Rock Island Armory 1911's

[gunrunner32]

Well I've had plenty of time over the last 6 months where I have been out of the gun buying market. I've still for a few more months to go before I get back into it so I've been on the prowl for opinions from fellow TGOers who have the firearms that I'm interested in. After reading reviews and specs on hundreds of guns I think I have found the one firearm that I want. I'm looking for a 1911 with a full length dust cover rail. So far I have only been able to find these on 3 pistols; the Springfield 1911-A1 Loaded Operator ($800-1200), the Springfield Operator TRP ($1500) and the Rock Island Armory Tactical 1911-A1 ($575-650). I've gotten myself in trouble with my wife on past gun purchases, so I've been looking to save myself the headache and getting the Rock Island Armory Tactical 1911-A1. I have a friend with a Springfield 1911-A1 Loaded Operator, if I can get him to let go of it for less than a grand I'll end up with that one. Since that's not likely to happen I'll be somewhere around $575-650 on the RIA. Since I can't go put one in my hands I'm working off of others thoughts.

How is the fit of the parts on a RIA 1911? How is the trigger pull? How much "smithing" would have to be done to make it a nice running pistol? How's the durability? Should I need it how's the customer service? How does the RIA 1911's react to "drop in" parts?

I've been reading a few pistol smithing books over the last few months so the majority of the work needed I will be doing myself. I like buying tools and for some reason my wife doesn't complain as much about that. Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Guest bkelm18]

Nevermind. Found one. Didn't know they made one with a rail.

http://www.cheaperthandirt.com/2ARM51484FC-1.html

Edited December 28, 2011 by bkelm18

[gunrunner32]

Only thing is, I don't care for CTD and I would rather buy from a local shop around Nashville than order it from somewhere online. I've got friends at numerous shops that I like to give my business to, when it comes to buying new guns. Used or antique guns I'll order online, but online orders are few and far between for me.

[lowery100]

The triggers on the Rock Island's are about the same as most out of the box budget 1911's heavy and gritty. You can get a good pre prepped set of hammer sear disconector that will drop right in a pistol assuming your pins are in the proper place from Cylinder&Slide1911 Hammer Sets Among a few others. I'v used a couple of the pre prepped kits and turned out some great trigger pulls. If you want to install a new trigger shoe, that is easy also. They just need to be shortened a bit on top and bottom with a file. All pretty easy stuff.

[Westwindmike]

If you want to buy locally in Nashville, see Phil at Bellshire Hardware on Dickerson Rd. He is a stocking RIA dealer and has some of the best prices around. I bought my RIA Compact Tactical there.

[rcrespo106]

I really would like to buy local but prices online are usually much better and that damn TN sales tax is a killer.

[Guest bkelm18]

I really would like to buy local but prices online are usually much better and that damn TN sales tax is a killer.

Legally speaking you're still required to pay tax on goods bought online.

[Murgatroy]

Damn, now I have a severe urge to buy an RIA...

[gunrunner32]

I figured you can't really beat the price and it's a little tough to find the Springfield I'm looking for. After all the extra parts that would get replaced: barrel, bushing, hammer, mainspring housing, trigger, sear, disconnector, sights, oprod and spring and grip safety I'll be back around a grand or so...but I promised that would happen "over time"...so about a month for me once I get it since I'm impatient.

I figured the trigger would be a little gritty and it would need a little refinement. This will end up being my "project" pistol to learn from with all that I've been reading. I'll sneak the Springfield in later, my wife's planning a trip to England next Christmas time frame for school so I'll be free to do what I want until she gets home and starts yelling.

She just found my stash of AR parts that I've got in the garage and attic. She did some cleaning and talk about a rough phone call. Some of those items will be posted once she's back from the holiday travels. Apparently even with 3 AR's having some extra rail systems laying around is a bad thing to her.

[Jonnin]

Those drop in triggers are over $100, some over 200. I fail to see how buying a cheap gun then replace the guts with pricy parts is helpful. Ria is a good product at a great price, I am not saying otherwise, but throw a lot of $$ in parts at a RIA and you still have a RIA --- and by the time you turn the gun into a pro shooter, you could have bought a more expensive gun and saved a lot of trouble. If ALL you want, and will ever want, is a decent trigger, it may be worth doing, but if you want to slowly upgrade the gun into a high end shooter, it may not be worth doing. A match barrel, bushing, and trigger job will end up costing more than the gun did new, but the resell value will probably never top $500.

[JPR1959]

1911 Tactical Operations

[Guest 6.8 AR]

Those drop in triggers are over $100, some over 200. I fail to see how buying a cheap gun then replace the guts with pricy parts is helpful. Ria is a good product at a great price, I am not saying otherwise, but throw a lot of $$ in parts at a RIA and you still have a RIA --- and by the time you turn the gun into a pro shooter, you could have bought a more expensive gun and saved a lot of trouble. If ALL you want, and will ever want, is a decent trigger, it may be worth doing, but if you want to slowly upgrade the gun into a high end shooter, it may not be worth doing. A match barrel, bushing, and trigger job will end up costing more than the gun did new, but the resell value will probably never top $500.

