Open Carry, Open Wallet, Open Carry A New 1911!!!

[M-Taliesin]

Howdy Folks!
My wife and I went to visit that new gun store down in Franktown, run by a couple of the most OC friendly shop owners you'll ever hope to meet. We hoped to meet up with Keens while there, but he ended up with a change of plans so we missed getting with him today. We'll want to make that up soon!

Anyhow, I had been to the Franktown Firearms store awhile back, right after they first opened for business, and I saw a beautiful 1911 for a reasonable price. I don't know much about Rock Island Armory, but that surely is a handsome handgun. So I paid the balance of what I owned on the pistol and did the whole background check thingy. While waiting for it to pass (a given, BTW), wife and I headed up to Parker to have a brunch at McDonalds. Part of the reason for my desire to visit that specific location was the last time I ate there, somebody called in a MWAG to the local Parker constabulary. That resulted in the nicest pair of cops you'd ever hope pulled you over and we had a pleasant visit with them. They seemed almost embarassed to be dropping by, but we had a great time with them. Anyhow, I digress.

We got word my background passed (a given, BTW), and we returned to Franktown to pick up my handgun.

Now I had a new problem. The good men of Franktown Firearms don't have much in the way of holsters yet. So we headed up to Gander Mountain to see if I could score a serpa holster for my new 1911. They didn't have any, so I settled for a Fobus for the time being. We will be heading to Oklahoma for a metal detecting competition next weekend, and I didn't want to run all over town when we are on budgeted time right now.

So I got the new pistol home and took some photos to show you what a beauty it is. Now, of course, I can't hardly wait to fire the thing.

Click image to enlarge!





The whole time we were out and about, I was carrying my XDm-.40 compact in a serpa holster. Of course I was open carrying (a given, BTW!!!)

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[wmodavis]

Nice to hear you finally got the 1911.

Howdy Folks!
My wife and I went to visit that new gun store down in Franktown, run by a couple of the most OC friendly shop owners you'll ever hope to meet. We hoped to meet up with Keens while there, but he ended up with a change of plans so we missed getting with him today. We'll want to make that up soon!

Anyhow, I had been to the Franktown Firearms store awhile back, right after they first opened for business, and I saw a beautiful 1911 for a reasonable price. I don't know much about Rock Island Armory, but that surely is a handsome handgun. So I paid the balance of what I owned on the pistol and did the whole background check thingy. While waiting for it to pass (a given, BTW), wife and I headed up to Parker to have a brunch at McDonalds. Hey, I remember that place. Part of the reason for my desire to visit that specific location was the last time I ate there, somebody called in a MWAG to the local Parker constabulary. Guess a MWAG is NOT a given. And my guess is you were not caught smoking in public. Likely on your best behavior cuz of your wife being there with you.That resulted in the nicest pair of cops you'd ever hope pulled you over and we had a pleasant visit with them. They seemed almost embarassed to be dropping by, but we had a great time with them. Anyhow, I digress.

We got word my background passed (a given, BTW), and we returned to Franktown to pick up my handgun.

Now I had a new problem. The good men of Franktown Firearms don't have much in the way of holsters yet. So we headed up to Gander Mountain to see if I could score a serpa holster for my new 1911. They didn't have any, so I settled for a Fobus for the time being. We will be heading to Oklahoma for a metal detecting competition next weekend, and I didn't want to run all over town when we are on budgeted time right now. Hope you get your coil back in time for the OK event?

So I got the new pistol home and took some photos to show you what a beauty it is. Now, of course, I can't hardly wait to fire the thing. I know a place but you have to bring fresh bottles to shoot. Nice looking. I can see why it caught your eye.

The whole time we were out and about, I was carrying my XDm-.40 compact in a serpa holster. Of course I was open carrying (a given, BTW!!!)

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[j4l]

Nice score. Love the grip panels on that. Is it in .45, or .38 Super? Most of the bright Nickel RIAs I've seen so far have been .38 Super, and I've been SOOOOOOOOO tempted a few times.
If, at some point, you decide you want some fancier/more exotic wood grips for that beauty, let me know, I've been dying for an excuse to make some, of late lol.

[M-Taliesin]

Nice score. Love the grip panels on that. Is it in .45, or .38 Super? Most of the bright Nickel RIAs I've seen so far have been .38 Super, and I've been SOOOOOOOOO tempted a few times.
If, at some point, you decide you want some fancier/more exotic wood grips for that beauty, let me know, I've been dying for an excuse to make some, of late lol.

Howdy Pard!
She's a .45 ACP, straight down the line! Oh, yeah!

