Rock Island 1911 45 acp very low price at RK (any owners here ?)

[WebSnyper]

OP, I had one awhile back, shot well, really accurate, but too heavy for my EDC, but I'd have another if the price was right.. ,Churchmouse, what would you recommend instead of the RIA as a starter 1911? The price is the main reason for the RIA's, being $500 or less, what can you get in a 1911,for around that? ( sorry to thread jack)

Not a 1911 guy myself, so take it for what it's worth, but there are times when the choice is between throwing $$ into something that won't be up to par or spending more and getting something that will be. I'd rather be $750 for example into something that is fit for the task than take a loss of $500 on something that is not. Now that definition of up to par, depends on your usage. Personally if I were looking for a 45 ACP to put in the night stand and serve that role (which is what the OP stated), and I only had $500 to do it, I'd be looking at something besides a 1911. (You can get into other make and models of firearms for $500 in 45 ACP that will definitely feed anything you want, go bang every time, etc. That's not easily said of a 1911.)

That said, if you just want to dabble in the 1911 pond for a range gun and are ok with getting something that may need some work, then the RIA may be fine, though I think I'd still evaluate if I'd rather put a little extra money into it and get the Ruger (as CM mentioned) or something else a bit up the food chain.

 

[Michigan Slim]

I won one at a Cowboy Action Shoot in Kentucky a couple years ago. The very first shot out of it hit a beaver in the back of the head at about 30 yards. I gave it to my daughter for her to try Wild Bunch shooting. It will eat any ammo we put through it and has never jammed. Several thousand rounds of handloads. The grips are ugly but it's a shooter!

 

[johny5]

I won one at a Cowboy Action Shoot in Kentucky a couple years ago. The very first shot out of it hit a beaver in the back of the head at about 30 yards. I gave it to my daughter for her to try Wild Bunch shooting. It will eat any ammo we put through it and has never jammed. Several thousand rounds of handloads. The grips are ugly but it's a shooter!

Yup! There appear to be two dominant schools of thought about RIA 1911's - those who don't like them but have never owned them and those who have owned them and really like them. They are great sidearms.

 

[bgcatty]

Save the money buy something better.RIA 1911’s are trash. Someone will come along and tell you different because theirs has had fifty flawless rounds over the last few years, but as in most things in life, you get what you pay for.

Save some more and get something nice. Remember, you get what you pay for. Buy once and cry once! There are a lot better 1911s out there. Keep looking and saving. Peace. Out.

 

[wcd]

Not sure its a 1911 but my Baby Rock has been the Biggest .....ever dont even trust it not to malfunction at the range, fmj,jhp regardless of brand and type of ammo.

 

[johny5]

Not sure its a 1911 but my Baby Rock has been the Biggest .....ever dont even trust it not to malfunction at the range, fmj,jhp regardless of brand and type of ammo.

Lemme know when you want to sell...

 

[rkwhyte2]

Not sure its a 1911 but my Baby Rock has been the Biggest .....ever dont even trust it not to malfunction at the range, fmj,jhp regardless of brand and type of ammo.

Lemme know when you want to sell...

Well he is in TN so that might be a problem.

 

[churchmouse]

Well he is in TN so that might be a problem.

 

[mrm]

Mine runs fine, several shooters on it with zero issues.

 

[AGarbers]

No jack. Good question.
It will be hard to beat that price. That is the main draw to these pieces.
SR1911 from Ruger is a solid piece but the money is not the same either.

The Ruger SR1911 is very popular in the SASS Wild Bunch matches because they are reasonably priced and function well. Us SASS guys put thousands of round through our guns a year so when fellow users recommend one, I listen.

 

[rhino]

The biggest problem with RIA 1911s is inconsistency. You won't find two that are alike and all have had a lot of hand fitting of sometimes marginal parts and components to make them work before they leave the factory.

If you know you're never going to do have any work done to it (including repairs, which you can't anticipate), I think they are fine if you get one that works. I've seen many in matches and training that seemed to work fine and I've seen some that may have a slide and frame you could salvage if you wanted to build a functional weapon and didn't mind the headaches of inconsistent dimensions.

