My son's RIA 1911 kicks the something of my expensive 1911 pistol

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Gene Pool

New member
My son and I both bought new 1911 style pistols recently. His is a 10mm from RIA, mine is a 38 super from the American company that has been around for over 100 years producing 1911 pistols (I am intentionally avoiding mentioning the name of this old company). My son's pistol cost about half of what mine did. His RIA shoots tight groups perfectly reliable and the trigger is smooth and crisp. My pistol shoots tight groups way off to the side because the front sight is mounted (staked) off center on the slide approximately .037", and the trigger pull is "crunchy." The company that made my pistol is notorious for long waits on warranty work, so I will pay a gunsmith to cut a dove tail in the slide and mount a new front sight. And also put in a new trigger/hammer assembly from Cylinder and Slide to remedy the trigger pull.

My point is, just because something costs more and has a recognized brand name doesn't necessarily mean it will be good.

(Signed) A less than happy gun buyer,

Gene Pool
 
I hope you're not talking about Colt, because everyone knows that Colt is the only company that can make a "real 1911" and all others, ESPECIALLY the cheaper brands, and ESPECIALLY the (God forbid) foreign brands are instantly junk because they don't "wear the pony" and aren't a Colonel Samuel Colt's Automatic Belt Pistol of Army Caliber designed by Mr. John Moses Browning our Savior. 'MERICA!! :rolleyes:
 
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I have 3 ria 1911's. Never had a single hiccup with function or reliability. Finish is lacking on these but at the price they sale for you can't complain.
 
Yup I have two Taurus BASTARD 1911s 9 & 45 putting aprx 3-400 rds a month average. The 45 has 1200 flawless rds the 9mm 400rds I did have to adjust the tension on the 9mm ejector myself runs 100%. I got them for range use and they work well. Both were 549$. Ive owned two RIAs and they also ran 100% after break in.
 
I got a chance to shoot my buddy's RIA .45 1911 and thought it shot pretty well. No complaints or issues here. I only shot around 40 or so rounds so its not much trigger time. I'll keep you informed in the coming months as he racks up a round count. Then time will tell how it holds up, or doesn't. :)
 
My pistol shoots tight groups way off to the side because the front sight is mounted (staked) off center on the slide approximately .037"[/QUOTE

The front sight being over the center of the slide is meaningless. The front sight should be placed over the center of the barrel bore and the rear sight notch should be centered over the firing pin. This will usually give you a very good baseline and small adjustments can be made to the rear sight for the individual if needed.
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That is the operative phrase. I have a Dan Wesson Valor that shot over two inches to the left at 30 feet for both me and an LEO that I shoot with who,is pretty darn good.

Front sight and rear were well centered. The fix was to drift the rear sight over to the right .020 inches to correct.

It shoots just fine now but the rear sight is visibly way to the right which IMO really sucks on such an expensive pistol.
 
Accuracy is one thing 1911 buyers look for. Another is fit and finish.

The more expensive 1911 pistols will best RIA and other lower cost guns in fit and finish. My Ruger 1911s are quite accurate but do not compare to the finish and fit of my Dan Wesson 1911s.
 
I have heard that Colt has had issues with staking sights. They have had spotty quality in the past years and I think personally I would avoid them when in the market for another 1911. Ria's kick butt for their price, and I would buy one in a heart beat if limited on funds and had to have a 1911.
 
Was that a new production Colt? They're using a lot of CNC nowadays, seems odd the sight would be off by that much. Regardless, long wait times for their warranty work is news to me. I had mine back within a few weeks when I had trouble with it a while back.
 
I have heard that Colt has had issues with staking sights. They have had spotty quality in the past years and I think personally I would avoid them when in the market for another 1911. Ria's kick butt for their price, and I would buy one in a heart beat if limited on funds and had to have a 1911.
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I'm betting you don't have any personal experience with Colt. They've been putting out excellent guns for a number of years now, maybe the best in their history, since retooling the factory. That doesn't mean that one with an issue doesn't escape now and again, it's unfortunate but it happens to all the manufacturers. The thing to do in this case would be to use the warranty and let them make good on it rather than complain about their service that you never used.


And there's nothing wrong with RIAs, I've owned a couple. They're solid guns built to a specific price point and, thanks in no small part to their excellent customer service, they dominate the lower end of the 1911 market. However, in order to make those price points something has to give somewhere and you see it in the quality of components and the fit and finish, which take time with any 1911. For the casual shooter, none of it probably matters, they'll be reasonably accurate and usually reliable. The real win comes if/when you need service because they go over and above to take care of problems, some of the best CS in the business.
 
I've owned two RIAs and they also ran 100% after break in.
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I bought my RIA and read about the 500 round break-in and prepared for it. After I shot 400+ rounds without a malfunction of any kind, I quit counting and just kept shooting. I had read that 9mm have more difficulties in a 1911 but apparently it was other brands.
 
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