opinions on RIA 1911's

[Flash!]

mine does not have a plastic mainspring housing...

As for the range report from my first day with this gun... I was not happy... the gun continually had problems with the slide not returning fully forward..... it got better the more I shot, but in total I fired about 100 rounds..... and most were my reloaded hollow points. The instruction manual specifically stated the gun is designed for ball ammo...... I am going to buy a couple hundred rounds of factory ball ammo and go back to the range in few days..... we'll see how that goes.....

 

[mbruce]

hey guys, i just bought a 3.5'' ria 1911 for daily carry. have you guys had any trouble in reliablity/durablity and if so what are the problem areas? so far it runs like a top with no jams so far but time tells all.

That's one of those questions where you don't want to know the answers after buying something....

Bottom line -- if they were POS they wouldn't be in business....and i have no facts but I'd say they sell more 1911 than anyone.

If you don't put it on a ransom rest or shoot 500rds a day then you'll never know the performance difference between it and a high end Wilson Combat...and don't mistaken I can shoot "X" better than "Y" for quality as the reasoning behind the better shooting...

 

[rozziboy18]

mbruce,
very true. but i have a um....few carry guns and i am moving forward to my ultimate goal. a gun for every day of the week! plus i cant leav anything alone to long. i start getting the tinker itch!

 

[kyletx1911]

here are some target pics with new rock the nickel it has 200rds in it and the parker has 5.5k in it also i have a 4i no pics yet, but it has 3.5k in it so far as change the fp spring in thr 4in,

And put a wolf recoil in the fs. The target pics are doing nothing more than field strip and shoot. And all the acts drop free but i am going to replace them with novacs or wilson.

 

[Sniper X]

My full size one eats everything put in the mag, as long as it is a quality mag....shown here on bottom, under the recent M1911A1 SA.

 

[Flash!]

day two at the range with my RIA CS...... I took a hundred round box of WWB from Wally world and two 50 round boxes of Wolf.... all 230 gn ball ammo...... this gun functioned just fine with both brands of ball ammo...... however, when I tried my hollowpoints again, the bullet would hit the feed ramp and just stop about 1 out of every 8 or 9 shots..... guess I'll polish the ramp real good and try again.....

anyone else had trouble with ammo that is not just plain round nose? From today's episode, I feel this gun will be as dependable as they get as long as I only shoot ball..... but I want to shoot hollowpoints too.....

 

[HM2PAC]

Flash!,

My advice would be to run about 500 rds of ball ammo and then try the HP's after that. You may find that the pistol irons itself out over time.

Many are those who have polished poorly and have changed the angle on the ramp.....yours truly included.

Experience may be the worlds best teacher, but trust me, tuition is much cheaper second hand.

 

[f451]

ammo

I'm gonna do the same with my Citadel 3.5 inch. I have 2 reloads I like. One is the Speer gold dot 185 gr jhp and the other is the Gold dot 210 gr "flying ashtray" bullet. I have had exceptional service out of both these rounds and the profile off the 210 gr bullet is almost the same as ball ammo.

Gotta get off my but and load some moer up to see whats gonna work!

 

[Rocketmedic]

I picked up a compact model today. GF loves it, I love it, friends love it. 250 rounds of WWB 185gr and 230gr Magtech with 1 fte. The Hi Point has been replaced

 

[CZ223]

My RI Comp Tac

Here is a few pics of mine and my RI 9mm Tactical. It runs very well now though it did have a couple of minor issues at first. It still doesn't like some of my handloads, which all my other guns do, but it feeds HPs everytime.




The Comp Tac is finished in Duracoat OD Green and matte Black. The Tactical is matte black and flat dark earth.

 

[NRAhab]

I'm also interested to see how these guns hold up to 10k+ rounds. Everything I've heard about the RIA guns (and by default the STI Spartan) indicates that they're generally well made, and the action shooting community in the Philippines seems to get pretty good milage out of theirs.

 

[Jdann24]

I've had the basic G.I. Model for about a year now and have put about 1000 rounds down range without any problems. It feeds hollow points and everything else I run through it. Its a great pistol that I plan on keeping for a long time. I might add compact model or 9mm R.I.A. later this yearl

 

[Flash!]

ok.... today was day three at the range with my RIA CS...... this time I had polished the ramp.....as before ball ammo works great.... but not hollow points, UNLESS I only load 4 or 5 rounds in the magazine..... what I discovered is that if I load more than five rounds, the second round from the top is not all the way up at the front of the bullet, therefore when the slide tries to move the top round into the chamber, the front of the top round is not supported and just nosedives into the ramp..... I am believing the issue with hollow points is not so much the gun as it is the magazine. I just ordered some Mec-Gar magazines to see how they perform..... I also loaded up magazines from several other guns and none of them have that second bullet angled down when loaded to capacity..... anyone else noticed that issue with their magazines?

 

[9mmepiphany]

I've seen that before in single stack mags...I just checked and my Springfield EMP does not carry both of the top rounds parallel...but it doesn't cause a feeding problem.

It almost sound like your mag is releasing the round too late...maybe too much pressure

 

[HM2PAC]

Try Metal-Form mags.

 

[exdetsgt]

Having read all the posts on this thread, and having tired of polymer frames, I thought I'd go have a search for an RIA with a 3 1/2" barrel because it's about the same size as my Glock 19. I knew I'd have to go to the nearest big city (Tucson) but just for the heck of it I stopped on my way at the local gun shop in Sierra Vista. And - Lo and Behold - there was an all-steel 36 oz. black matte - I'm not sure what to call it - Compact? Commander? and I bought it on the spot. Put it on layaway and will pick it up Tomorrow or Wednesday. Didn't get a chance to look at the box, which is why I'm not sure about the Model designation, but it's definitely not an alloy frame. And yes, it has those fattish wood stocks which I'll probably replace with Pachmyr rubberized.

I noticed, when fitting it into various holsters, that the matte black on the slide will not be long for this world. Any ideas about what to do about that? The magazine in the pistol is a MEC-GAR with what appears to be a chrome follower.