My first 1911

[ssracer]

Last summer I got bit by the 1911 bug in a bad way. Unfortunately, gun money was hard to come by. Then on a local forum an RIA GI model came up for sale, unfired for $350. I was able to quickly sell a Mossberg 500 that I rarely shot and a couple of AR mags and then bring this home on the same day:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4100/4958964636_7eaa13c602_b.jpg

The previous owner had done a little polishing on the feed ramp and I bought an arched MSH from him but the gun was untouched aside from that. The next day I hit the range with a 100 box of WWB. The first 4 magazines from 21' gave me this:

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4085/4948529407_5775a47fa7_b.jpg

I was in love...and a little pain. That 100 round box of ammo left me with a permanent mark on my hand from the GI safety digging in under recoil.

I had already planned on replacing the plain, smooth grips and now was in search for a beaver tail grip safety. I locked out big time and a friend from the same local forum had a stainless Kimber that he had decided to go full custom on, basically only reusing the frame and slide. He offered me a goody bag of parts for a way low price. I essentially got every part out of his frame and the barrel bushing for $50. I did the radiusing and install of the beaver tail myself. I got a set of ed brown cocobolo grips for it and since I had started using it in competition I got a Wilson stainless mag well to speed up mag changes.

The GI sights went in favor of a white dot front and I just had the slide milled and Novak front and rear sights installed. Since a good deal of work had been done I also had my smith do a good polish on the feed ramp and Duracoat the frame and slide matte black. I just got it back together and have not had a chance to shoot it again yet, but I can't wait.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5012/5525126098_d3052c9e54_b.jpg

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5014/5524533923_e32f3cc0af_b.jpg

I still haven't tried any HPs through it yet, mostly because its expensive enough to shoot FMJ, but it hasn't had a single issue of any kind so far. Mostly put WWB and Remington through it. Probably getting close to 1000 rounds by now.

All and all I've got probably about $600 total into the pistol as it sits now.

[Timbonez]

Those are some nifty little upgrades you gave it. I'm not really a fan of stainless, but the controls accent the black pistol very well. I'm interested to hear how it shoots in it's current condition. You did well.

[ssracer]

Thanks. The only thing that has changed since I last shot it is the sights and the color...factory park finish to black duracoat...so I'm not expecting any surprises. All the other upgrades were done within the first month of ownership and only made it more of a pleasure to shoot. Hoping to get to the range this week.

[ssracer]

Here's a shot of it in the intermediate stage, with the kimber parts and previous sights. This is the way most of the rounds have gone through it.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4108/5024093723_cce2080119_b.jpg

[memphisjim]

i wasnt aware that you could get a 1911 for 350$

[ssracer]

The RIA Government models go for around $400 new, little over or under depending on the deal you find. You can get their tactical for well under $500 usually which has a lot of the upgrades like better sights, beaver tail and extended thumb safety.

[WBAR]

Congrats on the new rig. A friend of mine didn't take my advice when he wanted a basic 1911 recently. I advised a SA GI model, but he got an RIA instead. When he let me shoot it, I was impressed- real good trigger, great accuracy, and a nice package all in all. When you consider the low price, it's pretty incredible. :)WB

[duece71]

Good price. If it works for you, you did very well. Head to the range and put 500-1000 through it without cleaning with all of the magazines you can acumulate.

[ssracer]

One thing I haven't done is lots of ammo with no cleaning. Always been anal about cleaning my pistols after each range trip and never have that much pistol ammo with me at one time....especially .45, that crap is going to break me...lol. somewhere between 100 and 200 at a time is the most I have done so far.

I've got 7 or 8 mags for it right now. They are all 8rd ACT mags.

[Pistol Shooter]

Fine looking pistol ssracer, congratulations. :smile:

[dirt_diver]

Just found my next project.

[dirt_diver]

Just found my next project.
Thanks for the inspiration.

[ssracer]

This will look a bit different once I get the money saved up. The Duracoat job is not holding up well at all, rubbing off where it contacts the plastic on my new MTAC holster. I will be sending it to someone different this time and having it ceracoated. Haven't decided on the color yet....either all FDE or FDE slide with flat black frame and controls.....still playing in photoshop to decide which I like better.

[rsxr22]

that looks awesome!!!

RIA makes one heck of a gun and it looks like all the mod's you made were great improvements.

[elnino31]

Those are some nifty little upgrades you gave it. I'm not really a fan of stainless, but the controls accent the black pistol very well.

+1 on that.

$600, for a functioning 1911 is pretty damm hard to beat.
I always like hearing about a project gun that get's put together for a good price.

[JOHNO]

I shot an RIA 1911 last year, it was impressive!

[ssracer]

For the money, I am very happy with it. I did eventually try running some HP's through it and it was jamming every round's nose into the feed ramp. I started to get a little depressed until someone let me borrow a wilson 47D mag (I had been using ACT mags like it came with). Loaded the wilson up with the same HPs and it ate the full mag without a single issue. All of the ACT mags were then sold and replaced by some 47Ds of my own. Not a single issue since.

[Timbonez]

It's good to hear that the 47d mags appeared to fix the feeding issues with HPs. Let us know how it performs once you put more through the pistol with the new mags.

[nobody knows]

I have been thinking about getting one of these for a project gun. It won't be as cheap to do as yours unfortunately, but will still be cheaper then an ED BROWN,LES BEAR,ect. RE the duracoat wearing off- did you let it cure for the amount of time recommended? I know some who have tried using their pistol to soon and experiencing the same problem.

[ssracer]

the duracoat was done by a smith, so I can't tell you what procedures were followed.

[5102Yuma]

A very fine sidearm, it will give you years of solid shooting.