Rock Island Armory 1911...any good??

Status
Not open for further replies.

CarbineKid

Member
Joined
Jun 21, 2003
Messages
173
Im in the market for a 1911. I really want a bare bones classic 1911. It will be used as a base gun, that I may or may not upgrade later(first 1911). I already know about the Springfield GI series, and Im just considering the other options out there(plus the RIA is less$). SO does anyone own, or have any info on RIA.
Thanks
 
Yes. Go to www.forums.1911forum.com. All the way at the bottom is the "Other 1911's" forum. Check that out. MANY positive threads on this pistol. I have one and is it very accurate. There is even a member "blackdragon" that is an employee for RIA. He is also a huge help in any questions you may have. V.
 
There's a few threads here at THR on these guns, but the bottom line is YES, they are decent guns.

Certainly not Kimber quality, but if you want an entry level 1911 to see how you like it, it's a good choice.

Mine had a few failure to feeds in the first 100 rounds but has gotten near perfect since. The factory magazine is junk; I replaced mine with a Chip McCormick (thanks to a gun loving brother - Merry Christmas to me!)


Now prepare yourself for the deluge of "But you can get a Springfield for like $100 more!" attacks. :neener:
 
Don't own one, but...

My carry gun is a Charles Daly, also made by Armscor. Several years old, several thousand rounds, not one single failure of any kind. Not a tackdriver, but good enough to hit a torso sized target at 25 yards.
 
Yes they're quite good and I don't regret spending $320 on mine. You will probably want to make improvements eventually. The stock GI hammer setup gives a lot of people hammer bite and the smooth wood grips are nothing to write home about. But those are a GI problems not a RIA problems.
 
Mine shoots surprisingly well and is very reliable.....

RIA_1911A1.jpg

I've added a Wilson Combat drop-in grip safety, hammer, and Hogue grips on it.....and painted the GI sights.
 
RIA

Recently I had the opportunity to look at a pair of new RIAs that a member and his wife bought for range use. Hers had a minor failure to go to battery issue that was corrected in about 20 minutes, and they report that all is well with both guns rockin' and rollin' as intended, along with decent accuracy that won't win any bullseye matches, but is fully up to informal target practice and the ritual Sunday Afternoon Ringing of the Steel.

The guns are made up almost entirely from cast (not MIM) parts, including the frames and slides, so they probably won't be as durable under long-term hard use as machined steel...but the castings appeared to be good quality with no flash on the small parts...smooth and nicely finished...and only a hint of flash here and there on the frames...mostly on the underside of the grip safety tangs.

Compared to the old Thompson Auto Ordnance 1911s of the early 80s, the
RIAs are much better as to function, fit and finish...and not a bad deal for the money if somebody is looking for an entry-level 1911 clone. Of course,
as with anything else that is mass-produced, problems are bound to crop up on occasion...and these two pistols can't be taken as assurance of being representative of the line...but my impression was favorable, with all applicable caveats in force. I may even pick one up at some point to wring out just to see what they're made of...and to save some wear and tear on my Colt beaters that are gettin' a bit long in the tooth. Of course...If anybody has one that they'd like to donate for a torture test in the name of research, I'm happy to oblige.:cool:
 
Spot77 said:
There's a few threads here at THR on these guns, but the bottom line is YES, they are decent guns.

Certainly not Kimber quality, but if you want an entry level 1911 to see how you like it, it's a good choice.

Mine had a few failure to feeds in the first 100 rounds but has gotten near perfect since. The factory magazine is junk; I replaced mine with a Chip McCormick (thanks to a gun loving brother - Merry Christmas to me!)


Now prepare yourself for the deluge of "But you can get a Springfield for like $100 more!" attacks. :neener:

Mine came with a Novak mag that is great. I even ordered 3 more navaks for it. 500 rounds and not one malfunction. Can't say that for the Kimber or even the Delta Elite.
 
I bought a RIA compact that I had very few problems out of. Mostly just break-in stuff. If has been 100% reliable for the last 450-500 rounds. I have added some extras like a BT safety in SS and to round out a 2 tone look a SS slide stop, thumb safety, and hammer. Internally I swapped out the disconnect and the sear. Now the trigger is so crisp and, well, perfect.

Now I'm thinking of refinishing the slide and frame in Dura Coat.
 
Used three of them so far--best deal for the money I know of.

I don't have one yet (I'm a DA sort of guy and have an 8045), but will definitely be acquiring one to fill my 1911 "need".
 
