Thinking of buying my first 1911

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Arizona_Mike

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Here are my priorities:
10mm
Double Stack (have really big hands Glock 20/21 (not SF) is just about right).
Long Slide
Extended Beaver Tail to keep my big hands out of the hammer.
Series 70 (or a very crisp Series 80 without creep)

Primary use would be open wilderness carry.

Mike

PS. I've not owned a 1911 but I've handled several at gun shops and I shot a Government Model long ago at a range, so I have some familiarity.
 
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Rock Island makes one that fits the bill mostly. It's not a long slide, but it is a 5".

I've owned and shot Rocks previously in 45acp and have always been confident in their reliability, and satisfied in their accuracy.

I'm on board if they made a long slide. As is, I may pick up one of the single stacks in 10mm either way
 
gotboostvr said:
Rock Island makes one that fits the bill mostly. It's not a long slide, but it is a 5".

I've owned and shot Rocks previously in 45acp and have always been confident in their reliability, and satisfied in their accuracy.

I'm on board if they made a long slide. As is, I may pick up one of the single stacks in 10mm either way
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I've never seen or handled an RIA but they seem to have a 6": http://armscor.com/firearms/pro-series/pro-match-ultra-6-hc-10mm/ (both single and double stacks listed).

I handled a Colt Delta Elite which I thought had a great trigger until I handled a S&W with an even better one. The Smith was single stack but it had a really meaty grip I liked. It was even more expensive than the Colt!

Do you think I would be happy with the trigger pull of a RIA? Reviews say they are the most reliable 1911s out there but is that due to the looser fit? Is the hardening of their slides enough for continued full power 10mm use? They are supposedly a little weak and on the .460 Rowland blacklists.

Mike
 
Arizona_Mike said:
I've never seen or handled an RIA but they seem to have a 6": http://armscor.com/firearms/pro-series/pro-match-ultra-6-hc-10mm/ (both single and double stacks listed).

I handled a Colt Delta Elite which I thought had a great trigger until I handled a S&W with an even better one. The Smith was single stack but it had a really meaty grip I liked. It was even more expensive than the Colt!

Do you think I would be happy with the trigger pull of a RIA? Reviews say they are the most reliable 1911s out there but is that due to the looser fit? Is the hardening of their slides enough for continued full power 10mm use? They are supposedly a little weak and on the .460 Rowland blacklists.

Mike
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I know they use a barrel with better brass support than a Delta Elite or Glock. I haven't heard any reports on frames cracking and I've been eyeballing them for awhile. Haven't seen many with super high round counts either though.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
Here are my priorities:
10mm
Double Stack (have really big hands Glock 20/21 (not SF) is just about right).
Long Slide
Extended Beaver Tail to keep my big hands out of the hammer.
Series 70 (or a very crisp Series 80 without creep)

Primary use would be open wilderness carry.

Mike

PS. I've not owned a 1911 but I've handled several at gun shops and I shot a Government Model long ago at a range, so I have some familiarity.
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You have an odd collection of wishes in the 1911 world. Long slide, double stack, 10mm, really limit your options.

STI is probably the best place to start. They are the best double stack 1911 makers, and I believe they have both long slide and 10mm models available.

Here is the STI Perfect 10 at Brazos Custom (note it is a discontinued model, so you better hop to it) http://www.brazoscustom.com/sti_guns/sti_perfect10.htm

Series 70 (or a very crisp Series 80 without creep)
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It is unlikely you'd be able to tell the difference between a Series 70 and a Series 80 gun without looking under the slide.
 
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Yes they are unusual request which is probably what had kept me from the platform until now.

Mike
 
I can't comment on the RIA 10 mil or double stack, but they do make a heckova gun. Most folks would follow that with "...for the price". I'm starting to believe that qualifier (for most folks, of course. Not everyone) isn't needed. Fantastic pistols.

Honesty, my Citadel is probably my most accurate gun and has given me 0 problems. I can't say the same for the old Springfield Loaded I had.

If I were in the market for a double stack 10 and didn't want to go polymer, I'd probably look really hard at the Rock.
 
The RIA is the best entry level 1911 pistols I own. I have a Citadel .38 Super that is accurate and dependable. It can handle the .357 level pressures no problems.
It is not going to be as refined as my Colt 1911 pistols. But it is a very fine economical choice. I have been shooting the RIA .22 TCM for 3 years. It is a dependable and accurate handgun.;)
 
If your looking for 1911 for the sake of having a 1911 that's great but another gun that suits your needs might be worth a look. The EAA Hunter is a 14+1 longslide 10mm that might work for you. Only thing it lacks is 1911ness.
 
