Rock Island Armory 1911

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I had an RIA that I ran about 1800 rds through. Ran great after about a 200rd break in. No malfunctions after that and accurate enough for USPSA.
 
RIA 's are a great value for the money. I own five of them (GI, Tactical, Match, Compact, and Mid-sized). I don't own a hi-cap version (never saw a need for a hi-cap 1911). All of my Rocks are great shooters. I had a problem with my Mid-sized 4" Rock Island a while back (broken reverse plug), but their customer service took care of it within a week at no cost to me. They have great CS. Good luck with yours!
 
I just finshed repairing a friends Charles Daly, and it was a piece of junk. The trigger, sear, firing pin, and hammer all needed replacement with quality parts.
The frame was very poorly fitted to the slide and when I went to correct the fit by closing the rails on the slide the metal was like putty. Once again, you get what you pay for.
 
I have 3 RIAs...2 GI and one compact. Have about 3500 rounds though all three total. No hiccups, no FTF, FTE, or any other issues. pretty good for out of the box non-American made firearms, I would say. Not to mention their customer service is A+.
 
I should also note that I once owned a Para Warthog (sub compact double stack) that was absolute trash. Fit of the parts wasn't all that great, it was EXTREMELY unreliable, and wasn't very accurate (in my hands). Horrible experience for a gun so expensive

I will never own another 1911 that isn't a 5" single stack model because of that (and two other unreliable sub compact 1911s)
 
I owned an alloy Para-P13, I carried it for a year or so, went back to my Glock. The Para never had any problems from day 1. I kept 13+1 in it at all times and it fired everything I ran through it, accurate, and a generally nice gun. It was very lightweight for such a Hi-cap weapon. I had 6 mags for it and none ever gave me a problem. This gun was traded after 10 years of sitting in the safe, as I found smaller Glocks to be better for my needs.
The RI tactical is a great gun for the money, I just had a Duracoated version in my hands, "my gunstore", and the owner is a competive shooter who carries a 45 from the S&W performance shop, other than the grips, I would carry one without hesitation.
He also agrees that he wants one now for himself, so I don't see any problem with the pistols other than a possible mag upgrade.
 
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Hey guys, thanks for all of the feedback. I really appreciate it. If any other Para/RIA hi-cap owners would like to leave a comment, you are more than welcome. Here's the RIA that I am going to buy:

http://centerfiresystems.com/AC-RI1911-HICAP-TT.aspx

I am also strongly considering making another purchase on this one:

http://centerfiresystems.com/AC-RI1911TAC-NP.aspx

... but I am a bit apprehensive about the Nickel. From reading and talking to people, nickel finished pistols sound like a massive pain in the ass. Are they really *that* bad?



-
 
... last call for Rock Island Armory High-Capacity owners. If you own one, please post your thoughts.
 
I have 3 RIA's - one 38 super in nickel, one .45 hi-cap matte that I believe is 1911A2, and one .45 1911A1 Commander length. All have been fun range guns.

The 38 super had FTF's during the first 300 rounds but now seems to be broken in. It is deadly accurate. The hi-cap that is of interest to you is not broken in yet but has been accurate and reliable after about 200 rounds. The Commander I rarely use since I have a bunch of other 1911's.

To the OP, I say go for it. I've even considered using the RIA hi-cap as a home defense gun or car gun but I will not likely carry an RIA. The Dan Wesson is hard to replace from that position.
 
Docnyt, thanks for the reply. I really appreciate it. The RIA hi-cap will be exactly what you suggested - a car and home defense pistol. As for carry, I really don't carry. I am a RN and don't really need it for the job.... I hope. For the most part, I only go to work, the gym, and grocery shopping. If I were to carry (I do have a CC license), it would probably be when walking through the woods and I am not really concerned with weight or concealability when doing that. Nonetheless, if I ever decide that I do need to carry concealed, I'll be a standard 1911 (something I have yet to purchase). They are surprisingly slim when compared to nearly all other auto-loading pistols and that's why I'd go with a 1911 for CC.
 
