Rock Island Sights

[schmeky]

Thinking of a RIA in .38 Super, but I hate the mil-spec sights. Love the new high visibility sights on the newer Colt 1911's. Since the RIA is a 1911 clone, I assume good aftermarket sights would fit the RIA with no modifications to the slide, correct?

Is the front sight staked on the RIA?

 

[HM2PAC]

The RIA has good old-fashioned iron sights that we all hated so much. They are integral to the slide and would have to be machined out in order to have new sights put in.

I believe the tactical version does come with low-profile Novak's, obviously reflected in the price.

 

[wally]

The RIA has good old-fashioned iron sights that we all hated so much. They are integral to the slide and would have to be machined out in order to have new sights put in.

Hard to be more wrong. The RIA standard has the 1911 GI dovetail at the rear and a staked on front like the originals. King's sells replacements although its pretty hard to stake on the new sight without the special tool so a gunsmith is probably in order for most folks. But no maching is required unless you want Novak's or Bomar type sights.

I agree the RIA Tactical is a better buy especially if you like Novak's sights -- the price difference is about he cost of replacement sights alone, but as far as I know the Tactical is not offered in .38 Super.

--wally.

 

[Marc1979]

Millet makes a decent sight for them also. I have Millet .185 front and rear 3dot on mine.

 

[HM2PAC]

Wally is correct. I did not appreciate the construction of the sights. Had to go and get mine to actually look at it.

And actually, I can be more wrong.

 

[wally]

I was only talking about the sights

--wally.

 

[scubie02]

I wonder if it depends on when they were made or something? A friend of mine brought his RIA 45 to the range last time, and it had the integral sights, at least they sure looked it to me.

 

[crankshop1000]

The 1911A1 has dovetailed rear and narrow staked front sights. The originals fit the rear dovetail tight enough to look like they are part of the slide.You may find that to upgrade from the tiny milspec rear sight, you may need to have some minor millwork done to the slide top to give some clearance to the aftermarket sight (I did on mine).Chuck.

 

[wally]

Generally its smarter to remove material from the sight to fit the slide dovetail rather than removing material from the dovetail to fit the sight. After market sights are usually a bit oversized so they can be fit tightly into whatever gun they end up in.

Now if you want a sight with a different dovetail like Novak's or Bomar than the slide needs to be milled, usually these then require a front dovetail be cut for their higher profile matching front sight.

--wally.

 

[teh Nub]

What brand/type sights make a good replacement for the RIA G.I. sights and where is a good/inexpensive place to purchase online?