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Based on board members recommendations, it was off to the FW gun show to purchase either an RIA or Taurus 9mm 1911. I planned to buy whichever I found first. We didn't get there until about 2:00 pm Saturday, and there wasn't a Taurus to be found and RIAs in 9mm weren't plentiful either. I finally found one table with both a GI and Tactical RIA in 9mm. $395 for the GI and $450 for the tactical. I wasn't impressed with the ambi safety nor the lack of nite sights on the Tactical so I went with the classic GI.

Took it home for the complete disassembly and clean/lube. After I got it cleaned up (what a mess, be sure to clean the firing pin channel), it was time to check for fit. The slide/frame fit without the barrel and springs was suprisingly tight with barely any side to side rocking and no movement end to end. The interior was completely free of any burrs and relatively free of any tool marks. The barrel lug fit every snugly in the frame channel with very little side to side movement. After reassembly and lube, there was no detectable barrel/frame/slide play in battery. Needly to say, I was impressed with the machine work and fit. Slide movement after lube was was every smooth. I didn't polish the feed ramp and no trigger work as I wanted to see how it shot and functioned first.

So on Sunday, its off to the range. I took 50 rounds of American Eagle 147 grain flat tips. 50 rounds of 115 gr. Monarch brass case, 50 rounds of Monarch 115 gr. steel case, 50 rounds of my SD reloads with 124 gr. XTP hollow points over a max charge of Power Pistol and about 100 rounds of range reloads (124 gr berry's over a moderate charge of Bullseye.

I had 2 FTF with the flat tips, but only with a full (9 rds) in the magazine and always the 2nd round. I had no malfunctions with only 8 in the mag. That was the end of any malfunctions. It ate everything else without any complaints at all, including the XTP hollow points. Remember I did nothing to the feed ramp or chamber.

The trigger was a little gritty at first and a little stiff, but that was gone by the time we were done shooting.

Accuracy was better than I can shoot and everything was in the 8 ring at 15 yrds on a B27 target. Everytime in 9/10 ring at 7 yrds.

Cleanup after the 250+ rounds did not reveal and developing burrs, high spots or anything. The the rails polished up nicely.

Overall for $400 bucks, this thing is a very good shooter and should last for many thousands of rounds.

The only negative is now I want the 3.5" version

Pictures or it didn't happen.

Yeah , I think he is making this up. Need pics! Just kidding, RIA is a good buy shouldnt have any issues.

Glad you made the right choice, enjoy!

2firfun50 wrote:Based on board members recommendations, it was off to the FW gun show to purchase either an RIA or Taurus 9mm 1911. I planned to buy whichever I found first. We didn't get there until about 2:00 pm Saturday, and there wasn't a Taurus to be found and RIAs in 9mm weren't plentiful either. I finally found one table with both a GI and Tactical RIA in 9mm. $395 for the GI and $450 for the tactical. I wasn't impressed with the ambi safety nor the lack of nite sights on the Tactical so I went with the classic GI.

Took it home for the complete disassembly and clean/lube. After I got it cleaned up (what a mess, be sure to clean the firing pin channel), it was time to check for fit. The slide/frame fit without the barrel and springs was suprisingly tight with barely any side to side rocking and no movement end to end. The interior was completely free of any burrs and relatively free of any tool marks. The barrel lug fit every snugly in the frame channel with very little side to side movement. After reassembly and lube, there was no detectable barrel/frame/slide play in battery. Needly to say, I was impressed with the machine work and fit. Slide movement after lube was was every smooth. I didn't polish the feed ramp and no trigger work as I wanted to see how it shot and functioned first.

So on Sunday, its off to the range. I took 50 rounds of American Eagle 147 grain flat tips. 50 rounds of 115 gr. Monarch brass case, 50 rounds of Monarch 115 gr. steel case, 50 rounds of my SD reloads with 124 gr. XTP hollow points over a max charge of Power Pistol and about 100 rounds of range reloads (124 gr berry's over a moderate charge of Bullseye.

I had 2 FTF with the flat tips, but only with a full (9 rds) in the magazine and always the 2nd round. I had no malfunctions with only 8 in the mag. That was the end of any malfunctions. It ate everything else without any complaints at all, including the XTP hollow points. Remember I did nothing to the feed ramp or chamber.

The trigger was a little gritty at first and a little stiff, but that was gone by the time we were done shooting.

Accuracy was better than I can shoot and everything was in the 8 ring at 15 yrds on a B27 target. Everytime in 9/10 ring at 7 yrds.

Cleanup after the 250+ rounds did not reveal and developing burrs, high spots or anything. The the rails polished up nicely.

Overall for $400 bucks, this thing is a very good shooter and should last for many thousands of rounds.

The only negative is now I want the 3.5" version

Thanks for the report. I have been thinking about picking up a RIA 1911 but been too busy with being a new father and building another AR, haven't really had the funds set aside for it. Glad to see another LE resident on the forums!