WardenWolf
member
Well, I just got my new Rock Island Armory 1911 Tactical. I chose the matte nickel finish. I got to shoot it on Saturday, and here's my impressions:
(1) Fit and finish:
The fit and finish on this firearm are excellent. All parts fit tightly, and the exterior metal finish is smooth and clean. The black parts have such smooth finish and consistent color that they are all but indistinguishable from plastic, except by temperature. There is no rattle at all when the firearm is shaken.
(2) Build quality:
Overall, excellent build quality. Very well built, rock-solid construction. You can see some minor milling marks internally, but nothing rough. All-metal parts, EXCEPT the mainspring housing. I'm not entirely sure why this one individual part is plastic, but it is. The included magazine is a high quality ACT-MAG.
(3) Performance:
The gun ran flawlessly, with no jams of any kind, both with the included magazine and the magazines from my father's 1972 Colt Combat Commander. The gun shoots a little to the left, but the rear sight can be easily drifted to compensate. Accuracy is good. It's not as accurate as my father's modified Colt, but it's much better than the Colt was before I worked on it. The Colt was upgraded with a Wilson match-grade bushing and a Wilson full-length guide rod, which fixed the horrible accuracy that had plagued it. I plan to do the same with my new Rock Island gun.
Overall I think I got an excellent gun for the money. I paid $515 shipped for it. I plan on upgrading it and making it mine, and turning most of the blued parts into stainless. I already have a stainless Wilson V-Grip mainspring housing on order, along with 2 Colt magazines. I prefer the low-profile all-metal Colt magazines to the large plastic bases found on most other magazines. Given the initial build quality of this gun, in the end I should wind up with a very nice gun that equals much more expensive models out there.
(1) Fit and finish:
The fit and finish on this firearm are excellent. All parts fit tightly, and the exterior metal finish is smooth and clean. The black parts have such smooth finish and consistent color that they are all but indistinguishable from plastic, except by temperature. There is no rattle at all when the firearm is shaken.
(2) Build quality:
Overall, excellent build quality. Very well built, rock-solid construction. You can see some minor milling marks internally, but nothing rough. All-metal parts, EXCEPT the mainspring housing. I'm not entirely sure why this one individual part is plastic, but it is. The included magazine is a high quality ACT-MAG.
(3) Performance:
The gun ran flawlessly, with no jams of any kind, both with the included magazine and the magazines from my father's 1972 Colt Combat Commander. The gun shoots a little to the left, but the rear sight can be easily drifted to compensate. Accuracy is good. It's not as accurate as my father's modified Colt, but it's much better than the Colt was before I worked on it. The Colt was upgraded with a Wilson match-grade bushing and a Wilson full-length guide rod, which fixed the horrible accuracy that had plagued it. I plan to do the same with my new Rock Island gun.
Overall I think I got an excellent gun for the money. I paid $515 shipped for it. I plan on upgrading it and making it mine, and turning most of the blued parts into stainless. I already have a stainless Wilson V-Grip mainspring housing on order, along with 2 Colt magazines. I prefer the low-profile all-metal Colt magazines to the large plastic bases found on most other magazines. Given the initial build quality of this gun, in the end I should wind up with a very nice gun that equals much more expensive models out there.