Category: RIA

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22TCM9R 9mm AF1911-S15 Alpha Foxtrot range visit RIA Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra

Range Day with the RIA 1911 and AF1911-S15

Yesterday, I visited the range for the first time in maybe a month.

Since I’m now carrying the AF1911-S15, I wanted to shoot a good bit from it. As well, I wanted to shoot the my RIA 22TCM 1911, as it has minimal recoil and wanted to check to see how fast I could shoot it.

I also tried to use the SIG Connect OHD phone app to get some practice shooting in, but the app appears to require wifi or cellular band connectivity when being used – it would not let me use the app without logging in, and I couldn’t log in while on the range because they’ve no wifi/cell connectivity when in the shooting booth. Because of this, I decided to cancel my subscription. Last range visit, I tried to use the app but couldn’t because I couldn’t properly aim the phone’s camera using the desk tripod I had, so I bought a new tripod that had lots of adjustability. Now there’s this problem with wireless connectivity with the app. The app appears to be too high maintenance for me.

I shot 120 rounds of WWB 115 gr FMJ from the S15. There were two fails to feed, but I know this was almost certainly due to the ammo being not-so-good, as I could feel the slide sometimes moving slower than normal after a round detonated. As well, I neglected to oil the gun (which is a huge no-no, since I’ve been carrying the gun a bit now and the lube has probably dried or moved). As well, there were a few times where the slide wasn’t locking back on the last round, but again, this is probably due to the cheap WWB ammo.

With the S15, I was attempting to shoot quickly from low ready and was fairly successful at hitting where I was aiming at 7 yards – I was actually stacking many of the rounds on top of one another. I think the light on the gun (this is a first time of me shooting a gun with a WML) makes the gun shoot flatter (not that it wasn’t shooting somewhat flat before then).

I also shot 50 rounds of 22TCM9R from the 22TCM 1911. There was at least one instance of the primer blowing out, but I didn’t notice, as the brass ejected without issue. Even so, the slide didn’t lock back and the hammer didn’t cock, but there was a round in the chamber — odd.

I shot both guns somewhat fast. I shot between 5 and 10 yards and attempted to group my shots (was shooting groups of 5). I was also attempting to quickly use the iron sights, as well as conduct quick follow-on shots.

I may have to adjust the rear sight on the 22TCM 1911, as I’ve never zero’d it at 10 yards and at 10 yards, I’m always pulling shots left.

It also may be time for me to start thinking about getting the slide of the S15 cut for an optic (will be using the Holosun optic footprint).

I’m now at 1187 rounds through the S15 and 1097 rounds through the RIA Commander with the 22TCM barrel.

I think I’m going to start shooting the RIA Commander using the 9mm barrel from now on, just to get some rounds through that barrel. I do love 22TCM9R, though.

This was a fun range visit.

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1911 iron sights RIA Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra Tac Ultra

RIA Rock Ultra MS – Front Sight Fell Off

I’m not sure why I haven’t posted about this yet, but a few months ago (Jan/Feb timeframe) I was cleaning my RIA Rock Ultra MS and noticed that the front sight was very loose. I’m not sure what occurred to loosen it, but I’d been carrying that particular gun for a while and hadn’t noticed that issue until it happened.

I was carrying that handgun in a Tenicor kydex holster, but the kydex doesn’t touch the front sight. I do remember dropping the gun once, on a carpeted floor. I’m thinking that might have been enough to dislodge the front sight. I can’t remember how the gun landed, but if it landed on the front sight, that would explain why the sight was loose.

The front sight was loose enough to where it slid all the way out of the dovetail with very little effort. Not only that, but the dovetail edge was surgically sharp and sliced my finger badly (had an issue stopping the bleeding).

When I cleaned the slide of blood, I saw that it looked as if the only thing that kept the sight in place was red threadlocker. I could see old threadlocker on the bottom of the sight and in the dovetail. I’m almost certain RIA didn’t fit this sight to the dovetail, otherwise I wouldn’t have been able to slide it back on and off the slide.

