Customer Reviews for Rock Island Armory TAC 1911 Compact 8+1 9mm 3.5"

Great pistol.cycles everything i feed it. very pleased with purchase.

This has been one of the best shooting pistols that I own, truly impressed with the accuracy and function. The combination 9mm caliber with the weight of a solid steel frame seem to be a good match for reduced recoil and staying on target without effort.

This is Great pistol from Rock Island. You don't have to spend $1000 to get a good reasonably price 1911. Shoots true and looks good doing it!

MY 1ST ROCK ISLAND 1911, LOVE IT. BUDS DID A EXCELLENT JOB - GREAT SERVICE, GREAT PRICE, GREAT GUN - WHAT ELSE IS THERE TO SAY.

Excellent gun. A bit stiff on the safety out of the box but broke in very quickly. Shot 200 rounds no problems. The trigger was excellent smooth right from the start. Works very well with MEC-GAR magazines. Low recoil. Full size guide rod requires a paper clip for field stripping. Overall very pleased.

Worth double the price! Buds shipping was fastest ever. Ordered on Monday and picked up on Friday and that included New Year's Day holiday in that week. Shot 200 rounds with zero failures the gun has a nice feel and the rubber grips are very comfortable. Metal form mag that came with it is very good and I just ordered a few more. I have guns that cost triple this one and although they might have a very slightly better finish that's really the only thing that's better. I highly recommend this gun to anyone not just someone looking for something cheaper than most 1911s the only negatives I could say are the parkerizing is a little light in some spots and the gun came with a single side safety not ambi as noted in description but I'm fine with both as I'm now going to cericoat this and was planning on removing the ambi safety anyway. I look forward to shooting and carrying this gun as part of my daily rotation.

nice 1911 9mm. nice weight low recoil. i like the trigger. shot 200 rounds tulammo no problem. no failures. perfect. only upgrade i plan is sites. i like dots of some kind and the sites are just black. I would buy it again in a heartbeat.

Their shipping was amazingly fast. I purchased it on Sunday and picked it up on Wednesday. The price was much lower than I had seen it around town too. I haven't fired it yet, but it looks great and is solidly built. I'll definitely shop at Buds again

As usual, the price and shipping were great from Buds. I used the ACH feature for the first time and it did take 5 days for my funds to clear to Buds. Once they had the funds, the gun shipped very quickly to my FFL. Notification was great, I got two or three emails to keep me informed of the process. Was heavily oiled, and needed more than just a quick rub down prior to shooting the first time. I always clean mine anyway. Trigger is OK for the price, breaks clean. I shot the compact for the first time today, 250 rounds of various loads from 115 gr. FMJ to 147 gr. FMJ. I also mixed one magazine with 4 Speer gold dots to see how they would function. The compact handled all rounds without any issue no FTF or FTE. I used the factory 8 round mag, along with one 9 round STI and one 10 round Chip McCormick mag. All mags functioned easily. The sights being a black front post need a spot of nail polish for me to more easily pick them up, but the gun shoots really well. With the heft, there is little or no recoil. No muzzle flip, and very easy to get follow up shots on target. Thanks Buds for keeping one of these in stock! I may have another IDPA/carry gun. For the price this one feels like a real keeper.

This is a fantastic pistol for the price. Comes with a case and one magazine. No frills. I shot 100 rounds of mixed ammo without a failure of any kind. Tulo, American Eagle, Lead Handloads. I would have no reason to believe it won't continue to function flawlessly for many rounds to come.

ordered this on 5/4 from buds and picked it up from my FFL today 5/15. It was very heavily oiled. so much so, it reminded me of when I got my mosin years ago and the cleaning that needed before being able to shoot it. The fit and finish on this is much better than the sub 500 price would suggest. I have Sig, springfield, and magnum research 1911's and the quality of this is very comparable There is absolutely no rattle to this gun at all. The grips are rubber and very soft, but I had a set of VZ ETC grips waiting for it and they look great and fit perfectly. I intend this to be my EDC and for that it will need different sights, as the all black can be difficult to acquire. Took it to the range and fed is 300 rounds of 115 gr FMJ and 50 rounds of hornady critical defense 147 gr and experienced zero failures. Overall I'm very impressed with this for the price. The only downside is that it is advertised as having an ambidextrous safety and that is not the case. I wouldn't hesitate to buy another RIA 1911.

This is my second Rock Island Armory purchase. Both of the weapons have been very reliable with good ammunition. Bud's prices and service are hard to beat. Great guns at a great price.

This is my second RIA 1911 purchase from Buds. The fit and finish of this compact 1911 is excellent, especially for the price. The pistol is very accurate, with not one failure to feed, eject, fire, ect. I have fired approx. 500 rounds of all types, including HP's. The grip, like all 3.5 inch barrel and under compact 1911's, is shorter than a full size 1911, but you can still get all fingers (including your pinky) on the firearm easily, even will larger hands. This is a definate plus, and with a t-shirt and shorts and a hybrid iwb holster, this is an easy firearm to conceal, even in the summer. If I had one complaint, I wish someone would offer the same gun with a aluminum frame so it wasn't quite as heavy (for a reasonable price). The weight actually a benefit too (trade off) is a plus because it reduces recoil even more. 1911s that do offer this option are double the cost so it is not a true complaint. Best all around gun (range, CCW, home defense) I own. The black grips are a hard rubber like material and are very nice. It is a bushing less barrel, but due to the lighter (9mm vs 45acp) recoil spring, breakdown is not difficult.

