Hi All,

Just purchased a Rock Island FS 1911 for occasional carry.  She is no Kimber, but she shoots pretty good for the price point and I haven't had any malfunctions so far.

I don't want to go full custom, but would like to make some simple changes to make her a bit more livable.  Some thoughts are trigger (don't like the stock pull), hammer, beaver tail, better sights (don't need tritium, just some easier to see glow type sights.  I have a shotgun for things that go bump in the night), an extended safety and whatever else makes sense.  

Any thoughts or suggestions on upgrades would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks.

Grips and you're golden.  I wish I had my rock back. It was a great gun for the money. I wouldnt give up my Kimber for one but that thing was accurate as hell and never gave me a bit of trouble. Anyway, here are the grips I put on my 9mm Taurus. I love them and they were cheap on the Amazons.

Nice looking grips !  That is on my list and probably one of the easiest to do.

Yeah, I was surprised at how tight the gun was and how well it shot.  I bought it used (only a test few rounds through it) and it was in like new condition.  Price was awesome and if I can find another in the same condition and price, I''ll scarf it up.

If the slide as Novak sight cuts, I upgraded by going to White Dot.  They're a bit easier for my aging eyes to see.  Though, I think that I'm slightly more accurate with black on black. Nothing wrong with the RIA adjustable rear sight for Novak cut, and they're about half the price of most other Novak style adjustable rear sights. If it has the small military style sights, go with a taller, white dot sight. As was stated, replace the grips. My preference is the double diamond style. Wrap around Pachmyers do not fit well on my frames.  Very tight fit.  So, I don't use them.

When you're talking 1911's, the only simple changes are usually the grips.  Most other parts can be drop-in hit or miss & may need to be fitted to the gun.  Unless you have that knowledge and like to tinker, it may be more cost effective to sell the gun and buy one with the upgrades you want.  Tisas is making a pretty solid gun with a lot of features for cheap these days.  

I picked-up this RIA 9mm for pretty cheap.  I did some basic mods that dropped in.  New trigger from the parts pin (fits kind of loose), Kimber ambi-safety (dropped-in without fitting to the sear), arched MSH, Les Baer grips to help fill-in the wide frame, and orange paint on the front sight.



You can adjust your trigger pull weight yourself if you watch this Atlas video.  Still won't be a professional job, but you can lighten the pull.

Front sights are tenons, any improvement will require getting Novak cuts or similar.  All the other stuff is doable subject to the usual "some fitting may be required".  

You're better off just buying a gun that has the features you want.  Nothing wrong with Rockies, I have two, but it's a basic gun that doesn't really lend itself to a lot of upgrades.  The project will cost you more than you think.

Heres my Rock Island GI 45 with upgraded John Harrison "Retro" sights.
https://www.harrisoncustom.com/hd-003-retro-rear-sight

I paid $200 and something in change to have the sights and installation installed on my pistol by John.
Work was very professional and happy how it turned out.

HD-003 Retro rear sight HD-003-S
Retro rear sight - square notch

Stake In Front Sights
175" height, wide tenon, white dot

Does anyone have a source for RIA parts?
I launched my recoil spring plug somewhere in this room and I'll be damned if I can find it.

@Gopher They sell factory parts through Advanced Tactical, but you can pickup a plug from any of the big online vendors - Brownells, Midwest, EGW, Midway
https://advancedtactical.com/kits-category-selection/


My 1911FS & CS didn't need anything out of the box for cheap blasters, but I added a few things to both
Sights, grips, magwell, and "compensator" on the FS

Thanks for the link. They are currently out of stock.
Nice looking pistols.

For RIA parts, you're best bets are Advanced Tactical, or, Hooper Gun Works.

If the slide has Novak sight cuts, I like to change the fixed rear sight to the RIA adjustable.  Nice white dots, and about 1/2 the price of other Adjustable rear sights for Novak cuts.
https://advancedtactical.com/1911-fs-ms-cs-adjustable-low-profile-white-dot-rear-sight/

If the gun is a "9mm", or "38 Sulper", I would check the breech face to see if the breech face has a 40S&W/10mm size.  RIA often uses the same slide for all calibers from 9mm to 10mm. So, you can always add a barrel of a different caliber if you want.  38 Super to 9mm is a very easy change.  Usually needing only a barrel change.  Going from 9mm to 38 Super usually requires an ejector change, or shortening, and a new magazine. Going to, or from, 10mm, needs a little more work, but easily done.

1911s are a bit different from other pistols. You'll need to run at least 1-2k through it before figuring out if you have anything worth changing. The trigger pull usually settles in at that point so you probably won't feel like upgrading.

For me, after shooting 2k rounds through it, I decided getting a different hammer and mainspring housing with a lanyard was the best idea. I also switched to the magpul grips. It seems to work out well and already have about 500 rounds through the newer setup.

Which is a good thing.

My Kimber came from the factory with non-parallel frame rails (among other issues).  After two trips through their excellent (?) customer service they declared the measurably non-parallel rails met their QC and told me they wouldn't do anything about it.

My Rock Island on the other hand was perfect from the factory.

They are very good for the price , some of my buddies have them and shoot them all the time and never say about any problems .

Besides grips and sights, replace the springs. A Wolffe recoil spring goes a long way, and they come with a F/P spring. I'm working my way through a Charles Daly 9mm I picked up, so far a new firing pin and stop with more to follow.

I found a Sistema Colt some years back, immaculate condition at a great price. On the way home, I was passing my range so I stopped and made 150pcs of once fired brass. She shot great- then I got home, and discovered the recoil spring was shot and from crashing back every shot the ear broke off the guide rod. The broken piece lodged up under the dust cover and peened the whole thing over so bad I had to beat the slide off the frame. The gun was never the same for me, every time I shot it I remembered that. Sold it soon after.

Also, since I'm rambling, try the oversize F/P stop at Evolution Gun Works. They have a flat bottom, which was the original design. Takes most of the muzzle flip away, just a straight back recoil impulse. You need to file on it to fit it, but it's worth it.

Enjoy!!

What sights on that CS? GI cuts?

@AASG

Those are Trijicon HD sights - it originally came wit the fiber/adjustable sights that are on my FS
RIAs got a "Novak-ish" sight cut - The Trijicons took a fair amount of fitting

I've got the HDs on every other carry gun and like them, but they're too high-profile on this thing
I'm looking for smaller dot/u-notch style

Good luck on sights. I ordered Tritium sights for my RIA and it was a hour and a half with files to get the front to fit. The rear was so loose I had to drill out the set screw and thread it for a larger set screw, then red lock tight it when I got to adjusted.
They are much more robust than made out to be. I just did my thousand round detail on it after setting it up to low end Rowland cartridges. I figured I'd bugher the lugs in the slide up before the barrel lugs. I was wrong. After 1000 200 grain Keith style SWCs at velocities between 1250 to 1350 fps the front barrel lug is showing the beating, not the slide.
I've replaced the barrel with a threaded compensator and the next 500 with be 185 Keith's. I did the initial chronographing today. 10.0 to 11.0 grains with large pistol primer cases have yielded 1250 to 1350 fps. At 11.0 the primers are showing the same drag Mark's LPP cases showed at 1350 fps with the 200s.
Tomorrow I'll be testing the spp cases loaded with bench rest rifle primers that preformed much better in the previous loadings. I'll post a thread with detailed info on the progress so far.