I’ve ordered another sight (from Armscor) but do not have the tools needed to perform an installation (I’ve no vise, I’ve no files, I’ve no sight pusher).

I can either order the needed tools or give the slide and sight to a local gunsmith so that they can install it.

After I had the issue, I couldn’t carry the gun, but I ended up installing the 9mm barrel to my 22TCM RIA Tac Ultra so that I could carry that gun instead. That gun also fit in the Tenicor Certum holster.

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1911 9mm RIA Rock Island Armory

Range Visit Summary For 11/15/2022

I visited the range for the first time since April 2022. I’m still focusing on 1911s, and I’m preparing to carry my RIA Rock Ultra MS in 9mm.

Why carry the 9mm instead one of my 45ACPs? The two 45ACP 1911s I have are the Metro Arms American Classic Commander and the Tisas Duty (full-sized). I’ve found that even though the heavy metal frame soaks up a good bit of the recoil of those 1911s, 9mm shoots even better from the 1911 frame. As well, 9mm is cheaper and easier to find, locally or otherwise.

Another thought: If I end up ever having to defend myself, I’d have to temporarily give up my gun for case evidence. I do not want to give up any gun but of my 1911s, the ugliest is that 9mm Rock Ultra! While it’s the ugliest, I shoot it the best, by far!

I didn’t want to bother with capturing video footage during this range visit, so I have none, but I did keep the targets and I’ll post them down below.

The below pictures are in chronological order of when I shot at them. Each second picture is a picture of quick range notes (written on the back side of each target).

I shot between 7 and 10 yards – anything further and I struggle to see where I need to hit (all but one target are designed to be shot from 7-10 yards. My actual range notes will be at the bottom of this page.

I’ve two holsters that’ll fit the Rock Ultra without issue, but I’m wondering if I should try carrying appendix – I’m eyeing a holster but need to know if I can commit to it before spending $100-120 on a AIWB holster.

I also just bought two extra 10-round mags so that I can use my two WC mags for carry duty.

Photos of the targets:

I numbered in which order I shot at each mini-target.
I numbered (and circled the number) in which order I shot at each mini-target. I also counted each hit per mini-target.
I aimed between the dead space between the right-side mini-target, attempting a group of five.

Range Notes:

**********************

I brought 350 rounds with me, but only shot 228 (one box of 50 was half empty).

I brought the following brands:
Norma 115-gr FMJ (100)
Federal Hi-shok 115-gr JHP (50)
Belom 115-gr FMJ (50)
Fiocchi 115-gr FMJ (28)

Of the total, there were 8 FTFs and one FTE (stovepipe). It was with one brand of ammo – the Federal Hi-shok JHP. The FTFs were almost certainly due to the hollow points – I expected as much. The FTFs only occurred at the top of each mag (top 3 rounds). After the 2nd-3rd round, the issue stopped. It stopped after 3 mags, as well. Note that the mags were Wilson Combat mags and two ACT mags. It happened with both mag brands, so this wasn’t a mag issue.

This gun is accurate as all hell! I ate the middle out of a target at 10 yards (shot 50 rounds). It’s flat-shooting. Yeah, the initial grouping had opened up but I found I had to just be steady (and watch my breathing as well) to get tight groups.

I will probably begin to carry this gun, which is why I put so much ammo through it this range session. I just need to refer to my notes on which JHP this gun didn’t have issues with – I think I shot some 9mm SD ammo through it last range visit.

Rock Ultra MS in 9mm
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1911 1911A1 45ACP 9mm American Classic Commander Metro Arms RIA Rock Island Armory

New YouTube Video – 1911 Range Day!

I tried a new format in this video, using my GoPro hat-clip. What I didnt’ account for was the volume isn’t crisp, as the hat-clip requires usage of the GoPro case, which is apparently covering the camera’s mic. 🙁

There were issues with the Metro Arms 1911. I’ve been suspecting as much the past 1-2 years, but my handgun experience is expanding and I’m confident to say that this handgun has issues with it’s sights. I’ll be looking into obtaining a new set of sights for this handgun (I wouldn’t mind having the sights that are on my RIA Tac Ultra installed on this handgun).

