Question for the 1911 owners

[4Prop]

hey guys,

I've got a Colt Government 1911. but I've recently been thinking about buying a "field" gun. something I'm not worried about gettin a little grit on it.
I've been looking at the ATI 1911A1's and the RIA 1911A1's. does anyone own either?

[PFactorDave]

I own two Rock Island Armory 1911s.  I like them both very much, and the price was certainly attractive.



I took the wood grips off of both of them and replaced them with some Hogue palm swell grips on both.  In the photo, the Hogue grips hadn't been put on the Officer's Model sized pistol yet.

I frequently recommend RIA 1911s when people ask.  You just can't beat them for the money.  They seem well made also.  I have never had a single FTF or FTE malfunction in either pistol.

The only downside is that both of the pistols have the government style iron sites that leave a little something to be desired.  Not a big deal to have better sites added later if you want.

[Selino631]

i've always heard Rock Island and Colt are teh best

oh and i finally got a chance to go out and shoot the Colt 1911 i bought that i had posted up here a few weeks ago, Shoots great! very accurate!

[1pLUs44]

Why have a single stack 1911 when you can have a double stack 1911 

http://whichgun.com/firearms/pistols/view/sti-2011-uspsa-double-stack

[SmokinLoon]

I bought a Rock Island Arsenal 1911A1 back in 2002.  Since then I've put hundreds of rounds through it without an issue.  The mag that came with it is junk though, I threw mine away, literally.  I bought some USGI after market magazines and they work like a charm.  BTW... I think I paid $419 out the door for mine.  I also bought some wood USGI WWII grips to install on my 1911.  I didnt care for the bulky grips that came with it.  I came across some USGI Vietnam era grips and bought them to try out, but went back to the WWII brown wood instead, I prefer the look.  The sights are as plain-jane bare minimum as you're going to get.  Certainly nothing spectacular.

One of my favorite things to do is to show up at the gun range and out-shoot guys with $1000-$2000 Kimber 1911's.  If there are a snobbish groups in hanguns, owners of Kimbers and Glocks lead the pack.     

I put the utmost confidence in my RIA 1911.  Nothing wrong with Colt or Springfield, or even Kimber.  But keep in mind that if you pay the extra $$$ for a name that equals value or status, be careful how you treat the gun.  I wouldn't be lugging it around while you're chasing zombies and get some war wounds on it, the value of it just plummeted.      

[4Prop]

looks like the RIA is the one to go with. thanks for all the reviews per say guys. I'm probably gonna get some USGI grips as loom said, i dont really like smooth grips like that. I'll probably pick it up next weekend

[Maverick]

Nothing wrong with the RIA. Just something to consider though is that if you decide you want to upgrade the sights there is a cost for that. You might want to shop around and see what that cost is then comparte it to another gun / brand that already has the sights you might want to have. I found a nice para P40-16 at a gun show a few months back. It was in NRA 99% condition and had adjustable sights on it. The guy was asking $600 at the time. Wish I had thge cash then.... BTW that is a double stack 1911, just in 40 S&W which would have been fine with me. Got brass in that caliber and slugs / ammo is cheaper than the 45.

[Hoffman]

As an owner of an RIA 1911A1, I have to say it is my favorite handgun on the planet.  Probably the safest too, since I despise semi-automatic pistols with a double-action trigger.

One word of warning, though, if you're going to spend money on a 1911, don't skimp on the magazines.  I'd say 90% of all malfunctions with a 1911 are due to bad magazines.  If you can, test them before you buy them (My shooting range let's us test the magazines before we buy them.)

If you have good magazines, the gun will never fail you.  Bad magazines can do some very scary things to your 1911 on the range, believe me, I put something like 1,000 rounds downrange before I tried some cheap new magazines and boy was that scary watching the gun damn near fall apart on me. It's an unfortunate defect in the pistol design.  I don't buy cheap magazines anymore, and my pistol never fails.

[katanaso]

hey guys,

I've got a Colt Government 1911. but I've recently been thinking about buying a "field" gun. something I'm not worried about gettin a little grit on it.
I've been looking at the ATI 1911A1's and the RIA 1911A1's. does anyone own either?

What's your budget? 

Besides RIA, there are Kimber and Dan Wesson, and others, as well as Colt, like you mentioned. 

I believe all firearms are meant to be used and get dirty, regardless of price, unless you're specifically buying something to sit in a safe and hope it appreciates over time.

[caldera]

looks like the RIA is the one to go with. thanks for all the reviews per say guys. I'm probably gonna get some USGI grips as loom said, i dont really like smooth grips like that. I'll probably pick it up next weekend

I bought the RIA Government Model 1911 and it came with the smooth grips like PFactorDave's pics.
Replaced them with these neat Hogue knurled wood grips, which really give you a firm handle on the gun:

[4Prop]

What's your budget? 

Besides RIA, there are Kimber and Dan Wesson, and others, as well as Colt, like you mentioned. 

I believe all firearms are meant to be used and get dirty, regardless of price, unless you're specifically buying something to sit in a safe and hope it appreciates over time.

Around 500. I like to try and keep my "top shelf" guns a little cleaner. I live on a farm and its usually pretty windy witch kicks up dust and other stuff. I'm basically just buying it to carry around the property cause of all the damn rattle snakes and coyotes. Its something I probably wont clean very often and it will probably get a little more grit on it then my other guns.

[PFactorDave]

As for magazines...  I caught a sale at either MidwayUSA or Cheaper Than Dirt (I don't recall which) on a bunch of Chip McCormick magazines.  Got them pretty cheap for both of my RIA's, maybe $12 each, and they work flawlessly...  Always.

[4Prop]

As for magazines...  I caught a sale at either MidwayUSA or Cheaper Than Dirt (I don't recall which) on a bunch of Chip McCormick magazines.  Got them pretty cheap for both of my RIA's, maybe $12 each, and they work flawlessly...  Always.

yeah I've got a few for my Colt I'll probably just slap in the RIA and pick up some more later

[PFactorDave]

Around 500. I like to try and keep my "top shelf" guns a little cleaner. I live on a farm and its usually pretty windy witch kicks up dust and other stuff. I'm basically just buying it to carry around the property cause of all the damn rattle snakes and coyotes. Its something I probably wont clean very often and it will probably get a little more grit on it then my other guns.

I wouldn't think twice about packing one of my RIA's for the duty you describe.  They're simply solid basic firearms.

But for snakes I might pack this with some birdshot shells loaded, but only because I don't think it would be good for anything but snakes...

 

[katanaso]

Around 500. I like to try and keep my "top shelf" guns a little cleaner. I live on a farm and its usually pretty windy witch kicks up dust and other stuff. I'm basically just buying it to carry around the property cause of all the damn rattle snakes and coyotes. Its something I probably wont clean very often and it will probably get a little more grit on it then my other guns.

Gotcha.

Yep, still shooters, but something you won't worry about in the same regard.

I think PFactorD's advice is spot on and he's speaking from experience.