i own 3 rocks a gi a 4in and a tac all are great shooters as for a hi cap go to 1911 forum and look for automag he has 3or 4 of them and from what he says they are good pistols.
I trust his knowledge i think last count he owns well over 100+ 1911s and is a collector as well i hope this helps
 
Despite the "we love philippino junk, and hate America"sentimant on this forum, the RIs are pure junk, lousy metallugy, lousy fit and finish, terrible triggers, bad hammers, etc. I have had the displeasure of trying to make decent guns out of several (for my friends) and I invariably have to replace: hammer, sear, trigger, disconnector, and safety. For what they paid to salvage their Philappino junk they could have bought a good pistol to start with.:fire:
 
aminyard said:
Despite the "we love philippino junk, and hate America"sentimant on this forum, the RIs are pure junk, lousy metallugy, lousy fit and finish, terrible triggers, bad hammers, etc. I have had the displeasure of trying to make decent guns out of several (for my friends) and I invariably have to replace: hammer, sear, trigger, disconnector, and safety. For what they paid to salvage their Philappino junk they could have bought a good pistol to start with.:fire:
Click to expand...
Aminyard, I really appreciate your continual passion within this thread. It's great to have your unbiased and honest opinion. I don't think anyone said they hated Americans... even though you utilized quotes. On the contrary, If I were forced to guess the person in this thread that hated a particular country/race, I would have to say that it is you who sounds like you hate Filipinos. Of course I joke, but it is meant to bring out the stupidity of your point. Despite your eloquent RIA hatred, I am looking forward to getting my 1911.

Nonetheless, I have been talking to countless others about their RIAs (on top of perusing 20+ forums and reading hundreds of threads regarding RIA 1911s) and have found a scant amount of dissatisfied customers. Furthermore, I have called 30+ online dealers (centerfire, jgsales, etc) and they all have said that they rarely receive complaints about RIAs. As I stated before, I am shocked (in a good way) at the ratio of satisfied/dissatisfied RIA owners.

Thanks all for your input, guys.
 
another +1 to rock island 1911s, never had a single problem with my GI model and the thing eats everything i feeds it

do a comparison, there are FAR more complaints on non-functional American made Kimbers than there are of the Rock Islands........hmm
 
I can speak from experience. In regards to 1911's, I own 5 Kimbers, 2 Colts, a Coonan 357mag, Ruger, Desert Eagle, Para USA, Charles Daly, and my least expensive 1911 is my basic RIA. I bought the Rock Island to do the majority of my shooting to save the wear and tear on my other 1911's. And I'm REALLY impressed. After a whole lot of shooting with it, mostly with cheap Winchester White Box specials from Walmart, it has been a champ! Does it surpass my other 1911's in terms of performance? No. Does it perform as well as my other 1911's? Absolutely. Don't get me wrong, it's not a Kimber or a Colt, but if you want an inexpensive 1911 that reliably gets the job done go with the RIA 1911. I've been pleasantly surprised with its solid handling and performance. I didn't expect to get this type of quality based on the price I paid.
 
I've got both the single stack and high-cap models of RIA's 1911, and haven't had a single burp from either. Almost any mil spec will run flawlessly if you use the ammo that it's designed for... 230 Gr ball. When you start feeding them "other stuff", you start changing feed angles, etc. and you get jams. My RIA's are practically boring to shoot they run so well... and I've never seen anybody shot with a 230 grain bullet complain that it wasn't strong enough to stop them.. Oh, I know... the "reloaders" and "hot ammo" crowd will instantly disagree, but like any other machine, if you use what it's designed for, it will work. When you change the formula, you get different results. Both of mine have been running smoothe for over 5 years with no problems... so something's working...

WT
 
I spent considerable tome in the Philippines as a US Navy repair coordinater. I have personal experience with the standards of metallurgy and manufacturing in use there. The things that they manufacture are pure junk. I once had to outsource a pump shaft, It took what was considered the best machine shop in the country three tries just to get a shaft that would fit in the pump casing!! The shop could not understand why I kept rejecting their work, after all, they "looked like" pump shafts. That is only one example of my experience with Philippino "engineering".

Good luck and BUY AMERICAN!
 
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