Also, I finally installed the 9mm barrel into my RIA Tac Ultra (I have always shot it with the 22TCM barrel installed). I shot 140 rounds of 9mm from the gun. The gun now has a total of 746 rounds through it. It’s my third most-fired handgun (the Grand Power P11 and Bersa Thunder Plus are 1st and 2nd).

There were some fails to feed when firing the Tac Ultra, but the feed issues only occurred with the OEM mags. I’ve Wilson Combat 9mm ETM mags, which didn’t have any feed issues. I also used the 38 Super mag that came with the Tac Ultra. I also used the 9mm mag that came with my RIA Rock Ultra. The latter two mag are the mags that had inconsistent issues. The feed issues were occurring mid-mag.

Lastly, I need to research who is the new US importer for Metro Arms. Eagle Imports was the importer, but they went out of business earlier this year.

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10mm 1911 22TCM 9mm R1 Remington RIA Rock Island Armory sight adjustment

1911 Range Summary for 3/20/2021

Video Highlights:

1.  We bought Remington R1 mags (45ACP doublestacked) for use with my RIA 10mm HC, since I can’t find any Armscor mags.  One mag feeds well, the other does not.  Also, the R1 mags will fit the OEM 10mm base plates.

2.  We had feed issues with the RIA 22TCM extracting spent cases (the cases were getting stuck in the chamber).  This was an ammo issue – I had half a box of older ammo that I’d put aside because I was blowing primers and one case refused to come out of the chamber.  I’d forgotten that this was a box I wasn’t supposed to finish shooting.  In fact, there was one primer that was blown out in this range visit (I forgot to mention that in the video).

3.  I’ve been frustrated with all of my 1911s, thinking that I can’t shoot them because I’m never able to have tight groupings or that I’m always hitting low left (meaning I’m flinching or have bad trigger discipline).  Well, I prove that’s not the case on this range visit, as I also took my 9mm RIA Rock Ultra.  My groups were tight and directly under the bullseye.  I was shooting this gun the same way as the other two.  This proves I need to make sight adjustments.  In this case, I need to move the POI up 2 inches.  In the case of the 10mm, I need to adjust the sights up and to the right a few inches.  Not sure yet on how I need to adjust the sights on the 22TCM (maybe 2″ to the right).

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10mm 1911A2 FS HC RIA Rock Ultra

My RIA Rock Ultra HC FS 10mm is inbound!

 My first 10mm is now at my FFL dealer (my gun club).  It shipped on 2/12 and arrived at the FFL today (2/16).  Pickup is by appointment only and the earliest opening they have is 2/19 (Friday).  So, I will be picking it up at 9:30 AM that day.

Not only is this my first 10mm, it’s my first full-sized 1911, and first double-stacked (M1911A2) 1911.

I also have 200 rounds of 10mm range ammo coming – ordered online:  100 rounds of Sellier & Bellot 180-gr FMJ and  100 rounds of Ammo Inc. 180-gr FMJ.  I’ll also attempt to see if I can find more (hotter, maybe) locally.

So, the plan is to pick up the 1911 Friday morning, clean it sometime during the day, and visit the range either that evening or the following day.

The two extra mags that I ordered haven’t even been processed yet…I’ve no idea why there’s such a hold-up at Armscor.  I hate it when a gun shop’s website says they’ve hardware in stock but when you order it, it’s not in stock.  IMO, that’s false advertising.

I’ve a bunch of new Go Pro batteries and plan to use the Go Pro to catch footage of my first 10mm experience!

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1911 bull barrel disassembly recoil rod reverse plug RIA Rock Island Armory spring

1911 How-To: How to use the slide to disassemble the recoil rod assembly on a bull-barreled 1911

I show where I damaged a reverse plug on a bull-barreled 1911.  I’ve replaced the reverse plug with a new one that is a revised part (the replacement part has what appears to be a barrel cradle).  

