Tuesday, April 17, 2012

Update for Gun Review #5: Rock Island GI Tactical 1911

Hey folks, 12-Gauge Chimp here with a quick update for my review of the RIA GI Tactical 1911.

A few weeks back, I got the chance to go to the range and test out my 1911. Seeing as I had a limited amount of ammo ( 100 rounds of Federal 230 grain FMJ), I decided to just test accuracy and function as well as my magazines. I loaded my seven magazines and headed out to test my gun. The mags were all from various companies, so I wanted to see just which ones worked and which ones didn't. The brands of magazines I had were, Kimber, KimPro, Colt, ACT-Mag (which is the factory magazine for RIA guns), Chip McCormick and an unmarked magazine. The unmarked mag is similar in design to the ACT-Mags so they may very well be the same brand, I honestly have no idea.

I first loaded the RIA 1911 with the factory magazine and proceeded to fire off eight rounds at a 12"x12" target placed at about 25 yards. My first shot missed completely, but since this was my first time ever firing a .45 or semi auto handgun, this was to be expected. After firing that mag and and determining it functioned well, I moved on to the Kimber mag. Again, I fired the mag through the gun with no problems. The next two mags ( KimPro and No Name) were just the same. When I got to the Colt mag, that's when I had some trouble.

Apparently, the spring was weak in the Colt mag and that caused a FTF (Failure to Feed) on every other shot. Finally, I had enough and just quite using the Colt mag, which sucks because it's a nice mag. If the floor plate was removable, which sadly it is not, I could probably just replace the spring and be done with it.

After that little screw up, I moved on to the next factory mag. Again, it functioned well and fed each round reliably. Now onto the accuracy test.

I set up a target at 25 yards and carefully took aim. I fired a seven round mag and an eight round mag at it and managed to keep all rounds on target with the majority in the black. Four rounds were in the white, but still on paper. Unlike my first target during the magazine function test. Now, I did have a couple jams, but nothing too serious. Even though I had never fired a semi auto pistol until that point, clearing the jams felt almost natural to me.

Overall, I fired about 81 rounds through my RIA 1911, not including the two shots fired through it at the factory for testing purposes.

Aside from some minor hiccups, the RIA GI Tactical 1911 functioned like a champ and after I complete the factory suggested 500 round break in period, this gun will become part of my EDC once I get the required concealed carry permit from my state.

All in all, the Rock Island Armory GI Tactical 1911 in .45 ACP gets the 12-Gauge Chimp Seal of Approval.

As always, this is 12-Gauge Chimp signing off.