Posted: 2/8/2014 1:25:55 PM EDT
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Hello everyone,
I just got back from some range time with a Citadel 1911 I recently purchased. I haven't seen too much online about these so I'd like to give my general opinion about the gun. I'd been wanting a 1911 for a while, but didn't want to spend more than say $600 on a new gun, which really narrowed down my options. I ended up with the Citadel after reading that it is made by Armscor, who also makes the RIA guns. The vast majority of the RIA reviews I've read are favorable, with a few scattered reviews saying that the Citadel is more or less a Rock Island with a few minor, mostly cosmetic differences. I figured even if I didn't like it, I'd only be out $500, so I went ahead and layed down the cash. A little about the gun: (Sorry no Pics) I bought the full size version in .45 ACP. The gun came with plain wood grips, an ambidextrous safety, beavertail grip safety, skeletonized trigger and hammer, the whole 9 yards. It came with 2 8 round mags, both marked "Armscor." The grips on mine are noting special, but I did notice that another Citadel I picked up had lighter colored grips that were fatter than the ones on my gun, so there may be some variation. At any rate, after field stripping it and cleaning out a ton of packing grease, I took it out to the range. At the time of purchase, the only ammo the store had besides hollow points was Monarch branded 230gr steel cased FMJ. I know a lot of people prefer brass, as do I, but I decided that if it would eat steel it would eat anything. Here's where the fun began: After firing the first shot, I went to shoot a second and got nothing. The 2nd round had failed to feed and was sitting stuck half in the magazine. I cleared the jam and fired a second shot. The gun failed to feed again, although this time the round had cleared the magazine and was stuck halfway in the chamber. During both malfunctions the fired round had ejected. At this point I was getting concerned, but after the 2 initial hiccups, the gun worked flawlessly with both mags. I put roughly 125 rounds of the steel 230gr, and 2 mags of Federal blue box hollow points through it with no trouble whatsoever. (Interestingly enough, my 9mm was having feeding issues with brass cased ammo, a gun that I've never had jam. I'm guessing having both guns completely dry wasn't helping.) As far as accuracy goes , I was able to keep all of the rounds in a paper plate at both the 7 and 15 yard lines. That's not saying much, but I rarely shoot handguns and need some major practice, so I was happy. Overall I like the gun. It's not much to look at compared to higher end brands, and I think the parkerized finish could have been done a little better, but that's about it. All in all, for a budget 1911, I feel the Century is a good deal. As always though YMMV 
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1911's like to run wet, When I was on my units shooting team (Army) was jokingly told if you didn't have lube dripping off your elbow it was probably too dry.
I use grease on the rails(Tetra or Magnalube G and anything else that slides) and oil on anything that pivots (CLP). If I remember correctly the original specs called for 2/3rds grease 1/3rd oil for basic lubricant for the 1911. Current best grease for 1911's thread |