Hello all,
I am looking at getting a .45 for some hiking and fishing trips. Heading to Alaska this summer and will want to have it for this trip.
Looking at some options but I would like to hear from anyone who carries or depends on a Rock Island 1911 for protection.
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For 2 legged varmints a 45 is great but if it’s the 4 legged variety a 10 mil is minimum I saw an article about a guy hiking Denali when he heard screaming went to it and a bear was attacking a woman he had to empty 3 mags of 45 into the bear to kill it
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Caliber discussion aside, how is the performance of the Rock Island brand?
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I trust Rock Island Armory 1911.
I don’t own any .45, but 9mm from RIA is a great shooter.
Everything is about how do you feel about the safety. I don’t know if all of RIA 1911s are made the same way, but their machinery is based on Colt 70 series, meaning no firing pin block safety.
However I’ve never found any article about nor experienced any safety problems.
It’s a reliable and solid tool. It shoots every ammo.
I tested a lot of manufacturers before decided to run 5 or so and whenever my other handguns got malfunctions, the RIA 1911 performed very well.
Definitely great tool. Maybe it gets cosmetics imperfections… but these can be easily corrected at home.
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@Jamey1 I carry a Taurus PT1911 in the bear woods and I went with these.
45 ACP +P 255gr. Flat Nose Hi-Tek Coated Hard Cast Hunting Ammo (underwoodammo.com)
Underwood is a high-quality ammo and I shoot it in several of my pistols.
One review.
Jephthah
United States
Jep’s Outdoor Adventures
I recently tested these on my YouTube Channel “Jep’s Outdoor Adventures”, and these did well. I put them up against 3 variations of simulated bone barriers (simulating a real animal with hide, muscle and bone, not just flesh like with Ballistics Gel) and the chronograph results were on-point. My review is pretty detailed, so I will just say that if you want to see the performance and see the numbers, then that is where you will have to go. But overall, these performed very well, and I would recommend these for anything about 800 Lbs or less. This makes for a solid loadout. Good Job Underwood!
45 ACP +P 255gr. Flat Nose Hi-Tek Coated Hard Cast Hunting Ammo
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Thanks for the input. I would have to guess that like all manufactured products there will be some less that ideal items coming off the line. Most of the reviews I have looked at are good but they the initial out of the box run and gun it not so much the shot for over extended time and 1000+ rounds reviews.
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Ill either go with underwood or buffalo bore outdoorsman , Ill get both and see which runs reliably.
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You’re right about “break in” period.
My RIA was very tight out of the box.
I didn’t care, because I always “prepare” my handguns for shooting before I use them.
File, sandpaper, Flitz paste, good cleaning and lubing is the must.
Then few hundred repetitions of dry firing and the RIA is ready for action.
What I have noticed with mine, the slide to frame fit became looser than it should be after 5000 rds or so.
I used peening method to fix it and no more complaints since then.
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I bought a “Rock Standard” some time ago because it was a complete gun for cheaper than I could build one. Initial impressions and things I fixed immediately was the over travel in the trigger which thankfully they have a set screw so that was easy. The other issue was the blockyness of the ambidextrous safety which would interfere with your trigger finger. I did an article on it when I got it
All in all a very nice stick, basic but nice.
Cheers,
Craig6
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I just purchased an RIA 45 auto M1911 A1 compact. I have not shot it yet but it is a nice looking well made pistol. Probably not good for bear hunting or not as a sidearm in the woods. Reason I purchased it is because it was inexpensive and it is decent for conceal carry in an OWB leather holster. I can’t wait to shoot it. Would have done so already but am under the weather with the flu.
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Hopefully you’ll get to feeling better soon. Couple locals who I asked about their RIA’s they don’t shoot them much and the biggest complaint was the magazine. They swapped the mags out for better quality mags.
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I have an ria 45 1911 and other much more expensive 1911s. For the money I don’t think you can go wrong with the ria. After break in it shoots as well as most
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How much of a break in did you have for your RIA?
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Yes sir that is why I purchased some Wilson combat mags. I will update the community once I have fired it.
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I have two, both in .45. One is as it came from the factory, the other, not so much. As for the factory one, fit finish, and accuracy were good. I trust mine to go bang when I want it to. I’d definitely polish the feed ramp, as one had a decent bur. If you get the GI version, I’d also suggest filing the back of the front sight flat or painting it. To me, the rounded sight seemed to catch light regardless of the angle, and make the top of the sight appear blurry. Hopefully, that makes sense.
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Mine started running smoothly after about 300 rounds. You could lightly polish the rails and maybe cut that down but I wouldn’t trust any firearm I hadn’t fired hundreds of rounds through. My primary carry is the 9mm hellcat to give you an example. I ran a thousand rounds through it at the range before I put it on my hip.
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I have a RI 1911 .45 and it shoots pretty well.
When it was new, it had occasional feeding issues. A friend of mine polished the feed and that seemed to have resolved the problem. No mechanical issues over the past several years, and it tends to hit what I’m aiming at.
I haven’t shot a million rounds through it or anything, but I got a pretty good deal for the money.
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I own two RIA 1911s in .45ACP, a full size and a compact.
Both are reliable and my best shooters.
When I first carried, the compact was one of two on my permit. On first renewal, I switched to three 9mm pistols.
Next CCW renewal in 2024, I’m adding them to my permit with a third 45 pistol TBD.
No more 9s for me.
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Not sure if they’re cheaper than Wilson but
I bought Mec-Gar mags because they were on sale and they work just fine.
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