Posted: 10/28/2005 11:38:31 AM EDT
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I've heard a lot of good things about Rock Island. Some good and some bad about Springfield. I'll be buying a .45 soon and wondered what you all think about these two pistols side by side. Which one should I buy? Thanks. |
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I guess I must have one of the "magic" RIA's. Mine is in spec in everything I've tried. Had my gunsmith install sights and did a trigger job with new trigger/hammer, etc and it's all perfect. Shot a couple 1000 round with no problems. Polished the feed ramp and it feed JHP's 100% too. For $309 out the door I can't see how I could have gone wrong. And there are people with LOTS of round thru their RIA's without any problems, they've sold these in the Phillapines for years. But if you still think Cast = bad....buy a Springer..also don't every buy a FN/Browning HP, since those are Cast as well. 
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Thanks! Lots of good input, especially from Hobbs and Tim... Unless I get a smoking good deal on a RIA...like at or under $300....I'll probably spend the extra c-note to go to a Springfield. The heat treating and non-spec parts observations from Hobbs kinda did it for me....However, for $290 I'd probably take a chance with nothing more than that at risk... |
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I bought a RIA...the damned thing was throwing steel splinters back in my face every time I pulled the trigger. I went home from the range one day with blood running down my face and got to dig a small steel splinter out of my eyebrow with tweezers. Nice. The RIA was a nice looking pistol. I got it really cheap from Lauer Custom Weaponry (I live just a few miles from their store). It had been a Shot Show demonstrator that had one of their nice custom finishes. LCW does back up everyting they sell and Greg, their gunsmith, fixed the problem at no charge. LCW is a great group of guys and they took care of me but after you have a pistol spit metal back in your face you just never feel the same about that piece again, if you know what I mean. To make a long story short, I traded my RIA in for a Springfield. They are selling a lot more pistol for only a little more money. |
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Springfield I bought my Springfield GI45 model on sale for $389 brand spankin new with 5 factory mags and a tshirt  I have two bitches about mine as of right now though: #1 the extractor needs to be tweaked as its throwing spent casings directly at my forehead #2 I should have paid better attention to the pistol when I bought it because I really don't like the sites on it. |
So have you actually had bad experiences with their warranty dept? Whenever I had questions, non[warranty related, Ivan at Armscor has been very helpfull. He's very active on 1911forum.com, and offers to help owners with any problems they run into. Most of the problems seem to have been from older RIA's |
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I agree with everyone else here.....Springfield all the way. You buy a firearm to be reliable, fun and a LIFE SAVING weapon. I've learned from my many years(40+) of buying and shooting handguns that it pays to spend a little more and buy quality. Save your money and don't buy cheap!!! I've owned and shot all the cheapest POS I could buy! I learned from experience! |
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Buy both. I did. RIA for me and Springfield GI for my partner. I have had really good luck with my RIA. It has been very reliable to the point of putting my Kimber and Series 70 Colt to shame. If you go over to the 1911 Forum forums.1911forum.com/forumdisplay.php?f=32 you will find many positive reviews on the RIA. As far as warranty issues, I find it's best to hold the factory accountable 1st before taking a gun to a gunsmith. I've heard nothing but good service reports concerning RIA. Next 1911, I pick up, will probably be a loaded Springfield as they are nice guns too. If you can afford it, I would recomend you get a Springfield Milspec over a Springfield GI or RIA. Sights are way better and the longer grip safety will make the gun far more enjoyable to shoot. |
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A 40 ounce of Old English, or a bottle of Cristal Champagne. I don't want to offend anyone, but I see no comparison. While they may both get the job done, which one typically does it better? Which one uses more in spec parts? Which one uses higher quality parts? I respect Armscor, Charles Daly, and Rock Island Armory just for being in the business, but they're a whole different segment of the 1911 market. It's your money, spend it how you want. If I only had $300 and wanted the cheapest option available, I'd buy a used SA/Colt/Kimber. If I had to buy the cheapest thing available NIB, I guess it would be one of the Armscor associates. JMO. Springfield Armory by a long shot. |
| i had paid around 385 for mine a couple of years ago. Before that i had bought a SIGMA .40s&w and a CZ50, so i was fairly new to handguns. I had wanted a 1911 style pistol and the only ones in the case were WAY out of my price range, other than a RIA mil-spec and a Llama. I think i chose the best of the two, I have not regretted my purchase and all parts that i put in were drop in parts, other than the Wilson Beaver tail. So AFAIK it's all MIL-SPEC, with the exception of the grip screw bushings. it's got some slight peening on the slide stop area, but it also has well over 2k rounds, but it's less than the Para thats in the rental case at the gunshop i work at, and it only has less than 1k thru it. Personally, holding both side by side, Springfield and RIA, i can't tell a difference. To me they seem to be well made, and the ones that i've sold the people have been extremely happy with them. I've seen them shot on the range with no problems other than minor break in issues that other 1911's have had. |
