Bought me a RIA 4" 'Champion' today...

[mettle]

Bought at Bradis. Called ahead, they set it back and I was able to take time on the drive up!

I really like the pistol. The trigger breaks very clean, consistent and it also has RIA's always nice wooden grips on it.

Now a question for you 1911 guys out there...; would I be able to break this thing in some by loading the mags and hand cycling the thing until I get it to the range?

I have 500 rds. of Blazer coming, and with the weather I thought perhaps I could get a head start on working the action. Does this indeed work to some degree?

Also, will dry firing the pistol help with the trigger as well?

What aftermarket parts are a must for a 4" 1911?

If I could figure out how to get pics on this sight without posting from another website I would, sorry.

 

[mospeada]

Dry firing will help you more than the gun, so do it!

As for breaking it in, I'm sure it won't hurt, but I don't think cycling the slide by hand would come close to the kind of wear firing it will put on the firearm.

As for "must haves" on a 4" gun, they are pretty much the same as the 5" & 3" and they are very much a personal thing. Myself, the first thing I do when I get a RIA gun is take off the grips as I very much dislike the ones that come on them.

What "I" like is a beavertail grip safety, commander ring-style hammer (not enhanced) and a longer trigger. Better sights than the mil-spec types that come on the standard RIA are a plus also. I can live without the extended thumb safety.

One thing I've done with each RIA I've owned is shoot it for a few hundred rounds out of the box, fix the problems that come up and then shoot some more to see if any further problems develop. After 500 rounds or so, I've got a gun that works and I trust. I just can't seem to get an RIA to run 100% out of the box, but I'm patient.

 

[mettle]

Have you had any luck swapping the sights on the pistols? RIAs I mean? I'd love to put some 10-8s on it.

That's for starters.

 

[bwframe]

I use Photobucket for pics posting.

Don't cycle live ammo through it any more than is necessary to load, unload and shoot. You run the risk of bullet setback into the cases amongst other bad things.

Dry fire the **** out of it. Call every "shot," (just like Appleseed.) Rack the slide every dry fire. Concentrate on working your thumb safety properly. Throw in some mag empty changes on occasion. Metal on metal will smooth all things out for you, although I don't know that it replaces live rounds for "breaking in."

I wouldn't go crazy putting new stuff on until you put quite a few rounds down range. However, I'm very, very happy with the scate board grip tape on my front strap.

 

[HICKMAN]

ImageShack® - Image Hosting is easy for hosting pics too, no need to create an account

 

[NateIU10]

 

[mettle]

PICS!
Pictures by mettle-d - Photobucket


NOTE: called Elmore's in Greenwood and for $125 installed they can put in Trijicon's so I can have some quality sights on it as well!

 

[NateIU10]

I like!

I was toying with the idea of putting some night sights on my Taurus 1911, but I decided to save up for some on my G19 first.

 

[G McBride]

Congratulations on your new pistol. Looks good. I just picked up a short barrel .45 at Christmas from Substance-P. I like shooting the short barrel and they are very accurate. They are surprisingly loud though, so be sure to wear good hearing protection.