You can make a RIA a heck of a shooter! Yes, you will

still have a RIA. I'd rather buy an RIA any day of the

week and put what I want in it, than buy something

just because it says Kimber on the slide. Some folks

like to tinker. Other folks like to buy a finished gun.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[gunrunner32]

Well again as I said it's my learning curve gun. I'd like to start learning how to do more extensive work on them. I'm already a school trained armorer, I can pull them apart, put them back together, trouble shoot and fix various guns. I would like to start getting past the general stuff and get more into the weeds on them. Resale value on a gun doesn't matter to me. The vast majority of the guns I have will never be sold nor traded. As for putting money into a cheaper pistol, it's all part of the learning curve. I'd rather work on a cheaper gun that my wife will be comfortable with me getting than to spend the 1k+ on something that I can't learn on. It may be pointless to someone who doesn't have the desire to learn, I consider the knowledge I'll gain from it something that far surpasses the cost of learning.

Buying and getting guns to me isn't that big of a deal. I accumulated over 15 guns in 2011 alone, and I've got a pretty extensive collection of various firearms since I started really getting into them a few years ago. I've already got a few revolvers that will be "practice" guns as well as other semi-auto pistols that I've already done work to and "upgraded" to make them how I want them. With a cheaper one, it keeps my wife off my back and allows me to learn. For those who are fine with "out of the box" guns thats good, I have several. I still do everything that I can to figure out everything I can about any firearm I own. If something were to ever break or to malfunction I would like to know what parts were the cause of those failures and what I need to do to correct them. Knowledge is key to me, and to get it you have to practice and "tinker".

[gunrunner32]

I'm right there with you 6.8.

Anyways back to the topic of all this. What are the opinions of RIA owners. I've got the trigger is gritty, I half expected that. What are some other thoughts on the overall performance of RIA 1911s?

[Guest 6.8 AR]

The one I own is a hicap RIA. I also have a

Springfield hicap 1911. I never could tell a

dime's worth of difference between the two,

but the price was $150 apart from each other.

Both guns now have different internals and both are better shooters. I'd buy another RIA over the

Springer. The stock gun was fine.

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Garufa]

I have an RIA Compact Tactical and there is no grittiness in the trigger whatsoever. Matter of fact it is extremely nice. I'd even go so far as to say it's "crisp".

+1 for Bellshire Hardware. That's where I bought mine.

[MphsTiger1981]

I've had two of the full size RIA GI models and loved them. Both of them ate every type of ammo I fed them and were more accurate than I ever could be. I thought the triggers were fine for my purposes, but then again, I'm no 1911 aficionado. If I was going to drop a grand on one, as much as I like the RIAs, I'd probably go with a used Colt full size and maybe spend some money to get it professionally tuned. Just my $.02.

[Guest bkelm18]

For what it's worth, there was no difference in trigger or reliability between my RIA or my $1000 S&W 1911. Rocks are great guns for the money.

[zybysco]

I love my RIA compact. I played with several different 1911s at the gun store. The triggers all felt the same to me. I don't know what anyone means by the grittiness. None of the ones I tested had it. They had an old, used Colt that felt a little crisper. I paid 420 out the door. Only thing it is lacking is a nice blued finish. Nothing wrong with the parked, just not as nice as a good bluing.

[TnEngineer]

I was so impressed by my first one [ nickle plated full size] that I bought another one [9mm tactical]. Still breaking them in but as posted above, I do not find much difference in RIA trigger and my Springer Loaded. RIA is great for the money.

[gregintenn]

Nothing wrong with my RIA! It isn't quite as pretty as my Colt, but shoots just as well, if not a bit better. Mine has a pretty good trigger. It has yet to have a failure to feed. It is a fine handgun. No conplaints whatsoever.

[Guest dubaholic2]

my first 1911 was a RIA commander. bought it new for $375 at a gun show. cant say a bad word about it. never let me down.

[kesava]

Had two 1911's, Kimber and RIA. Sold the Kimber.

[R1100R]

I had a local smith clean my stock RIA trigger up for about $30. It is not rocket science to someone that knows their way around a 1911.

+2 for Phil at Bellshire. He has been a RIA stocking dealer before they became popular. Been on Gunbroker a long time as the go to man for RIA.

[Jonnin]

Sounds like a good plan, since you know what you are getting into. My thoughts were just so you do not spend $1200 in parts and work on a $500 gun and then realize you wanted a better slide/frame fit after all, or something. If you want to tinker and learn, this is an inexpensive way to do it.