My personal experience is with two 9mm RIA guns, which admittedly are going to trickier to make work than a .45ACP or a .38 super. My first I bought dirt cheap as a backup to my USPSA single stack (an early Springfield Armory Loaded 9mm) and it worked fine for over 500 rounds (that more than 10 boxes of 115gr fmj and documented in an Excel file at the time for the people who doubt claims of round counts). I found another for even less and snagged it because I was happy with the first. The second would not function properly from the start, and then the first started having similar issues and eventually because as unreliable as its younger brother. I didn't realize the magnitude of the issues until I took them to a guy to fix (who normally won't work on them, but he did me a one-time favor). After a lot of work, they are good shooters and reliable, but it wasn't worth the hassle, time, or money to rehabilitate. I wouldn't do it again if given the choice.

 

[churchmouse]

The biggest problem with RIA 1911s is inconsistency. You won't find two that are alike and all have had a lot of hand fitting of sometimes marginal parts and components to make them work before they leave the factory.

If you know you're never going to do have any work done to it (including repairs, which you can't anticipate), I think they are fine if you get one that works. I've seen many in matches and training that seemed to work fine and I've seen some that may have a slide and frame you could salvage if you wanted to build a functional weapon and didn't mind the headaches of inconsistent dimensions.

My personal experience is with two 9mm RIA guns, which admittedly are going to trickier to make work than a .45ACP or a .38 super. My first I bought dirt cheap as a backup to my USPSA single stack (an early Springfield Armory Loaded 9mm) and it worked fine for over 500 rounds (that more than 10 boxes of 115gr fmj and documented in an Excel file at the time for the people who doubt claims of round counts). I found another for even less and snagged it because I was happy with the first. The second would not function properly from the start, and then the first started having similar issues and eventually because as unreliable as its younger brother. I didn't realize the magnitude of the issues until I took them to a guy to fix (who normally won't work on them, but he did me a one-time favor). After a lot of work, they are good shooters and reliable, but it wasn't worth the hassle, time, or money to rehabilitate. I wouldn't do it again if given the choice.

My personal experiences are similar. Inconstancy's through out the gun. Spec is all over the place on them. As you said they do a lot of mix and match to get them working and out the door. If you get a good one it will run for you. And as I stated the newer ones I have seen are a step above what we used to see.

I have some friends that are....well.....frugal at best. They and others wanted into the 1911 but did not want to pend a chunk to do it. I understand that. Mamma would beat knots in heads.....
They bought RIA's and were pleased with them as you were.....for a while. Then the problems started. One by one I got the guns and listened to the crying and sobbing. There was a time when I had several packages of "Brand" new "Unfired" innards from the springers I was buying and modifying before I even shot them. These parts found there way into several of the RIA's. Thing is it took some work to make them fit. Again, spec. Once done these pieces are still banging away reliably. I mean barrels, ignition controls you name it.

The last one I saw was an Ingo member and his was fit up pretty well as to slide/frame etc. I still changed out the ignition controls for Springer pieces. But as to accuracy etc it was impressive.

For these reasons I avoid them.

If you have one and you like it then enjoy it.

 

[DoggyDaddy]

I had an RIA "Tactical" (I think). Sent it back to Armscor (I think) because it wouldn't feed hollowpoints. After that, it worked just fine. Wound up trading it for another gun, (a Llama in 9mm Largo - so take that for what it's worth. ). Later found a used Springfield Loaded which is currently my only 1911. Had to do a little tweaking on it to get it to run properly, but it's been fine ever since. And also FWIW, the used Springfield was at about the same price point as the brand new RIA. I will say I was impressed with RIA's customer service.

 

[wcd]

Lemme know when you want to sell...

Two issues first already mentioned I live in Middle Tennessee, 2nd I would not sell it because it is Such a pos, been sent back to them 3 times now. So yeah after failure right out of the box, I could not sell it in good faith.