Hey all,

I've got one and have about 2500 rds thru it. Not the first sign of problems. Accruacy is better than my Springer GI. Will get another one next gun show that's in town.
 
I've got about 5300 rounds on mine. The link broke at about 3500 rounds, use the search I posted photos. No problems since replacing the link with a $5 Wilson. I've been carefully inspecting it after every outing and see virtually no wear since taking the photos at 3500 rounds.

IMHO great guns for the money, but if you plan on changing things from GI config, take a look at the Armscor (makers of RIA and Charles Daly) "Enhanced" 45 where for about $50 more you get Springfield "loaded" creature comforts. Again use the search, I posted a thread with photos when I first got it.

--wally.
 
Mine came with a Novak mag that is great. I even ordered 3 more navaks for it. 500 rounds and not one malfunction. Can't say that for the Kimber or even the Delta Elite.

Sweet....I wasn't so lucky. Maybe mine is older/newer and they changed mags at some point?

I may give the old mag a try again now that the gun has some mileage on it.

The factory mag spring feels really weak though, and that's what I attributed a lot of my early troubles to, although possibly incorrectly.


Oh well, I needed a spare mag anyway.
 
Spot77 said:
Certainly not Kimber quality, but if you want an entry level 1911 to see how you like it, it's a good choice.

Mine had a few failure to feeds in the first 100 rounds but has gotten near perfect since.

Now prepare yourself for the deluge of "But you can get a Springfield for like $100 more!" attacks. :neener:

Needing 200-300 rounds to make your new Kimber reliable would not be unusual.

A Springer GI may be only $100 more but does any gun come with uglier grips? :neener:

--wally.
 
wally said:
A Springer GI may be only $100 more but does any gun come with uglier grips? :neener:

--wally.

Which ones, the Springer "US" grips, or the plane-jane smooth RIA wood grips?

I kind of like the Springer grips. But no one would accuse me of having "sophisticated tastes."

I fell for the "only $100 bucks more for a springer" ($75 to be exact), but couldn't be happier with it. So far no failures to feed, eject, fire, or otherwise not work properly. The factory magazine works fine (a few of the cheapo mags I picked up at the show were complete junk... wouldn't even advance a round when the previous was removed. I had to shake them to get the rounds back out), and it eats everything I've fed it. (Lead, FMJ, hollowpoints, SWC)

I know you didn't ask about the Springfield ones, but it's somewhat related: I considered the two, bought the springer, and love it. I imagine I'd be saying something similar had I picked the RIA, I just would have had a few more boxes of ammo through it already, or another holster/grips/whatever.
 
Slight update:

After putting another 75 rounds through it a few nights ago all feeding problems seemed to have gone away (this is great news since I haven't cleaned the gun yet since I bought it).

The factory mag worked 100%, EXCEPT that it was a little slow to feed the first round in the mag. The first round would hang for a split second before allowing the slide to completely move forward.

Seemed to happen after the first fifty or so rounds.

So maybe I was a little too critical of the factory mag at first. I checked - it is a Novak mag.
 
I bought the full size and am delighted with it. I was amazed at the accuracy and the crisp trigger. I can stand back from the dirt berm and whack clay pigeons from 45 ft. with one shot. The tiny GI sights take a couple of mags to adjust to, but after that you find they force you to really concentrate on the sight picture, with wonderful results.

I have fired a friend's Gold Cup and honestly I believe the RIA's accuracy is just as good and, for me, the RIA trigger is better.

I felt like I was taking a chance, being it only cost $320, but now I'm quite pleased. I had it refinished to give it the dark gray WW II look.

So, I would highly recommend the Rock Island Armory line of pistols.
 
I love my Rock
1911_005_908.jpg

image_00033_113.jpg
 
Frenchy said:
Here's mine sporting original "Coltwood" USGI grip panels.

RIA1911A1003.png
Thats how I have mine set up too and I put the original RIA grips on a Colt 1991a1 of all things.
 
I think the stock RIA grips are much nicer than the woodburned "GI" grips on the Springfield bottom of the line. But the grips are the place to save on manufacturing cost as no matter what you do, a significant fraction of your customers won't be happy with them.

--wally.
 
My RIA is on the far right, in the attached pic. I'm just over 1000 rounds, most of it Wolf. Shooting some of the dirtiest ammo on the market, I've had it function flawlessly even with 2-300 rounds before cleaning. The only thing I've done with mine was to swap the wood grips for a used set of cheap rubber ones.

55258636.jpg
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top