For what it's worth, I visited Rock River Arms in August 1999. I was impressed by their operation and the pistols I examined. I ordered a pistol in September, including an additional longslide upper with 6" barrel. In January I changed the order, basically to two Basic Limited Match Pistols.
I received the first pistol last week. This is a standard, 5" barrel pistol, but I had the upper sent for Black-T coating, and have tritium-insert Bomar sights with a stainless frame. This pistol was actually done a month or so ago, but I was hoping they could ship both pistols together, to stiff UPS the extra $30. The pistol was delayed by a couple months for the Black T coating, but hey, I have other 1911's I can shoot!
Gay went ahead and shipped this pistol since I have a Ken Hackathorn class this weekend. The test target (50 yards, 10 shots) is about two inches, and the pistol looks great. It isn't quite as tight in frame to slide fit as my Les Baer Premier II (which was damn near impossible to cycle), but the bushing to barrel fit on the RRA is quite snug! Don't misunderstand--there is no slop or play, it's just that you can cycle the slide by hand. The additional delay on the long slide pistol is that it just wasn't shooting as accurately as they require. I appreciate a shop that determines that before they ship it, I find out, and have to return it!
I asked them to set the trigger at about 4# since it will be carried defensively. The pistol looks great, with no evident flaws in workmanship. The trigger is completely crisp and consistent. The pistol came with an 8-round Metalform magazine. I've not had great results with Metalform in the past, and have found that Shooting Stars or Wilson-Rogers mags usually work better in my 1911's. The gun arrived relatively dry. I stripped, inspected, and lubricated it prior to firing.
I was able to put about 250 rounds through the pistol this morning. I had one feeding jam with FMJ and two with Speer Gold Dot 200 gr JHP ammo. All three were early on, and all three occured with the Metalform mag. I had no jams with the Shooting Star mags.
Accuracy is excellent. I don't have a Ransom Rest, and I think to tell any significant difference in accuracy between my RRA, Les Baer's, or Kimber target 1911's, I'd have to use such a rest. The supplied 50 yard target with the RRA gun is superb. I generally find the Speer Gold Dot 200 gr ammo to be more accurate then the hardball Federal I routinely use for training. The Speer was shooting a ragged single hole when fired offhand at 12 yards.
I'm quite pleased with the pistol. Unlike my early Les Baer Premier II, I can cycle it by hand and disassemble it without power tools. Unlike my my Concept VIII, it didn't drop the firing pin stop out on the second mag or require the Incredible Hulk to manipulate the slide lock. RRA appears to have ensured that the gun was ready to go before they shipped it. I prefer their approach to quality control, rather than the attitude of "ship the gun and see if it comes back".
RRA also allows much more customization of a pistol then Kimber or Les Baer, and their prices are significantly lower than Les Baer. I'm looking forward to trying out the 6" longslide. I suspect their waiting times will grow rapidly, but it will be worth the wait. This is a two-brother shop, and it is only them doing the work.
[This message has been edited by Hawkeye (edited August 08, 2000).]
I received the first pistol last week. This is a standard, 5" barrel pistol, but I had the upper sent for Black-T coating, and have tritium-insert Bomar sights with a stainless frame. This pistol was actually done a month or so ago, but I was hoping they could ship both pistols together, to stiff UPS the extra $30. The pistol was delayed by a couple months for the Black T coating, but hey, I have other 1911's I can shoot!
Gay went ahead and shipped this pistol since I have a Ken Hackathorn class this weekend. The test target (50 yards, 10 shots) is about two inches, and the pistol looks great. It isn't quite as tight in frame to slide fit as my Les Baer Premier II (which was damn near impossible to cycle), but the bushing to barrel fit on the RRA is quite snug! Don't misunderstand--there is no slop or play, it's just that you can cycle the slide by hand. The additional delay on the long slide pistol is that it just wasn't shooting as accurately as they require. I appreciate a shop that determines that before they ship it, I find out, and have to return it!
I asked them to set the trigger at about 4# since it will be carried defensively. The pistol looks great, with no evident flaws in workmanship. The trigger is completely crisp and consistent. The pistol came with an 8-round Metalform magazine. I've not had great results with Metalform in the past, and have found that Shooting Stars or Wilson-Rogers mags usually work better in my 1911's. The gun arrived relatively dry. I stripped, inspected, and lubricated it prior to firing.
I was able to put about 250 rounds through the pistol this morning. I had one feeding jam with FMJ and two with Speer Gold Dot 200 gr JHP ammo. All three were early on, and all three occured with the Metalform mag. I had no jams with the Shooting Star mags.
Accuracy is excellent. I don't have a Ransom Rest, and I think to tell any significant difference in accuracy between my RRA, Les Baer's, or Kimber target 1911's, I'd have to use such a rest. The supplied 50 yard target with the RRA gun is superb. I generally find the Speer Gold Dot 200 gr ammo to be more accurate then the hardball Federal I routinely use for training. The Speer was shooting a ragged single hole when fired offhand at 12 yards.
I'm quite pleased with the pistol. Unlike my early Les Baer Premier II, I can cycle it by hand and disassemble it without power tools. Unlike my my Concept VIII, it didn't drop the firing pin stop out on the second mag or require the Incredible Hulk to manipulate the slide lock. RRA appears to have ensured that the gun was ready to go before they shipped it. I prefer their approach to quality control, rather than the attitude of "ship the gun and see if it comes back".
RRA also allows much more customization of a pistol then Kimber or Les Baer, and their prices are significantly lower than Les Baer. I'm looking forward to trying out the 6" longslide. I suspect their waiting times will grow rapidly, but it will be worth the wait. This is a two-brother shop, and it is only them doing the work.
[This message has been edited by Hawkeye (edited August 08, 2000).]
