RIA .45

[chefkristian]

I picked up a compact RIA a few weeks ago and I love it. It is pretty accurate for a little .45. I have put 200 rounds through it and the only problem I had was using 50 rounds of MagTech ammo. It failed to return to battery a couple of times using this ammo. I switched to 50 rounds of Speer and 100 rounds Federal and haven't had a problem since.

Since I am half filipino, I am partial to this gun It is my first 1911 to own, but I have shot a couple of different ones.

I switched out the grips to a Hogue wrap around because the back safety was chewing up the top of my thumb knuckle, which I hear most compact 1911 tend to do. Now the gun feels better in my hands.

Other than that, I ordered an IWB holster for it and I am going to use it for my carry piece. I do agree that the GI sights need to be switched out, but I do pretty good with them.

[81aggie]

Just wanted to add my $0.02 here. I have owned a RIA compact for a bit over a year and have been happy with it. It's been very reliable and is fun to shoot. It's solid enough to be comfortable to put a bunch of rounds through it at the range, I can't seem to enjoy shooting other polymer .45s for as long. It's not a fancy gun but for the money it's hard to beat and you can make a bunch of modifications to it to make it yours.

[The Annoyed Man]

So far, between my son and I, we own 1911s by Kimber, Springfield, Taurus, and Ithaca. I had, but sold, a beautiful but treacherous Jezebel by Sig. Until I saw an RIA Tactical at the Fort Worth gun show, I always thought of the Taurus as the reasonably priced "entry level" into full-featured 1911 pattern pistols. But I was very impressed with what I saw in the RIA Tactical, particularly for a buy-in price of about $450.00. You may be able to buy a 1911 cheaper than that, but not with all of the features found on the RIA Tactical.

The one drawback to the brand as far as I can tell is that the sight dovetails in the slide are not a standard size, so it is next to impossible to upgrade the sights without some significant gunsmithing work. AndyC has some experience in this area, and has posted previously about his efforts to install an upgraded front sight on his RIA. If he sees this post, perhaps he can bring us up to speed on the issues, and on what he's been able to do so far to work around them.

But that said, I see nothing wrong with those pistols otherwise, and although I tend to have snooty tastes, it wouldn't hurt my feelings at all to own an RIA 1911. One thing I would like to see that company do is to bring alloy framed offerings into their product line, as I think they would pick up a significant chunk of the 1911 concealed carry market. Two of my 1911s are in my carry rotation. One is a 3" alloy framed Kimber Ultra in stainless, and the other is a steel framed 5" Springfield. Both are excellent pistols, with the Kimber having a slight edge in fit and finish, and both are very reliable and accurate. On a purely emotional level, I prefer the Springfield. It's just hard to beat the overall balance and perfection of design of a 5" 1911 pistol, and as good as is the 3" Kimber, certain concessions have to be made in the design to shrink the pistol down - the need for the special take-down tool for instance. But, the darn Springfield weighs 39 oz unloaded, and it is just a lot of pistol to carry around all day. The Kimber, on the other hand, weighs in at just 25 oz unloaded, and consequently, it gets carried far more frequently. In fact, although I have a couple of really good belt holsters for it, I seldom use anything other than a shoulder holster to carry that Springfield anymore, because that is how I can best manage the weight of it. (I have some pretty bad chronic back issues, and I have to cinch my belt up too tight to manage the weight of the 5" gun, and the additional pressure of the belt against my left hip and lower back causes me a fair amount of pain.) So if RIA could bring alloy-framed offerings to market and still maintain their affordability, I would probably pick up a 5" example for myself.

[grad_Student]

This is mine. I bought from bellshire guns on gunbroker for $439. It's the standard WWII-style 1911.

[chartreuse]

Thanks for the information. I wonder why they would use a non-standard dovetail unless they were marketing their own proprietary line of sights. Sometimes you just have to wonder.

That's puzzling the heck out of we enthusiasts, too - it's not like RIA have their own range of sights, which is why I was forced to design my own.

Indeed. I like the homage to the Broad Arrow on your sight, though.

[The Annoyed Man]

Thanks for the information. I wonder why they would use a non-standard dovetail unless they were marketing their own proprietary line of sights. Sometimes you just have to wonder.

That's puzzling the heck out of we enthusiasts, too - it's not like RIA have their own range of sights, which is why I was forced to design my own.

Thanks for following up, Andy. I'm wondering if RIA had a patent infringement issue to overcome if they had cut the dovetail for a Novak sight....

....and by the way, I'll bet that if you could finance the making of a large batch of those, you'd sell every one of them at a profit. Something to think about....

[howdy]

Bud's Guns has the RIA Officers Model (3.5" barrel) for $388, free shipping and no sales tax. You will have to pay a FFL transfer fee. Look near the bottom of this add.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/index.php" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;