Rock Island Armory 1911 Review

Hey everyone, there's a lot of questions about running the pistol empty. Part of my training with the 1911 was to reload before you're empty so you're not standing there with an empty gun.

From another former 8531. Semper Fi Paul, with the love of your Marine brothers.

Was glad to come across your video, after a king hiatus of not seeing your content, and I ve been talking to a young man. About this very same thing of him purchasing a Colt 1911, and a Colt AR15, and I have tried to convey to him, what's the reason of blowing extra money for a name, when all I hear feom him since buying both the Colts, is constant replacement of parts, or questions about issues, I use a S&W AR15 Sport ll, and just recently acquired a RIA 1911, I have yet to shoot it, hate the fact thst it failed with the Federal ammo, being thst is what I carried as a LEO, and still as a civilian, great video, thanks.

Greatly appreciate the anecdote at the end about the Colt name changing the conversation. I think people get way too hung up on brand name and can overlook good values elsewhere as a result.

Mine has met my cost/benefit expectations, and surpassed them.

Rock island and armscor are absolute crap

I handled one of these RIA 1911s in the store the other day for the first time and I gotta say the only thing I don't like about it is the sights. It was on sale for less than $400. I don't own a 1911 but it's on my wishlist. Is there any way to get better sights on it?

Thanks Paul. I’ve been looking at the Rock Island Armory 1911s. Any experience with their high capacity 1911s?

It's not the guns, it's the shooter. Nice bush jacket.

Slam FIRE MIGHT OCCUR IF THE FIRING PIN SPRING is Weak...under specs..
Just My observations 👍

i love 1911s own 5 few years back i went to get a rock island and there was a taurus PT 1911 AR..has pitcanny rail smoothest 45 i've ever owned in 40 yrs

When did you start working for colt. Do you realize you've made thousands of people uncomfortable about loading their 1911. I've been having one for more than 50 years and I've never had a slam fire or did I ever hear of anyone having a slam fire.

Good review

This platform has been around for over a hundred years and they still cant keep these from jamming up ever once in awhile. Like, wtf. Supposedly we went to the moon but cant fix the problems with the 1911. The all steal frame weight, its shitty loading ability, and the price for most of them. Probably because boomer fuds keep buying them at their stupid prices and shitty reliability. Just get a fuckin CZ 75 style pistol. It fixes all these issues but isnt consider a 1911 which is no go for tye fuds i guess.

i have one on layaway 10mm might get one and review it love your review's

just curious, why leaving last round in gun

Mexican Cartels use 1911s in 38 super because 45 is illegal.

How do I find out if a 1911 model has slamfire protection like that Colt?

I have a RIA Tactical 45 and have not had a ftf using Sierra 185 gr hollowpoints. Same ammo as Sig branded.

Just got one (December 22nd 23) for 399 put 3 mag through love it wasn’t not aware of the firing pin issue. Thanks for the heads up

This is really great stuff. Honesty is so refreshing

I trust this guy more than anyone else when it comes to fire arms

When I bought mine 20 years ago for $299 brand new out of shotgun news magazine one thing that sold it to me besides the price and having a deep desire to own a 1911 it was advertised to be fully interchangeable with a colt 1911

I picked up a RI just to have a piece of old school america and not going to lie, that thing has been as reliable as anything else. Pretty impressed by it.

Regarding slam fire, I thought this issue was mitigated by replacing the steel firing pin with a titanium firing pin; less weight/force on the firing pin spring.

Thank you Mr. Harrell! Great video, learned a lot and appreciate the information.

I have larger than average hands and have used the 1911 in many IDPA and USPSA matches. I practice with it a lot. Failure to engage the grip safety happens a LOT when under speed pressure, with only your score at stake. It is a very high quality STI so not a design problem. Probably a big hand problem because 1911 grips are not really for anyone with average or larger hands. Ask why so many USPA competitors pin their grip safeties.

I was able to pick up a Compact RIA M1911A1 Tact about 3 weeks ago. It is one of the best handguns I have purchased. 250 rounds without a single malfunction so far. Very impressed!

Thank you Paul, informative and dryly amusing as always :)

Excited to try out my RI BBR compact with ported barrel. I have too much .45 ammo to switch calibers and wanted a .45 easier to conceal carry than my huge Glock 21. I just plain feel better having the grip safeties along with external hammer when carrying with a round in the tube.