As for panels,... I'd love something custom like.... Thanks for offering!
We can talk about that through PMs. Much obliged that you offered!

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[j4l]

Howdy Pard!
She's a .45 ACP, straight down the line! Oh, yeah!

As for panels,... I'd love something custom like.... Thanks for offering!
We can talk about that through PMs. Much obliged that you offered!

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

No prob at all. Just drop a line any time.

[nkunnen]

Congrats on the new 1911. I have two of them now that i sold my hk and got another 1911. Both of mine are in 45 auto. There is nothing like a 1911. I love mine and wouldnt trade them for anything.

[Gunslinger]

Made in the Phillipines by ARMSCOR. Good value for the price. Spend a couple of hundred with a good gunsmith and you can have a nice shooter.

[j4l]

Im about 2 mouse-clicks away from making one of those pics my new desktop background lol

[j4l]

Made in the Phillipines by ARMSCOR. Good value for the price. Spend a couple of hundred with a good gunsmith and you can have a nice shooter.

Indeed, that's one of the great things about the RIA's- they make an excellent base-platform upon which to build up (over time, and budget) a really, really sweet 1911, with aftermarket parts that are out there.

[porterhouse83]

RIA makes a nice 1911 for the money. Congrats on the new gun.

[M-Taliesin]

Made in the Phillipines by ARMSCOR. Good value for the price. Spend a couple of hundred with a good gunsmith and you can have a nice shooter.

Howdy Gunslinger!
Got any suggestions on what to improve? I ain't kidding around with that question. I would gladly invest more money into that sidearm to make it better, but haven't a clue what to change to accomplish that. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[M-Taliesin]

Indeed, that's one of the great things about the RIA's- they make an excellent base-platform upon which to build up (over time, and budget) a really, really sweet 1911, with aftermarket parts that are out there.

Howdy J4l!
Same question as I asked Gunslinger. What would be things to improve? I really want to know.

Bear in mind, I haven't shot the thing yet, so I don't know how it will behave on the range.

Suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[M-Taliesin]

RIA makes a nice 1911 for the money. Congrats on the new gun.

Howdy Amigo!
Thank you. It surely is pretty. I don't yet know how it will perform when shooting, because I haven't yet shot it.
But it is a handsome sidearm right out of the box.

Once I fire the gun, I think I'll know more. But right now, I haven't so much as taken it apart yet. So I don't know anything more than folks might learn from looking at the photos.

My purchase decision was partly based on price, partly on feel (has a nice balance) and certainly the overall appearance.
Can't say as I'm fond of the sights, and don't see how they can be improved because they're fixed.

One day soon, I'll take it to the range and shoot. I figure it will be twitchy through the first couple hundred rounds, but figure it should smooth out nicely with a few boxes of cartridges fired through it.

Thanks for your feedback!
Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[Gunslinger]

Howdy Gunslinger!
Got any suggestions on what to improve? I ain't kidding around with that question. I would gladly invest more money into that sidearm to make it better, but haven't a clue what to change to accomplish that. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

Trigger job first. Basic cleaning up the internals, such as polishing feed ramp (not really a ramp in 1911s), any burrs on slide or frame and then a new bushing for tighter barrel to slide fit. I'd replace the sights and get a Commander style hammer plus longer frame safety after. Finally, better grip safety/beavertail. Figure $2-250 for all of it, depending on how fancy you go with the sights and grip safety. Now you have a $700 gun that is not far off from the $1000 SIGs, Springers and Smiths.

[nkunnen]

The first thing i did with my 1911's was getting new mags. I don't know if you don't have skirted followers on your mags but if it don't have them you definitely want to get some that do. My colt come with skirted followers but my kimber did not. So i bought two wilson combat mags for it and they work excellent. I gotta say that its definitely a pretty government model.

[porterhouse83]

Ok when people's first suggestion to you is trigger job on a 1911 you need to take that with a grain of salt. 1911 guys will almost always say that but the cold truth is most are fine right out of the box. Numerous folks told me I needed a trigger job on my trp operator before I even shot it! My trigger breaks at 4 lbs nicely why would I want to mess with it? Get familiar with your 1911 by striping it down. Get to know how it functions then YOU can decide what you want done to it. Others will just have you spending money needlessly. Oh and no matter what anyone tells you mim parts( metal injected molding)will last many lifetimes. You have seen my 1911 and you know I'm fond of them. My recommendations on sites are night sights because at night god forbid if you need to use your 1911 those night sights are handy to have.

