Auto Ordnance vs Rock Island 1911s

J

JJ45

New member
Wondering if anyone can compare the two as far as 1911 quality.

What I do know is the AO is US made and "series 80"
RI made in Philippines and "series 70"... Pretty sure this is correct.

I also remember AO had some QC problems in the past but has apparently improved...I could be wrong.
 
I can't speak to AO but I can speak to the RIA 1911. I have a RIA 10mm Tactical 2 5" barrel, and when it was new it had a problem of randomly locking the slide back during shooting. A trip back to RIA (cost me FREE) and it's been 100% reliable as far as cycling goes. I went to start shooting some "real 10mm" and the pistol kinda choked on the hot stuff, a simple recoil spring change and now it eats any ammo I've thrown in it.

I'm not sure when it happened but the front sight post had come loose causing really bad accuracy. I had a local smith restake the front sight and now it groups well at 25 yards, but not where the sights point. I just haven't had time to adjust the sights yet.

Long winded post sorry, but in short RIA is fine for the $ paid but it's possible it may need some tweaking.
 
RIA's customer service was top notch when I had to use it for a cracked grip panel. They sent me a new set for free. I had an officer model in .45 acp parkerized. Ran good, but was a bit heavy for me to carry all day. If I was looking for a sub $500 1911, RIA Standard or an American Classic II would be on my list. Remington R1's were under $500 for a while at GaG too.
 
I had an AO 1911 in the mid to late 80s as a group buy when I was in the service. it was the worst 1911 I ever owned. reliability with FMJ was spotty and hollow points made it choke on every magazine tried.
 
I only have a sample size of 1 AO, and 2 acquaintances with RIA's, so take this with a grain of salt, but if you're just looking at a basic GI 1911 I think its a wash between the two. The AO comes with the arched MSH with lanyard loop, and a more authentic looking finish if you want the old look.

I like RIA, but I haven't had any problems with my AO, it had the look I was going for, and I get the warm fuzzies when I buy American.
 
Auto-Ordnance has been owned by several companies over the years. The A-O 1911s that were spotty (and that's being generous) in quality mostly date to a period when A-O was owned by Numrich and the guns were made in New York. A-O has been owned by Kahr Arms for at least a decade, and their quality now is generally acceptable. Certainly not up there with the multi-thousand dollar, semi-custom makers like Ed Brown, but in the same ballpark as the three Philippine makers.
 
The Kahr made AO is ok if all you want to shoot is hardball. The Rock Island will handle anything you want to run in it. I dunno about AO warranty but RIA has a lifetime warranty for the life of the gun no matter who originally bought it. I had a West Hurley AO and it was a great gun after everything but the slide and frame was replaced.
 
I prefer the appearance of the A-O, as the contours are spot-on, while the ARMSCOR/Rock Island frames are off just enough to bother me.
 
I prefer the appearance of the A-O, as the contours are spot-on, while the ARMSCOR/Rock Island frames are off just enough to bother me.
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Appearances don't mean much when it's trigger pullin time.
 
the ARMSCOR/Rock Island frames are off just enough to bother me.
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Rick, please expand on this, as the RIA's I've owned appear to be rock stock original beyond the cast 4140 frame, which, for more $$ I'd expect to be forged 4140.
 
when the two products are equal in reliability and roughly equal in price, the appearance is often what tips the scales.
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From what I've read on various forums they're not equal in reliability except with hardball. I don't have any personal experience with the Kahr 1911 but my RIA runs any type ammo you want to feed it flawlessly. About all it gets these days is home cast SWC's and a few steel cased hardball rounds but it has fed several types of hollow points with no problems whatsoever. Heck the thing will even feed empty cases.
 
Quote:
the ARMSCOR/Rock Island frames are off just enough to bother me.
Rick, please expand on this, as the RIA's I've owned appear to be rock stock original beyond the cast 4140 frame, which, for more $$ I'd expect to be forged 4140.
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The shape of the trigger guard, and the contours around the trigger are not Colt/G.I.
I have no opinion, one way or another, about the pistol, beyond that observation.
 
From what I've read on various forums they're not equal in reliability except with hardball. I don't have any personal experience with the Kahr 1911 but my RIA runs any type ammo you want to feed it flawlessly.
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I have first-hand experience with both Rock Island 1911s and Auto-Ordnance 1911s. My experience is that they are equally reliable.
 
From what I've read on various forums they're not equal in reliability except with hardball.
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The old AO pistols were infamous for being picky about ammo, even hardball. I have seen few such complaints in the last decade. The AO barrels have been throated for hollow points for a number of years.
 
I've sold a bunch of Rock Islands and I've always been impressed. I wouldn't hesitate if I needed another 1911. No personal experience with any AOs, but I've read enough negative to avoid them.
 
CarJunkieLS1 said:
I can't speak to AO but I can speak to the RIA 1911. I have a RIA 10mm Tactical 2 5" barrel, and when it was new it had a problem of randomly locking the slide back during shooting. A trip back to RIA (cost me FREE) and it's been 100% reliable as far as cycling goes. I went to start shooting some "real 10mm" and the pistol kinda choked on the hot stuff, a simple recoil spring change and now it eats any ammo I've thrown in it.

I'm not sure when it happened but the front sight post had come loose causing really bad accuracy. I had a local smith restake the front sight and now it groups well at 25 yards, but not where the sights point. I just haven't had time to adjust the sights yet.

Long winded post sorry, but in short RIA is fine for the $ paid but it's possible it may need some tweaking.
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Problems with the slide not locking back are almost always a magazine problem in a 1911.
 
dahermit said:
Problems with the slide not locking back are almost always a magazine problem in a 1911.
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Whereas problems with the slide locking open randomly before the magazine is empty, which is what I think CarJunkieLS1 was talking about, are usually attributable to the slide stop.
 
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