perfect and very acurate.

Okay, Mr. Smith, let me put it to you in plain English: Care to provide hard data to support your "crappy slag gun" accusation regarding Rock Island Armory M1911A1 pistols?
Tomac

Ive shot em..I like em. When they first came out..they had the exteneded controls and such...not they are a basic millspec copy.....

Shoot well

Mr. Smith, we're still waiting for the hard data to support your "crappy slag gun" accusation...
Tomac

And I've never owned a Pinto or an Edsel, voted Communist or eaten human flesh, but I know those are all bad ideas.

Click to expand...

Pintos got great gas milage and were fairly peppy, over a hundred thousand Edsels were sold and there is a huge collector market for them, lots of people vote Democrat...err...can't help with that one...and human flesh tastes like pork (or so I have heard from folks who know).

Speaking as a gunsmith, I'm rather impressed with the Rock Island. They are a heck of a value for the money...with some minor fit and finish work, they play with the big boys like the (overpriced) Kimber, (insanely overpriced) Colt, and (pretty expensive) Springfield. You are not getting a Valtro, but you are not paying for it either



Alex

If you read about them on the 1911 forum they have gotten very good reviews. The Dealer Warehouse was selling them for $349. Since Norinco's are no longer imported there is a real gap in the market for a quality (relative to price) 1911 for under $400. I would buy one if the price was right. I would also consider a Springfield Mil-Spec or a Dan Wesson Panther for a little more. The DW is a stainless gun and runs about $500. But I digress.

BTW Pintos make pretty good little race cars and Edsels are one of the finest cars (Ford) ever built, they were just expensive at the time of a recession and marketed poorly. To each his own.

The more people thinking some guns are cheap and crappy the more

Makarovs
SKS's
CZ's
Stars
etc...

for me to buy all the cheaper...

This is just too easy

Not trying to start a war here, (too late it already looks like urinals at 20 paces) but.....


As for as the not a good ideas part....

I recall reading about a group of people, who surivived an airplane crash who did what they felt they had to do to survive.

Don't get me wrong an Edsel is NOT at the top of my list for dream cars, but I'd still feel pretty good if I had a nice one to drive. It would be one hell of an improvement on the car I now own.

My top choice for a burger is Ostrich (it's the leanest of all red meat) or Buffalo. However, I have a difficult time finding either at a good price here, so I buy 91%-93% lean beef. If I was starving though I wouldn't be quite so picky.

The top gun on my wish list isn't a Rock island either. But it does rank higher than a Glock. And if I found a Rock Island .45 at a good price I'd buy it. But then again I was very happy with both of my Auto-Ordinance .45s.


Just remember opinions are like, er, um, lesee, Oh yeah,
Opinions are like Armpits! Everyone has some, some just smell worse than others. But that doesn't mean that any one of them is better than any other one.

If someone, anyone for that matter, were to put two classified ads in any major newspaper in the USA, one for, lets say, a near mint Ford Edsel, and the other for, let's say, a near mint, 10mm, semi-auto, handgun, each ad listing a reasonable market value price, which one do you suppose would generate the most phone calls?

I'd wager that both would sell in a short period of time and that both of the buyers would be happy with their purchases.
Who knows it's possible that even one person could want to buy BOTH.





Just my tuppence, YMMV.

Anytime you bring up any gun on a forum, there are gonna be negative comments, what's the big deal? That is what makes these forums great, all the different opinions. Man it would be boring if everyone agreed all the time. BTW, I don't like em either, a co-worker bought one at a gunshow, he thought he was buying a Rock River Arms, it was totally unreliable and he spent way too much getting it worked on to make it reliable, then he sold it......tom