 

[johny5]

Two issues first already mentioned I live in Middle Tennessee, 2nd I would not sell it because it is Such a pos, been sent back to them 3 times now. So yeah after failure right out of the box, I could not sell it in good faith.

Tennessee is no issue - FFL

As to your conscience, I respect that. Thanks for responding.

 

[88E30M50]

Yup! There appear to be two dominant schools of thought about RIA 1911's - those who don't like them but have never owned them and those who have owned them and really like them. They are great sidearms.

I’m in the unnamed category of having owned one, never having had an issue with it but not really liking it that much. Mine was a compact and it ran well even with factory ACT mags. The only issues I ever had were when I went over the recommended spring change interval which I don’t count against the gun.

But, the sights sucked (they are much better on current RIAs) and the fit and finish where not that nice. It was not overly accurate and just didn’t feel that good to me.

Some 1911s feel fantastic and others are just meh! My Ed Brown did not really grab me either but my DW CCO feels really good. As I had mentioned up thread, if you just were looking to add a 1911 to the collection and would take it out a couple of times a year, an RIA is not too bad a way into one. But, if you want something that will make you fall in love with the platform, there might be better options.

One last point I’d like to make is that the material that a 1911 is built with matters. Not just in longevity but in feel. A cast 1911 feels dead to me when I shoot one where as a forged 1911 seems to dance when shooting. An aluminum one feels almost like a cast one but you have the different balance that changes it up. Stainless is different too. The feel of a cast steel 1911 just comes up a bit short for me though. It’s like tuning forks in some ways maybe.

 

[88E30M50]

The biggest problem with RIA 1911s is inconsistency. You won't find two that are alike and all have had a lot of hand fitting of sometimes marginal parts and components to make them work before they leave the factory.

If you know you're never going to do have any work done to it (including repairs, which you can't anticipate), I think they are fine if you get one that works. I've seen many in matches and training that seemed to work fine and I've seen some that may have a slide and frame you could salvage if you wanted to build a functional weapon and didn't mind the headaches of inconsistent dimensions.

My personal experience is with two 9mm RIA guns, which admittedly are going to trickier to make work than a .45ACP or a .38 super. My first I bought dirt cheap as a backup to my USPSA single stack (an early Springfield Armory Loaded 9mm) and it worked fine for over 500 rounds (that more than 10 boxes of 115gr fmj and documented in an Excel file at the time for the people who doubt claims of round counts). I found another for even less and snagged it because I was happy with the first. The second would not function properly from the start, and then the first started having similar issues and eventually because as unreliable as its younger brother. I didn't realize the magnitude of the issues until I took them to a guy to fix (who normally won't work on them, but he did me a one-time favor). After a lot of work, they are good shooters and reliable, but it wasn't worth the hassle, time, or money to rehabilitate. I wouldn't do it again if given the choice.

Some companies do QA by spending a lot of money to test, scrap marginal parts and keep tooling fresh to make sure things are right before a gun leaves the factory. Other companies spend less to make sure they are right but stand behind the guns with a good warranty. I kind of like buying guns that are done right from the start but can’t say for sure that it’s the only way to skin that cat.

An RIA is probably going to work for you and if it does not, they generally have a good reputation for making it right. Sadly, it sounds like they dropped the ball on the Baby Rock mentioned above.

 

[Trapper Jim]

Ed Brown or Springfield Armory. If you cannot afford one of these, you cannot afford what it will take to get/keep a cheap import running.

 

[flightsimmer]

There is always a chance of getting a lemon from any manufacturer but I bought a RIA, GI model for $395 because I needed a frame but after shooting it I kept it for my primary all around use and not one bit sorry I did.

I have many other fine quality handguns but this is the one I like and use and no fear of a BBQ gun getting scratched.
It's a tool and a good one at that.

 

[EGParatrooper]

I have one that I have run at least 3,500 rounds thru it without any problems (mostly reloads). I keep it clean, and lightly lubricated with Break-Free CLP.