Rock Island 1911 a good start?

I have always wanted to build a 1911 of my own and recently recieved a plain brushed nickel Rock Island 1911 in a partial trade. My main concern and question is if the Rock Island would be a solid foundation to start customizing on and will I have a huge issue with getting piece parts from quality manufacturers to work? My main mods from the outset would be to change the trigger setup along with some magwell and grip modifications. I mainly want the slide assembly and frame off of the Rock Island and want to slowly add parts and customize on my own along the way. Will the Rock Island do me ok or are there flaws or weaknesses that I will run into?

thanks

The only problems I've ever heard about Rock Islands are fit and finish related. As a basic pistol, they're decent.

Do it.

No idea what you're talking about.



The sights could also use upgrading (I put a 10-8 on the rear and painted the front sight). Also replaced the springs with a set of Wilson Combat and played around with tweaking the sear spring.

Mine is new and I have shot 400 rounds through it so far with out any problems, fit and finish are just as nice as my Springfield. The gun is tight and I very happy with it.
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Yes.

Thats nice....I really planned on just using the frame and slide assembly for the most part and swap out all the piece parts I want along the way. As far as finish I planned on blasting it since I hate the nickel finish and it has a couple small scratches on it. Thanks for the info! Are there any mag issues with other manufacturers and a difference between 7 and 8rd mags?

in short i would say yes .in long i would say yesssssssssss...... you cant go wrong

I love mine.

So there are no mag issues from any of the manufacturers? Also, the 8rd mags work fine just like the 7rd mags? Just making sure

It would do fine to tinker with, but not a model I would dump a lot of money into.

I think a strong point, may be it's strongest, is RIA are affordable. From my experience I doubt it can outshoot a SA Mil spec, is better built or more reliable but it's not over the hill on what people can afford which is genuinly appreciated by the working class. Like me. Who can drop a rent or house payment on a GI model right now? But if Armscor gets greedy it won't hold it's own against SA or Kimber in sales and 1911 in general will slow down.

I have a 9mm full size right now but have built a commander in the past six months. I went ahead and did a bobtail conversion on it and changed hammer and trigger. The gun was fantastic but a Dan Wesson Classic came up for trade so it went into a deal with some cash. Rock Island right now has the best 1911 for it's low price. That's why they are sold out at most shops around here.

My compact tactical has served me very well so far with no issues whatsoever.

I have a govt tactical with most of the the internals replaced with Wilson Combat parts and a professional trigger job. For a total of about $425 purchase(used) plus parts and the trigger job it is one of my favorites to shoot and has a nicer trigger than the Kimber Ultra CDP 2 that I traded away.
The finish however leaves something to be desired as it has not proven to be all that resilient . This last part is not such a big deal for me. If I can make all the holes touch... whats a little finish wear? It is carried daily and sees about 500 rounds a month of use some times twice as much if I don't blow too much of my budget on stupid stuff.

Ok, I have decided to keep it and make some mods since I don't have much wrapped up in it now. What are some of the best modifications to make to bring it up to a nicer custom shooter that is dependable? I am not saying its not dependable now but rather want to make sure it stays that way. Also, I do plan on a full refinish so messing up the finish a little is not an issue right now.

Thanks!

If your nickel RIA is a 1911-A1 I would change the sights first. If the trigger is good I'd consider a beaver tail grip safety. If your left handed then i'd add an ambidextrous safety. I'd invest in ammo and shoot it till I it developed a problem or I was very proficient.

bought the girl one as her first gun, shoots well, put together well and she just needs a few things changed so overall it'd say they're a good product unless you want to go crazy with something

Sights are the first thing I'd change.

The rest is personal choice.

I added a long trigger to make it consistent with all my other 1911's and added a Wilson mag well (the inexpensive one that hooks over the grip screw bushings) because it was in my parts box and because I run extended 8 round mags and wanted a nicer look than having that last bit of mag sticking out of the bottom.

If you got that in weatherford Im disgruntled. Walked in with my gunsite S&W to trade maybe and there was an empty spot where a railed RI had sat the day before.

Love mine! changed out the spring for a 18 1/2 wolff but thats it.

No I got this in Conroe, TX.

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