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58 Reviews. Average Rating: 4.5 of 5 Stars!
| 5 stars: |
| 73% (42 of 58) |
| 4 stars: |
| 16% (9 of 58) |
| 3 stars: |
| 7% (4 of 58) |
| 2 stars: |
| 1% (1 of 58) |
| 1 star: |
| 3% (2 of 58) |
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Reviewed By: Tom C on 02/10/2018
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!
I purchased this pistol for a project, planning to convert it to shoot .38 Super. But while waiting for my parts to arrive, I decided to shoot the gun as a 9mm. It was a lot of fun, and even with the hottest 9mm loads I have, it has less recoil than my .45 ACP 1911\'s, and holds two more shots. I own this exact same gun in .45 ACP and was able to shoot them side by side on the same day. If you are considering a 9mm 1911 such as this I can now tell you a few things.
The first is, if you have limited hand strength, the slide on the 9mm is MUCH easier to pull back than on the .45 ACP version. Those of us with arthritis in the hands will appreciate this. Second, as mentioned, there is less recoil than a .45 Auto, but not as much less as I was led to believe with hot loads. With target loads the difference can be significant, and if you will be shooting any form of competition where speed of follow up shots is a factor, I think you will prefer the 9mm. But across the board with the different types of factory ammo I had available to me, my .45 version of this pistol shot tighter groups in slow fire. Both pistols had great triggers right out of the box, with both coming in at 4.5 pounds pull weight on my gauge. Slide to frame fit and finish were surprisingly good on both pistols. The only difference is that one had the factory Duracoat finish on it which was very black in color, while this 9mm pistol looked more gray in color, being Parkerized. The 9mm version is also sightly heavier than the .45, weighing in at a hefty 40.6 ounces, which is really heavy for a 9mm pistol of only moderate capacity.
Speaking of capacity, this pistol, as I gather are most 9mm 1911\'s, was somewhat finicky about magazines. The one that came with it, a 10 round marked Mec Gar, was the nicest looking magazine I\'ve ever seen come with a Rock Island pistol, and it worked flawlessly, every time. So did some 9mm Metalform 9 round magazines I had on hand, and just for fun I tried some Metalform .38 Super 9 round magazines I had with me and they worked too. But I simply could not get the pistol to function well with Metalform 9mm 10 round magazines, or with a Wilson Combat 9mm 10 round magazine I had. No big deal, I will just stick to Metalform 9 rounders and if I must have 10 rounders, I\'ll buy Mec Gars.
As far as accuracy goes, I think you would be able to compete well enough at any club level action shooting match, which is about the only reason anyone buys a 40 ounce entry level single stack, single action 9mm pistol. This pistol has excellent manners in shooting and is really easy to turn in a good performance with. On my 15 yard test fire range I easily kept 20 hot loaded rounds in a fist sized group at the maximum distance. I also tested the pistol with HST hollow points and it worked great, so you could also use this gun for self defense.
The gun comes wearing some really nice black G10 thin grips. For some reason, RIA decided to use hex head screws to hold them on rather than standard grip screws, but this is easily changed if you want to. The only minor negative I will mention is the ambi safety installed on the gun. The side activated by the right thumb is a bit oversized, which doesn\'t really hurt anything unless you try to change grips. 1911 grips from the better manufacturers have a lip on that side that is there to retain the plunger tube should its staking come loose during firing. Unfortunately, Rock Island didn\'t take this into account when they stuck that awfully large safety on the gun. When you try to use almost anyone else\'s grips, the safety lever hits them just by a little. Everything appears to work, but the gun is not really off-safe when you thumb the safety down, and your gun won\'t fire and the slide is still locked. This happened with both the RIA Rock Standard pistols I have and six different sets of grips from different manufacturers. This also happened with a Citadel I had on hand, which is a Rock Island FS under another name. Your only two choices are going to be to remove some metal from the bottom of that safety lever, or remove some material from the top edge of any grips you want to use. Shame on Armscor for not figuring that one out correctly. Fortunately the grips that came on the gun work fine.
Overall I think this is a pretty solid pistol for what it is intended to be and is well worth the money. Personally, I continue to prefer my 1911s in either .45 ACP or .38 Super, but shooting them in 9mm costs about half of the price of those calibers. So I\'ll be keeping this pistol.
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Reviewed By: Austin M on 01/13/2018
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!
I received this pistol about a week after I ordered it. It was delayed due to a large storm we received here in New England. The ffl transfer went smoothly. I finally was able to shoot it today and it ran flawlessly. It fed all types of 9mm ammo including hollow points. It shoots accurate. The only ding I have towards the product is the front sight is black and hard to pick up when shooting in lower light or at a black target. This was fixed with a little paint. Would recommend this 1911
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Reviewed By: Tony M on 12/13/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
This is a \"must try\" gun. It shoots well, nice trigger, balanced weight, making recoil minimal. I used brass, steel & aluminum ammo, no FTF or FTE. it has a nice feel. I\'m not thrilled over the front sight, but that\'s an easy fix. For the price (less than $500) you can not go wrong, it feels like an $800 price range gun. The people at Buds were helpful, once payment was received, the gun was shipped, two days later I was picking it up at my FFL.
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Reviewed By: gary c on 12/05/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
no problem, no hassle gun came as quick as 3 days. great price. received and unpacked. everything as it should be. read instructions on operating gun. went to range and fired gun with two misfires in first fifty rds. used Winchester 115gr. FMJ. don't know if it was the gun, ammo or mags. at any rate the gun worked fine after this firing another 40 rounds. would recommend and buy again.
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Reviewed By: Kristopher H on 10/20/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Great 1911 for the price. I put 250 rounds through it and 100% on target. If your looking for a 1911 and don't want to spend 1000+ this is the one for you.
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Reviewed By: david c on 09/23/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Lives up to its reputation.Shoots great but is heavy. not something you would want to pack around on your hip. Over priced.
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Reviewed By: John C on 08/10/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
I guess I got this at a good time, before it went up to $462
Shipping was free and process didn't take long to get to my FFL dealer.
Rock Island 1911's are good products this is very much like my Taurus PT 1911 just $100 less
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Reviewed By: Bob D on 08/06/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
I have shot 425 rounds with no issues. The fit of the parts is excellent and the trigger is way better than I expected. The trigger smooth and measures 4 lbs. pull. If you are thinking about purchasing this gun do not wait, just do it. The transaction from Bud's was flawless and the shipping time was fast.
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Reviewed By: nathan c on 07/02/2017
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars!
Great gun probably have 3000 plus rounds through it now never a whimper. I like the Rocks have this one and the 45ACP good guns good price.
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Reviewed By: Brent M on 06/30/2017
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars!
If you\'re skeptical...DON\'T BE!!! Yes, the finish may leave a little to be desired but the function definitely doesn\'t. This budget 9mm 1911 is smooth AND accurate. Replacement magazines are cheap and plenty which ads to the overall appeal. It feels great in the hand and puts rounds on target with little effort. Whenever I bring someone to the range to try out this pistol, they leave with the intentions of purchasing one of their own!
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