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I await a high-priced tool to work well; that's certainly true for handguns. But what I really dearest to come across: an inexpensive gun perform well. That'due south probably why I've bought a couple dozen Mosin Nagants over the years. Anyhow, afterwards our visit to STI, TTAG James69 asked when we were going to see a review of the decidedly lower-priced Rock Isle Armory 1911. I've been itching to endeavor one myself for a while, so I emailed a request to TTAG control for a base of operations model in .45ACP most riki-tik . . .
I've heard good things nearly Stone Island 1911s, but I've never shot i. Dan was kind enough to transport me his personal Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS .45ACP, a iii-yr-old gun with about 500 rounds through it. At first await, well, I was underwhelmed. In general advent, the RIA 1911 looks more than or less similar the original World State of war Ii GI 1911s. The end isn't blued, simply Parkerized. The handles are smooth and unadorned cheap wood grips. It is missing more than a few wish-list items similar ambidextrous thumb safeties, and extended beaver tails.
Dan'south gun had obvious tool marks throughout, including a pretty deep one on the trigger guard. Nigh of the edges are precipitous and crude. Just come on, this is a $470 1911 made in the Philippines. It'due south not supposed to be pretty. The Rock Isle Armory GI Standard FS isn't a beauty contest winner past any means, but that doesn't mean it won't shoot. Does it?
So, a little RemOil and…to the range Batman!
My plan: Shoot nearly 500 burglary rounds through the pistol, and invite ii other shooters to put rounds down range. I had a lot of Winchester White Box, Remington UMC, American Hawkeye and Blazer Brass 230-grain FMJs along with some Remington Gold Saber hollowpoints. For magazines nosotros deployed the cheap and cheerful eight-round mag (Mec-Gar) supplied by RIA every bit well as upmarket STI as Wilson Combat mags.
Start up: Shoot it to get a feel for the gun. We expected the 4- to half-dozen-pound single-action-merely trigger pull to be solid and it was.
Merely the feel is painful. 3 magazines in and I was getting cut up. Like the rest of the gun, the grip condom is roughly cutting and unpolished. The Rock Island GI Standard's recoil drove those precipitous edges right into the web of my hand. Fortunately, I only picked up a pair of Kryptek Gunslinger gloves on the recommendation of a professional shooter. The gloves afforded a good grip from the mainspring housing forward, platonic trigger feel and saved my hands from the ballistic shambles of hammer bite.
Okay. Then this RIA GI 1911 has such bad ergonomics information technology literally hurts to shoot information technology. Simply permit's run into how it shoots anyhow. Well, information technology doesn't, not reliably anyhow. The GI made information technology to round 43 before the beginning failure to feed. The next failure to feed arrived at circular 44. Information technology didn't get much better after that. Failures happened with every magazine. Every bit far as I could tell, no magazine was more or less likely to fail than the others. Changing reloading styles with the magazines didn't seem to matter.
Information technology wasn't an ammo issue either. I had consistent first-circular failure to feed malfunctions with every type of armament I fed the Rock Island GI, and several failures to return to battery as well. At almost 200 rounds, I regrouped. A heavy round of RemOil helped a lot. But I still had to push button the slide with my thumb to feed the first circular with just about every type of ammo, JHP or ball, with the notable exception of the Blazer Brass.
For some reason, the GI model liked Blazer. Later the second lube from the bushing backward along the slide to the firing pin, the upkeep-priced 1911 failed to return to bombardment once, but but in one case. The Winchester ammo withal had occasional problems. Feeding Remington ammo resulted a first round failure to feed every time.
Then advent, shootability, and reliability are all no-gos. What about accuracy?
The Action Target dueling tree was driving me crazy. I couldn't reliably hitting the 6-inch target standing at 10 yards. Neither could the other two shooters, both competent with a pistol. Shooting off a front bag, the Stone Island GI shot 5-inch groups with Winchester ammo. From my snubby J frame 38SPL+P dorsum-up gun, that's a adept grouping. From a full-size 1911, it's unacceptable.
Lesser line: Is this a proficient gun? This WWII-style gun is no fun to shoot at all and I certainly wouldn't bet my life on it. The aforementioned rough treatment plant on the gun's exterior carries through to the internals. From the bolt face up to breach, this gun seems unfinished. It's pretty articulate that Rock Island stopped working on the gun when they were done, not when it was gear up for your holster.
There is inexpensive, and then there is just inexpensive. This is gun is the latter. Oh, and before anyone asks, RIA is costless to pull a Cabot: Wing me to the Philippines to fix this gun, take me on a Armscor International factory tour and take me shoot information technology once more. Merely sayin' . . .
Rock Island Armory 1911 GI Specifications:
Length: 8.56 inches
Superlative: 5.five inches
Butt Length : v inches
Weight: 2.47 lbs. (unloaded)
Front Sight : Fixed, depression-profile
Rear Sight : Stock-still
Chapters: 8+i
Price: GI Serial is virtually $475 retail (about $419 via Brownells)
Ratings (out of v stars):
Advent * *
And then this gets 2 stars because it's a standard GI 1911. But the tool marks, the rough edges, and the inexpensive handles brand the gun expect ugly. No Parkerized finish looks great, but this one looks like some of the outset finishes I did in my garage. And that'due south not adept.
Accuracy *
At contact range this gun is a tack driver. Beyond that, things get iffy.
Reliability 0
It'southward not.
Overall 0
I'm not mad, I'k just disappointed. A Government Model 1911 can be beautiful, reliable, and accurate. That's why I behave one for self defence. Only all that comes at a price. Manifestly that toll is higher than $470. And if you desire a GI 1911, buy one, mayhap that says Colt on the side of information technology. Yous might exist happier with an RIA TAC-level model.
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Source: https://www.thetruthaboutguns.com/gun-review-rock-island-armory-gi-standard-fs-1911/