[porterhouse83]

The first thing i did with my 1911's was getting new mags. I don't know if you don't have skirted followers on your mags but if it don't have them you definitely want to get some that do. My colt come with skirted followers but my kimber did not. So i bought two wilson combat mags for it and they work excellent. I gotta say that its definitely a pretty government model.

Wilson mags do not work well in all 1911s. When it comes to mags that's trial and error. Wilson mags are not cheap either.

[ZackL]

IIRC Mec-Gar makes the mags for Armscor 1911's. They work great, but there can be feed lip issues (i.e. they have broken on some mags before). Also, having experience with an Armscor 1911's (shot a couple, owned one for about 9 months), I would recommend an upgraded trigger, not necessarily a trigger job, unless it's gritty and stupid heavy, but an upgrade to an adjustable trigger is something I would think about. The take-up and over-travel tends to suck on the stock triggers in these guns. If you want to (or need to) upgrade mags, I would try a couple (if you know people with other brands of mags that you want to try) and see what your particular 1911 prefers. Generally speaking, 7 rounders work better, but my gun loved the original 8 round Mec-Gar/ACT mags the gun came with. Also, like Gunslinger said a good beavertail, hammer will look nice and help you out ergonomically and reduce hammer bite possibilities and a general smoothing out of the gun will always do wonders for it.

Of course, this is all just what I found to do on mine, which was a blackened Citadel with the upgraded hammer and beaver tail, and you may find more or less to do with it after you take it our for a range day.

Congrats on the buy and I hope you have fun with it.

[M-Taliesin]

Howdy Folks!
So you know the feeling...
You got a new gun. You got cartridges. You got a holster to carry that new piece. You got the itch to fire the darn thing.
The only thing you ain't got, is time to get to the range and shoot it.

Work has been busy since I got the new 1911, and I just ain't been blessed with slack time that could translate into range time.
What's a guy to do.

Hey... WTH? This IS Colorado, don'cha know!

On my way home from work last night, I just couldn't stand it any longer. I had to fire that new gun.
So, I got off the road and traveled back to where it turned into gravel, then later turned into dirt.
Stopped in an area where the nearest anybody was maybe a mile off.
I drew that gun, pointed it in a safe direction, selected (in my mind) where I was going to put a slug
and pulled the trigger.
BANG!
Whoa... that was really nice, and it racked up another round as smooth as mother's milk. So I hadda pull the trigger again!
BANG!!

Having resoved the need to shoot it, and being satisfied with the result, now I need to have a day off to hit the range.
Tomorrow looks real good in that regard.

I think I'll be having myself some honest fun tomorrow as I've got the day off, have some spending money, and the motivation to shoot.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin

[Gunslinger]

Ok when people's first suggestion to you is trigger job on a 1911 you need to take that with a grain of salt. 1911 guys will almost always say that but the cold truth is most are fine right out of the box. Numerous folks told me I needed a trigger job on my trp operator before I even shot it! My trigger breaks at 4 lbs nicely why would I want to mess with it? Get familiar with your 1911 by striping it down. Get to know how it functions then YOU can decide what you want done to it. Others will just have you spending money needlessly. Oh and no matter what anyone tells you mim parts( metal injected molding)will last many lifetimes. You have seen my 1911 and you know I'm fond of them. My recommendations on sites are night sights because at night god forbid if you need to use your 1911 those night sights are handy to have.

I doubt a TRP ever "needs" a trigger job. SIGs, Smiths, SA Loadeds and other high end pistols rarely do, unless you plan on competing. However, I've shot ARMSCOR 1911s and they will be improved greatly by one. I'm not saying getting the pull to 2#s, just smooth it out, get it in the 5# range and eliminate the stacking you get on cheaper 1911s.

[wmodavis]

M - if you get into discussion on custom grips I have some nice black ebony that might look OK but that may be one of those esthetic choices not to your liking. Just letting you know. It is heavy stuff - sinks in water.

[M-Taliesin]

M - if you get into discussion on custom grips I have some nice black ebony that might look OK but that may be one of those esthetic choices not to your liking. Just letting you know. It is heavy stuff - sinks in water.

Howdy Pard!
Wow, that's a heckuva offer. I might take you up on that. We need to get in touch to discuss the whole idea.
Meanwhile, I am rushing around and trying to pull my act together.
I have a serve up in the mountains that I need to nail down before heading out to Oklahoma today.
Got a competition out there, and hope to really do an outstanding job in Sapulpa.
Got my Bigfoot back and am loaded for bear.

Remind me when I return, should I forget, which ain't real likely...
And we'll meet up again, even if just to hang out.
I've been a little on the busy side lately, and didn't mean or intend to ignore anybody.

Blessings,
M-Taliesin