Topic: Anybody have/tried a Rock Island 45?

[broncovan]

A buddy of mine on a budget is looking for a 45acp.  Jeff has a Rock Island on Gallery of Guns for a pretty good price. 

Any thoughts on these?

http://www6.davidsonsinc.com/consumers/subsites/inven_product.asp?dealer_id=690808&item=51416&instock=all&manufact_combo=Rock+Island+Armory&mod_ser_combo=None&category_combo=None&model=None&g_type=None&act_type=&finish_type=None&calib_combo=45AP&sight_class_combo=None&price_range=None&left_handed=&youth=&Offset_rec=0&num_rec=50&item_num=

[Jaggy13]

I have run the poop out of a 9mm version,
and I can honestly say it's been a great pistol,
but....

As pops warned me the metallurgy is not the best.
what I have noticed is the slide has started to widen out.
and the thumb safeties snapped after about 5k. (I am left handed and work the weaker side a little more than most.)

Mine is and was purchased to be a high round count pistol.
My long term plan was to replace pretty much everything and keep the stock stuff in my parts box.

My recommendation would be, as long as its a low round count pistol, tough to beat.
Being 9mm I basically have a bull barrel and the slide is barely moving to cycle. not a lot of stress on things. .45 is going to be a little more stressful on all of the parts.

[dutch1911]

You get what you pay for...
I won't buy anything other than a Colt...

[MarkinIdaho]

I had an RIA .45 - full sized.  I absolutely loved it!  And in this case, you get more than what you pay for.  Unfortunately, it was one of the victims in paying for a divorce attorney! If I was in your friends spot, I'd jump on it.  Can't go wrong.

[J Mack]

You get what you pay for...
I won't buy anything other than a Colt...

So what do you think about broncovan's original question?
Would the Rock Island .45 make a good pistol for the money?





I believe the Rock Island .45 for $398.99 it’s going to be hard to beat for a self-defense 1911 style pistol and I’m guessing by the 3.5" Bull Barrel in the model you listed that this will be its intended use.

Another alternative for about $100 more would be the Springfield XD or XDm
Like one of these: http://www6.davidsonsinc.com/consumers/subsites/inven_product.asp?dealer_id=690808&item=XD9161HCSP06&instock=all&manufact_combo=Springfield+Armory&mod_ser_combo=XD&category_combo=1&model=XD&g_type=None&act_type=&finish_type=None&calib_combo=45AP&sight_class_combo=None&price_range=None&left_handed=&youth=&Offset_rec=0&num_rec=50&item_num=   

For the record I won’t buy anything other than a SVI! No disrespect to John Moses Browning or Colt but Sandy Strayer has improved on every aspect of the 1911 and brought the design into the 21st century.
A factory Infinity pistol will kick a factory Colt pistol’s ass every day of the week and twice on Sunday for design/function and metallurgy and in today’s market place Colt would be a distant second to a handful of manufactures.
Welcome to the 21st century Dutch!   
       

[Nealio]

You get what you pay for...
I won't buy anything other than a Colt...

You got a really good "name" for you money then....

[emathey]

And for the price of the XD (or depending on the model a lot less) you could buy a Glock!  I assume you're only interested in a 1911 however.

[luvmy45]

I love 1911's, duh. But I would be hesitant on a 3.5" low cost 1911... shortening the barrel changes things, and reliability on 3.5" low cost 1911 would be a concern of mine. I carry a 3.5", so I'm not dissing the platform, just saying...

If this were for carry, the price is hard to beat, but I would want to thoroughly function test it to be certain for carry, good mags would be a must.

If the intended user is not familiar with the manual of arms of a 1911, and is looking for a carry gun, I would probably, (audience gasps) suggest a M&P or Glock (The XD are fine, but IMHO are butt ugly in the smaller size's)

[broncovan]

And for the price of the XD (or depending on the model a lot less) you could buy a Glock!  I assume you're only interested in a 1911 however.

No, he isn't stuck on a 1911, I was just looking and found that for him.

He's a local LEO and found out today that what his price point for a Glock through the PD is.  He's going to get a 21 I'm sure.  More for HD than carry.

Why doesn't Glock make a 45 in a compact size instead of straight to subcompact?

[birddog1989]

Because Glock does what Glock wants.

[Kcboats]

Had a full sized RIA in .45 and loved it, only thing I did was replace the internals (springs and such) did not need to do it but had a bunch of Wilson parts laying around...good gun overall.  Would buy another one in a heart beat, still would prefer a Springfield tho.
 

[Jaggy13]

Why doesn't Glock make a 45 in a compact size instead of straight to subcompact?

I owned a G27 and G30 at the same time and was surprised at how much bigger the 30 was. Its really closer to the size of a 19/23 than it is to the subcompact 26/27. Plus... you can get a light rail on the 30 that doesn't come on the 26/27.

My .02 a light is one of the most important things to have for HD.

[eddymunster]

The 30 and 19 are almost exactly the same dimensions other than width of course. My G30 has the rail.