Your right about enershia if I spelled it right cause as the springs get week on the old ones then it could slam fire due to spring not having enough tension over time to keep fire pin from slamming forward!

Back last September 19th 2022 I bought a .45 1911 rock island armory auto! And I had some trouble at my front door with a druggy so I got my pistol and chambered one in it and let the hammer off on half cock and put it in my holster and started buckling the strap and it went off! It was a full metal jacket I had in it but the bullet went in my thigh down behind my knee and lodged in my calf muscle! I had to have immediate surgery and the bullet messed up all kinds of nerves but what was the scary part about it was the surgeon told me after all the wounds healed up on the outside was the bullet was so close to my main artery that he said I mightuv could got a hair between them! So yes what he's telling you bout slam firing can happen on those rock island armorys because it definitely happened to me!! So if anyone owns one just be careful because I wouldn't want anyone to experience the pain I've went through!!! Thank you Paul Harrell for giving me the understanding of what happened to me! I appreciate it!!!!👍🏻👍🏻

I watch paul because.hes straight to the point..and proves the point. Legitimate or not..i have 4 r.i.a.i have never had a failure...can shoot and hit 12 inch steel at 50 yards..

So to sum up, the Colt one is more reliable and safer than the Rock Island one (as expected)
Now guess which one is allowed in corrupt California and which one is not!

This is an Excellent Review. Uniquely unbiased. showing pros and cons of each pistol. Nice job !!

How's the RIA now after 3 years great video thank you

I have 1911 pistols built by eour different makers. I feed them with round nose bullets and over the years have had no malfunctions period. I find that reloading with an 8 round magazine requires a very hard hit to lock the magazine. Perhaps JMB knew what he was doing using a seven round magazine.
If you cant cure a threat with seven rounds of .45ACP you either are in over you head or need practice. IMHO

I owned a Colt "1991" in 9mm. One of those new ones you speak of. First range trip, the rear sight fell off. Second range trip, the ejector bend out of the frame and seized up the gun. Both repairs were quoted a 8-12 week turnaround time.
I now own a Rock Island .22TCM, and it has performed 100%

I have a RIA M1911 A1FS Tactical and it is dead on accurate. and I have 10 Wilson Combat mags fir it. Heritage ammo is extremely dirty and will require more frequent cleaning.

Great video paul

Look we all know you keep 1 in the thing

I have NEVER, I repeat NEVER, failed to engage the grip safety on ANY 1911 I've ever shot.( And that's a bunch.) Training matters. Correct grip matters.

Paul Harrell: to comment on what you pinned, "Hey everyone, there's a lot of questions about running the pistol empty. Part of my training with the 1911 was to reload before you're empty so you're not standing there with an empty gun."

It doesn't matter if you reload the semi-auto with one round still in the chamber or run it empty. What do people do with six shot revolvers? Do you think they count to five and then drop out one live round to load another six? GTFOH! If during the heat of combat you shoot until you depress the trigger and get no more bang, it's time to reload the pistol. Practicing a quick reload is extremely important for getting you back into the action as fast as possible. Just make sure you have fully loaded 'high quality' magazines at the ready.

I ordered 1 from Bud's Guns after pricing others 1911 Colt, Springfield, Kare, S&W not available in CA most of them were in 700 + all the way to $1500 for C&R model Colt ouch by getting RIA I saved some money plus I am able to get MP Shield 40 CA to round out my collection getting 2 guns for the price of one is good thing. :)

I'm looking forward to getting a RIA 1911A1

what would be your other top guns for a buck?

Don't mess with Paul, if you know what's good for you. If a 'slam-fire' is possible when chambering a round, then the pistol is prone to doubling/tripling/quadrupling, etc. every time it's fired, basically, a 7-shot Tommy Gun. I suppose anything's possible.

I really enjoyed your video. If I may, how about some closeups of the guns, like when you were doing the part on grip safety and the slam fire block.

I dont know if it was the magazines or ammo or what, but i was running federal 230 grain 45s through my RIA 1911 and man did i get a lot of failure to feeds with it last time on the range. Maybe its just a 1 off, maybe not. Still concerning.

Why is it bad to "run the pistol empty"? Is it a firing pin issue?