Armscor / RIA warranty came through!

[WardenWolf]

A while back, I posted on sending my RIA 1911 Tactical back to the factory. I apparently got a lemon, as it couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from the inside. I called up Armscor, and they paid for return shipping and arranged pickup at my house the next day. One additional issue the pistol had was the nickel finish was darkening, turning a black bronze color in places.

Well, last week the gunsmith called me back. He told me they were going to replace the pistol. Apparently my sweat was reacting with the copper under the nickel plating, causing the finish to degrade rapidly. He offered me my choice of finishes (I selected Parkerized), and said he'd hand select it and tune it up before sending it back. I just received the pistol today, and opened the box and this is what I found:



All I can say is, I'm stunned. This is a beautiful piece, and that crappy cellphone picture doesn't do it justice. It's much nicer than my old one. It was obviously test-fired more than a couple of times, too, so he definitely did some work on it. I can't wait to shoot it. Definitely first-rate customer service.

 

[snakeman]

That's an excellent thing to hear. They'll get my business possibly within the year.

 

[firesky101]

Yeah, I was thinking my next will be an RIA this year too. They will get even more business if they get their TCM on the California list.

 

[EBShooting]

I think one may be on my list too. The more I keep reading about them, the better they seem.

 

[verdun59]

I've had dealings with them, and they are first class. None better.

 

[bikerdoc]

Kudus to Armscor and best wishes to you. I like happy endings.

 

[bigfatdave]

I assume you talked to Arnel?

I don't really do thank-you notes, but I sent one to him after a few range trips with a CCO-ish he put together for me.

Next up is something in TCM, I can't find one at the moment, so I might just end up being forced to wait for a compact version.

 

[WardenWolf]

Yup. Arnel did me good. I wasn't able to find my ammo so I didn't get to the range today. I know there's at least one new box of PMC .45 ammo floating around, and possibly a MagTech one as well, but between myself and my father we can't figure out where it is. I cut my teeth on my father's Colt Combat Commander. His is a very early-production model with mirror stainless finish. Beautiful gun. I doubt I'll ever be able to afford one that nice, but I wanted one of my own, hence the RIA.

 

[iLikeOldgunsIlikeNewGuns]

Armscor customer service treated me well too! Very impressed with this company, especially when it comes to the price-to-value ratio.

Mine also could not hit the broad side of a barn from the inside... I bought mine NIB from a dealer halfway across the country for the best deal I could find by far. So i was unable to inspect it until it was mine, the gun was certainly new, except just the bore itself looked absolutely awful. Tried to gently clean it up with no improvement. I checked the proof-casings envelope and the proof date was over two years prior to when I bought this brand new pistol. I called up Armscor and the gunsmith told me the gun certainly sat for a year before it even went to the dealer. I'm guessing they may have used corrosive primers or something, because the rest of the gun was spotless, just the bore was ravaged. So two years after the proof load, it was pitted badly. The gunsmith recommended I send the whole gun in, so the *free* new barrel could be fitted properly. They upgraded me to a match-grade barrel for my trouble, and he also threw in his '$350 tune-up' for free too, which had subtle but noticeable improvements which I could clearly see when I got it back, polished feed-ramp, thumb safety felt even better, trigger slightly smoother etc. I had that gun back less than two weeks after I sent it to Nevada, which was a delightful surprise! I also really appreciated that they called me with the tracking # once it was on its way back to my FFL.

This was not long ago, and I've been saving up for a big campout/shoot this coming weekend, so I haven't fired it yet since I got it back. I can't wait to test it out, my usual carry gun is a .45acp but I think it'll just stay in my holster and I'll be using most of my .45 ammo getting to know my new and improved Armscor


here's a shot of it, sportin' some Ajax grips I was lucky to find

 

[rondog]

This is a group I shot with one of my RIA's on Saturday. Don't know the distance, but it was normal pistol distance, prob 25-30 feet or so. I have four RIA's. These were 200 gr. LSWC handloads.