RIA 9mm 1911?

[alaskan9974]

I was at a fred meyers and saw they had a 30% clearance sale on anything with the word gun, they had a SR1911 but the gentleman in line before me bought it, so I settled on a RIA 1911 in 9mm, it also came with a .22tcm barrel. I borrowed, or stole my girlfriends phone to look it up and it looked interesting so I bought it. I don't know much about RIA other then I see some cheap 1911's floating around in stores that have their name on it with nothing else remarkable that I remember. I plan to roll my own, I have a ton of .40gr FMJ bullets that I just found a use for....anything I should watch for, or plan to replace? For such a cheap pistol I was surprised how tight it was, cycles smoothly and doesn't rattle.

 

[warnerwh]

RIA has earned a good reputation. Many people have them and are happy with the quality. If you bought one for 30 percent off you got a heck of a deal. I have a Citadel, also made by Armscor, 1911 in 9mm which is almost exactly the same as the RIA and am very pleased with the quality. I only paid 329 when Bud's had them for that price but they are worth the 500+ they are getting now for them. It may be low cost but the quality is fine. Even the trigger on my gun is pretty decent for a stock trigger. Do some research and you will find you got a good deal for a good gun. You shouldn't need to replace anything until you have put many thousands of rounds through then springs may need replacing.

 

[drband]

You got quite a deal. I have a RIA Commander sized 9mm/TCM combo and really like it.

A word about reloading the TCM. Just because you have 40gr bullets on hand does not mean they will work in the TCM cartridge. Standard FMJ 40gr Bullets are often too long to work in the magazine.

I use the Armscor bullets from ammosupplywarehouse.com. I have read that some have had success with the Hornady V-Max 40gr. A short, snubby ogive will work best.

Do your research, be very careful, and have a blast! The TCM is the most “fun” cartridge I shoot! After all, what’s not to like about a cartridge that gives you nearly 2000 FPS, no recoil, and a beach ball sized fireball out of a pistol! Seriously!

I don’t know if the TCM will ever become mainstream, but it’s worth the time spent to learn how to reload it.

 

[IlikeSA]

9mm 1911 magazines can be finicky. The brownells brand mags have been good for me.

 

[il.bill]

I just got an Armscor / Rock Island Armory in 22TCM / 9x19mm yesterday through GunBroker for $520 delivered and thought I did well. Your 30% off is quite a good deal!

Reloading the 22TCM is not especially easy, but it is worth the effort. The RIA 1911 22TCM/9mm Combo is a nice shooting pistol. You may find that you like it a lot!

 

[drband]

FYI: The RIA 9mm/TCM combo guns use .38Super mags. I suppose it’s to accommodate the TCM cartridge. The stock mags from RIA work well. I have 2 MecGar mags that are equally good.

Mine is a double stack for what it’s worth.

 

[JeeperCreeper]

Side note, is Fred Meyer having a massive sale since they are part of Kroger? Which wants to drop all firearms?

I wouldn't hesitate to get a RIA.

 

[Speedo66]

Fred Meyers also offers a 10% discount to current military and veterans w/ ID. Says it includes sporting goods. https://www.fredmeyer.com/topic/military-discount

 

[alaskan9974]

Side note, is Fred Meyer having a massive sale since they are part of Kroger? Which wants to drop all firearms?

I wouldn't hesitate to get a RIA.

Yes they are, they had a couple redhawk 454's for dirt cheap, on my wish list for years but I carry rifles when I am out in the bush, not much of a pistol person anymore aside from target and small game hunting.

It's the doublestack, I will give MecGar a try. Unfortunately ammosupply only would ship UPS when checking out and to Alaska it was $$$, so I ordered some 46gr sp and 35gr vmax to try from midway.