Great job by Buds again. I had this gun in my hands 4 days after they received payment. Now about the gun. It is not the one that is pictured but in my opinion it is better. The RIA marking is much smaller so it hardly shows. Also this gun has checkered double diamond grips instead of the smooth wood ones. Only down fall are the sights but that is an easy fix. Anyone looking for a compact 1911 chambered in 9MM should seriously look at this gun.

Received the gun in perfect shape. Opened the box, wiped the gun down from the excessive oil, loaded up the mag with Federal JHP's. Took the gun to the range, and right out of the box I was shooting bull's-eyes at 21ft. Ran some cheapo Wal-Mart white-box FMJ rounds and still shot bull's-eyes. Ran some Federal FMJ's thru it and again same results. The gun is all metal so it's small size is deceivingly heavy, with the 9mm rounds, recoil is very light and manageable. Had my friends younger son shoot it, and he liked it a lot, he does not like his dad's Glock .45, but he enjoyed my gun. After around 100 rounds without a jam or malfunction, I cleaned it up, loaded it with JHP, and it is now my new carry gun! I am very pleased with the gun. IT took a while to get it shipped out to me, but I did order it around Christmas time, so they had quite a long list of orders to get thru. Once it was out the door, 2 day air and it was at the gun store in time for the weekend. So far I have ordered 2 guns thru buds and have been happy with every purchase.

Love this gun! Very accurate, low recoil, a bit heavier than I expected, but then it's all steel! Would really like to find some slom checkered rosewood grips for it, and extra mags are a bit hard to find at this point in time.

My first RIA and am on the fence with this handgun. I like the size and the fit and finish is good. The handgun is very accurate and recoil is very light. I received the pistol and took to the range and first shot is bullseye but then the mag falls out. Each subsequent shot results in the mag being released, and round will not feed. I called RIA and they are sending out another mag release and hopefully that will resolve the issue.

My first Rock Island and it is now my everyday carry weapon. Nice finish and feel and is much lighter than my Browning Hi Power. Will take it to the range this weekend. Great job Armscor/Rock Island Armory! This was also my first Bud's experience and the service was top notch. I will definitely order from Buds again.

This is my third Rock Island 1911 and the 1911A1 CS TAC 9 may become my favorite of my three Rock Island handguns. The difficulty in trying to figure which one I like best is kind of like a parent having three kids and loving them all but especially liking one a tad bit more than the rest. This may be the RI that I like a tad bit more. This is a sweet thing that functions flawlessly. For officer 1911's, I have the 45 CS (officer) and the 9mm CS TAC (officer) and like both oh so much. All my Rock Islands shoot when I pull the trigger and hit my target accurately. My best accuracy comes from the 1911A1 government of course because it is full size and has a longer sight radius. But, the two shorty's in 45 and 9mm are accurate enough to satisfy my needs for a compact carry gun. I may not be able to consistently hit a 2" target at 25 yards with the 3" CS's but I can hit a 4" bull with most of the rounds in the magazine in either pistol. If you like the look and feel of the 1911 3" CS 45 cal, but it is a little hard on you at the range, go with the RI 9mm. Charlie Georgia

This was the first 9mm 1911 I have purchased and it will not be the last RIA I buy. The fit and finish is great and on par with higher priced 1911 manufacturers. I have taken it to the range once so far and it shot everything I put in it. I started with steel Russian ammo and ended with critical defense rounds. This is well worth every penny!!

This is my 3rd 1911, but first in the 9mm caliber. I've wanted a Rock for a while as a cheaper alternative to the Kimber's, etc. of the world. I have to say, I'm thouroghly impressed. The fit and finish are top notch, except for the grips, which are terrible. This isn't an issue, as I have VZs on order anyway, but they definitely need to go. Worse, the gun arrived so covered in lube that the gun wants to jump out of your hands with the smooth grips even after a good wipe down. I thought I bought a cosmoline coated curios and relic for a second. I mean, the thing was dripping oil all over the place. Anyway, where was I? Oh yes, the gun. It's great. I shot 100 rounds of reloads that are sold at my range with only 1 failure to feed. This was due to the round not being properly seated in the magazine. Speaking of, I've read you need to buy Wilson or some other mags, as the stock ones are garbage. I can definitely see that. Don't know much about 9mm 1911 mags, so I need to look into that further. The takedown of the gun isn't exactly like a typical 1911. There is no barrel bushing to turn to release he guide rod/spring like 99% of the 1911's out there. This was a little strange to me, but it could be common on a non-.45 for all I know. Those wanting an exact replica of a M1911A will be disappointed. Bud's was great, as always. 1 week from order to delivery. Couldn't be happier with them or my purchase.