Picked up a friend for my carbine

[imarangemaster]

I was at my buddy's gun shop and he showed me a pakerized 1911 he had for $399. It was a Rock Island. (Before the REAL Colt snobs squawk, I handled and fired one several years ago and it shot as well out of the box as the Springfield Armory 1911 I had did.) They are made in the Philippines on CNC machines and are 100% interchangeable with GI 1911A1. It was slick and smooth, 3 lb trigger, and pakerizing was VERY nice and even,

After seeing it this time, I did some research and the reports are good. Some use them as basic platforms to build up their own whatever guns. Anyway, I did some horse trading and brought it home. After all, I have that original M1916, 1943 Boyt holster on my carbine belt. With the year I have had, I lucky to get any 1911!

It came with smooth wood grips, and a early 1911 style flat backstrap and narrow Hammer. I promptly replaced those with an arched 1911A1 backstrap with lanyard ring, wide GI 1911A1 hammer, and brown bakelite GI grips out of my junk left over from when I did gun shows. It looks just like the Ithaca 1911A1 I carried as an MP in the early 70s.

Pics to follow later today, paired up with the carbine wearing its Type V walnut stock and late bolt and slide. After all, I want to make sure I keep this "on topic" for the carbine forum!

Information

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[Curt]

Sweet

[gunner]

Rangemaster,

ich bin neugierig den Freund ihres Carbines kennen zu lernen.

Regards

Gunner

[phillydude]

Rangemaster,

ich bin neugierig den Freund ihres Carbines kennen zu lernen.

Regards

Gunner

ROUGH TRANSLATION IS :
I is to be got to know curiously the friend of her Carbines

[rlex]

I have a Rock Island 45 ACP that I got 4 years ago for my birthday - I have put a thousand rounds through it and never had a problem with it. I replaced the wood grips with some black plastic grips that made it look more like what we used in the NAVY in the 80's.

I started reloading 45 ACP in December and have had good luck so far.

[gunner]

phillydude,

Good translation! It is very close to be perfect for our not so easy to learn language.

Regards

Gunner

[phillydude]

Ich BETRÜGTE ich VERWENDE DIESE ÜBERSETZUNGS WEBSITE


Free Translation Online

[imarangemaster]

Here it is with the carbine and my web gear:



Here is a close up showing the arched A1 back strap, wide spur hammer, and GI bakelite grips: Looks like the Ithaca I carried as an MP in the early 1970s...



I did about 50 rounds, and it easily held 2" off-hand at 10 yards. It also bounced pop cans with monotonous regularity, point shooting over the top of the slide. I forgot haw good a 1911A1 feels in the hand!

BTW, I use Google translations when I get stuck or can't remember a vocabulary word.

For Gunner: Dieses hier jetz ist meinen Karbiner und 1911A1 selbst-laden Pistole!

[BHP]

Looks good to me, RM. I do have a couple questions. Internet rumors state that USGI parts will swap only with some hand fitting. True? And could this be because Rock Island tolerances are tighter?

[imarangemaster]

I am guessing that is mostly mis-information being disseminated by those with interests in Auto Ord, Springfield, etc. or maybe even STI and Colt snobs. Gun Broker has these for $370 to $390 with free delivery (with the wood grips and flat back strap). If it was widely known how good they were, that would hurt the expensive guys over inflated prices. Remember when the Norinco 1911s came in, the same mis-information was spread. Later, when the truth was out (but they were no longer imported), they became highly sought after for platforms for match guns...

I just did an article for the SASS Cowboy Chronicle (I am a staff writer there) on this Rock Island 1911 for a Wild Bunch side match gun. It gets my all time "Best Buy for the Buck" award. This is one sweet son of a gun! I have replaced my Glock as my fanny pack road trip weapon with the 1911 Rock Island. Even seeing a 1911A1 in the hand is a great deterrent to two legged goblins and malefactors.

On the other one I handled 4 or 5 years ago, we tried a Colt WW2 slide on it, and an unknown GI barrel. It worked great. We also tried a GI trigger and it worked, too. On this one, the hammer, back strap and grips fit perfect too. Out of the box, the trigger pull is about 3 lbs with no creep. When I put the 1911A1 GI hammer and strut in, it got heavier...maybe 4.5 to 5 lbs, but that is OK for a cocked and locked carry weapon. It doesn't rattle, though, like my GI Ithaca did, so maybe the tolerances are tighter. For a carry gun, the wood grips are actually very dense and very pretty.