 

[tcj]

I was at a fred meyers and saw they had a 30% clearance sale on anything with the word gun, they had a SR1911 but the gentleman in line before me bought it, so I settled on a RIA 1911 in 9mm, it also came with a .22tcm barrel. I borrowed, or stole my girlfriends phone to look it up and it looked interesting so I bought it. I don't know much about RIA other then I see some cheap 1911's floating around in stores that have their name on it with nothing else remarkable that I remember. I plan to roll my own, I have a ton of .40gr FMJ bullets that I just found a use for....anything I should watch for, or plan to replace? For such a cheap pistol I was surprised how tight it was, cycles smoothly and doesn't rattle.

They are great guns -- just to be sure to clean them per their info as they have a LOT of protective/shipping oil in/on the entire gun.

 

[AlexanderA]

A couple of years ago I bought an RIA in 9mm, and then proceeded to discard practically everything except the frame. The frame was a good host for my .45 cal. GI parts. All I had to do was replace the ejector, and widen the feed ramp slightly with a Dremel. What I'm saying is that the RIA .45 and 9mm frames are essentially identical, and they're close to WW2 GI guns.

 

[drband]

Yes they are, they had a couple redhawk 454's for dirt cheap, on my wish list for years but I carry rifles when I am out in the bush, not much of a pistol person anymore aside from target and small game hunting.

It's the doublestack, I will give MecGar a try. Unfortunately ammosupply only would ship UPS when checking out and to Alaska it was $$$, so I ordered some 46gr sp and 35gr vmax to try from midway.

Check out gregcotellc.com for the 38super DS mags
http://gregcotellc.com/cart/para-or...d-38-super-or-9mm-blued-mgp183817b-p-605.html

 

[Olympus]

Definitely do plenty of research on reloading the 22TCM. There's no standardized load data since it's still technically a "wildcat" cartridge, so you're going to be using data from other people. Take it with a grain of salt.

 

[drband]

There is data out there from Fred Craig, cartridge developer. It’s minimal, but is a safe starting point.
22TCM.net is a good resource, as are other sites. Look for Fred Craig’s info. Google is your friend.

 

[Dudedog]

9mm 1911 magazines can be finicky. The brownells brand mags have been good for me.

I have had good results with Brownells 10 rnd 9mm 1911 mags as well in my Springfield 9mm 1911.
9mm 1911s are fun.

Quite happy with my Citadel in .45, good value for the money.

 

[Walkalong]

These "Zenith" mags go on sale for $15 sometimes. Appear to be made by Metalform and also look identical to the Brownell mags. I have a Metalform and two Brownells and they work great.

9mm 1911s are fun.

Sure are.

 

[JONWILL]

RIA has earned a good reputation. Many people have them and are happy with the quality. If you bought one for 30 percent off you got a heck of a deal. I have a Citadel, also made by Armscor, 1911 in 9mm which is almost exactly the same as the RIA and am very pleased with the quality. I only paid 329 when Bud's had them for that price but they are worth the 500+ they are getting now for them. It may be low cost but the quality is fine. Even the trigger on my gun is pretty decent for a stock trigger. Do some research and you will find you got a good deal for a good gun. You shouldn't need to replace anything until you have put many thousands of rounds through then springs may need replacing.

I got the same deal. It is a very nice gun for that price. It and the Rock Island are both made in the Philippines. Not sure there is much difference between the two other than the name stamped on the side.

My Rock Island is a 10mm. Got locally New in Box for under $400. Mine shoots great and has a fully supported barrel.

 

[mljdeckard]

I bought the double-stack 9mm/tcm combo, and I love it now, but it took help from guys like drband and my local smith to get it running. (I replaced the factory extractor with a Wilson Combat Bullet Proof extractor.) I don't really hold this against RIA, because I know that any 1911 can need extractor work.

The TCM is fun to shoot, but I am held back by the price of factory ammo. I am going to bulk up on brass, and probably use Hornady 35 gr bullets to reload. You can make them from 5.56 brass, but it's a process that requires annealing, which pushes it past the 'this is still fun' line for me.