Rock Island Armory 1911
 

Just picked my my RIA 1911 from my FFL today. Fairly satisfied, had my dealer look it over as I'm a 1911 newb. I got this (the GI model) from SARCO for $379 + shipping + $20 FFL transfer. He told me that I got a good deal, we'll see how it shoots.

Several firsts here:

First 1911, or .45 ACP.

First gun purchase from SARCO. I'm still lukewarm on them. There was no email notification after I faxed in my order, either that the order went through, or anything on shipping. I was going to call them after a couple weeks, when I got a call from my dealer that it was in.

First FFL transfer buy. I think the $20 fee is quite reasonable, I've heard dealers charging a lot more. I don't want to exclusively buy this way, but some deals are too good for a local dealer to even come close.

There are several 1911 experts here on GIM. Are there some basic improvements that I should be considering? I've heard tales of buying a bare bones 1911, then putting near the purchase price of the pistol into gunsmithing, always sounded kind of crazy to me. I was thinking of upgrading the sights. I'm not going to use this pistol for competitive shooting, obviously, I just wanted something more effective than my 9mm's in a defensive mode.

Re: Rock Island Armory 1911
 

Before you do any mods think about whatever warranty you got.

I don't know anything at all about that manufacturer, but that doesn't mean it's not good quality.

There seem to be a lot of positive comments here:
http://www.1919a4.com/forums/showthread.php?t=21857

Satisfy yourself that it's reliable, then start with sights. Ammo selection for defense is all over the place. I'm a fan of actually hitting what you're shooting at and not trying to impress your target with supergun / super ammo. If you select a defensive ammo where the bullet profile approximates 230gr ball, like Remington Golden Sabre, or Winchester Silvertips, you're more likely to get reliable feeding right out of the box.

Firm grip (choke the shit out of it), squeeze the trigger with the pad of your trigger finger; if you do this, there will normally be a slight gap between the first 2 digits of your trigger finger and the grip. In other words, if your finger is on the trigger properly, only the pad of your trigger finger will be touching the pistol. This helps avoid moving the pistol when you squeeze the trigger, a very common error.

Wrap your other hand firmly around the shooting hand, the index finger of your outside hand should be against the underside of the trigger guard. This hand isn't squeezing but rather pulling towards you. Elbow of shooting hand should be nearly locked, resisting the inwards pull of the other hand. Outside hand thumb is on top of the shooting hand thumb. Shooting hand thumb mustn't flip up in recoil as it can flip on the thumb safety if you put an extended safety on the gun.

Choke the living shit out of it, until you can almost see your hands tremble. It's a .45. On the bright side, I had my 15 year old daughter at the range today shooting one of them with full power 185gr hollow points, and she was holding the ten ring on a B-27 silhouette at ten yards. No kidding. Those guys in that nutnfancy video over in the glock thread are really terrible shooters.

I have done lots of mods to mine, including three dot sights, beavertail grip safety, ambi thumb safety, extended mag release, mag well flare extension, wrap around grips, plus a bunch of internal stuff that you shouldn't do yourself.

I highly recommend a spring kit from Wilson Combat.

Take it to the range and wear it out. Gratzs!

Re: Rock Island Armory 1911
 

Congrats Ag :coolbeer:
I'm far from an expert, but have some trigger time on 1911's.
When I get a new one, I field strip it, inspect for burrs or rough edges, clean it and lube it with a good oil like FP10, Weaponshield or even Mobil 1, and then put 500 rounds through it before cleaning it again. Bring oil to the range and run it a little wet for those first 500 rounds. I think I have one or two "how to clean/lube a 1911" video's bookmarked, will PM you the links if I can find them.

Once it's broken in, you can switch to gun grease, instead of oil, if you're so inclined, and you'll be ready to talk over changes with a good 1911 smith near you.

If you have problems, like consistent FTF/FTE, try a couple other magazines (Wilson, Chip McCormick make good ones) before panicking.

The links below are to the RIA boards at the 1911 and m1911 forums, see what works for those guys...

http://forums.1911forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=64

http://forum.m1911.org/forumdisplay.php?f=17

If you think you need a new hobby, you can go crazy with mods on a 1911, to the point of almost building yourself a new gun.
You'll probably want to pick up Kuhnhausen's manuals, here's one to start with:
http://www.brownells.com/.aspx/pid=1...__45_AUTOMATIC