JTQ said:
EAA also probably lacks customer service support (at least reputation). You pay your money, you take your chances.
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Maybe. I wouldn't know. I have 3 EAA pistols and haven't needed customer support.
 
What is this "looseness", issue? When using a 1911 pistol, I would be more concerned about one that is too tight. The 1911 by design was a dependable combat handgun. It could digest ammo even covered in dirt.
Don't confuse the original 1911, with the fitted paper target wad cutter firing competition pistols.:thumbup:
 
SA/DA FAN said:
If your looking for 1911 for the sake of having a 1911 that's great but another gun that suits your needs might be worth a look. The EAA Hunter is a 14+1 longslide 10mm that might work for you. Only thing it lacks is 1911ness.
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Interesting choice. Has much Browningness and CZness to make up for the lack of 1911ness. I think it is 15+1. Is that model SA only?

Mike
 
I doubt that you'll find a double stacked 1911 in 10mm which is a bit of an odd caliber anyway. That said, you may want to have a look at the which is going to be sans firing pin block (so a Series 70 type system) and is a long slide. They're spendy though in roughly the $2,000.00 mark. Another option is the Remington R1 10mm Hunter which comes in around $1,200.00.
 
Sorry to tell you this but choosing a particular brand of gun in the belief that one will have a better trigger than another just doesn't work. You must handle the gun before you buy it - like Forrest said "you don't never know what you're going to get". Mass produced guns will have great differences in the actions whether made by one manufacturer or 20 manufacturers because they're mass produced to meet production and sales goals. This however does not apply to companies building custom 1911s who actually FIT all of the parts into a frame instead of just dropping parts into a frame. And keep checking and fitting until it meets their standard. That is why you pay much more for a Wilson or a Baer or a Brown. When I worked for the NRA one day I was given 10 brand new Colt 1991 .45 pistols and told to set all of the triggers to 5 pounds "crisp". The trigger pulls from the factory were all over the map. One was not too bad but the rest were terrible - heavy and lots of creep. You don't never know what you're going to get.
 
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Maybe. I wouldn't know. I have 3 EAA pistols and haven't needed customer support.
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Count your blessings! I have half a dozen and never had a problem until the slide of my 10mm Witness cracked.

The CS is every bit as bad as everyone says. This model has interchangeable uppers, could I just send back my upper and have them send me a replacement? Nope, had to send in the entire pistol at my expense $60 down the toilet to fix a factory defect. They did turn it around fast (it was just an upper swap!), but that can't remove the sting of getting burned for $60 shipping a gun back for warranty repair.
 
wally said:
Count your blessings! I have half a dozen and never had a problem until the slide of my 10mm Witness cracked.

The CS is every bit as bad as everyone says. This model has interchangeable uppers, could I just send back my upper and have them send me a replacement? Nope, had to send in the entire pistol at my expense $60 down the toilet to fix a factory defect. They did turn it around fast (it was just an upper swap!), but that can't remove the sting of getting burned for $60 shipping a gun back for warranty repair.
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Sorry to hear that. I'm hoping that's one of the infamous earlier 10mm Witnesses. I had a minor problem with a different brand pistol that wanted me to ship it back on my dime but I got it from Bud's and they offered to pay the shipping. I ended up not taking them up on it because the problem was so minor. Other than that though looks like you didn't have as bad a time as the horror stories that I've seen elsewhere. I have a 10mm Witness and I have to admit that I'd have been pretty ticked too but I gotta think I would still consider that pistol a bargain even if it cost me an extra 60.
 
Dan Wesson makes a double-stack 1911 in 10mm. It's over $4,000, though, which is more money than I would pay for a single handgun.
 
Arizona_Mike said:
Here are my priorities:
10mm
Double Stack (have really big hands Glock 20/21 (not SF) is just about right).
Long Slide
Extended Beaver Tail to keep my big hands out of the hammer.
Series 70 (or a very crisp Series 80 without creep)

Primary use would be open wilderness carry.

Mike

PS. I've not owned a 1911 but I've handled several at gun shops and I shot a Government Model long ago at a range, so I have some familiarity.
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As stated here previously, the Remington R1A is an excellent entry level 1911. Mine is accurate and very dependable.
 
As stated here previously, the Remington R1A is an excellent entry level 1911. Mine is accurate and very dependable.
 
I bought a Rock Island 1911 government model in 45acp a few years back . I let a friend borrow it and
When he brought it back he said if you dropped the slide on an empty chamber the hammer would fall.
I sent it back to Ria and they replaced the sear and disconnect , polished the internals cause I told them it wouldn't reliably feed hollow points . They paid shipping and fixed it at no charge to me .
After that it fed anything I put in it .
It wasn't as refined as my Colt but performed just fine .
 
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