I also show how to use the slide to disassemble the recoil rod assembly.  I know most folks use their hands but I feel for them if they’re using their hands to disassemble a RR assembly from a 10mm.  I can barely use my fingers when doing it to my 9mm.  I got this procedure from sootch00 (specifically his SR1911 10mm video).

Used my old Go Pro Hero 4 Silver, which I thought had died…turns out, the SD card was bad and the camera was fine

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10mm 1911 1911A2 2011 double-stack double-stacked HC Hinterland Outfitters MS RIA Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra

10mm 1911s

I’ve a 10mm 1911 on the way here.  It’ll be my first full-sized 1911 and my first 10mm.  I purchased a RIA Rock Ultra FS HC chambered in 10mm.  I’d been looking at Glock 20s and 29s but didn’t want the shock of recoil to bug me.  While the Glocks weigh around 2 lb empty, the RIA 10mm weighs around 2.5 lb and is all steel.  I won’t be carrying this gun but I do want to experience 10mm without regret.  As well, I had a difficult time finding a Glock 20 and 29 in stock.

What’s cool about this 10mm is that it is double-stacked (what some folks call the M1911A2; it’s not a true 2011, as the 2011 is modular in nature while the M1911A2 is not).  It is a full-featured handgun.  What’s not cool is that the handgun only comes with one magazine.

It’ll probably be 2 weeks before it ships to my FFL.  The FFL will probably take another week to call me to pick it up.  In 3 weeks time, expect a table top review.

I’m about to order another magazine and will begin looking for ammo.  I hope to have both the mag and ammo will be here before the gun arrives.

This is what I ordered (from Hinterland Outfitters):

UPDATE (2/15/2021) – I just got notice that the firearm shipped on 2/12…headed to my FFL dealer now…may be a while though, since there’s severe weather in the mid-West right now.

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22TCM Cheaper Than Dirt Elite Shooting Sports Grand Power Jagemann NEED TO FIX P11 Mk12 RIA Ruger SR9C

Latest Happenings – 12/6/2016

NOTE:  all targets were shot from 7 yards standing.

I was going to the range Sunday morning and the wife woke up and asked where I was going.  I said, “the range.”  She said, “I wanted to go too,” and I said, “well, get dressed and come with me!”

We brought four guns with us:  her Ruger SR-9C, my RIA 22TCM MS 1911, and my Bersa Thunder 380 Plus.  Of course, I was carrying my Grand Power P11 in a concealed fashion, too…that went with us.

We arrived and she had to take a gun safety orientation class.  It was also crowded but we didn’t have to wait long for an open lane.

We decided to shoot her Ruger first.  It had never been fired before and she’s owned it over a year.  It was cleaned and lubed (by me) and ready to fire.  We loaded the ammo (she’d never done that before…for a handgun, at least) into the two mag that the handgun came with (one 10-round and one 15-round mag).  I gave her a quick summary on how to hold her gun and to not put her finger on the trigger until she was ready to fire.  She knows proper sight alignment already (she’s retired US Army).  Then, to demonstrate the proper hold and trigger discipline, she stood beside me and I squeezed the first round out of her handgun.  The round went right into the red.  That is a testament to the gun’s trigger and sights because that normally doesn’t happen with me…it usually takes me a few mags to warm up.

I then gave her the handgun and she shot her first two handgun mags ever:

All but 5 of those are probably kill shots.  And one of those in the red is mine (the one that’s to the direct left of the X)!  We ended up firing 100 rounds out of the SR-9C.  The ammo was Remington UMC yellow box (mega) FMJ.  There were no failures whatsoever.

I ended up firing more ammo from her gun than she did.  Here’s my target:

If she doesn’t want her SR-9, I’ll take it…I’m happy with  the way it shoots and the trigger is exceptional!

Next, we fired my 1911.  I fired the first shots so she wouldn’t be surprised.  She was still surprised.  I told her it was loud and shot out fire.  I think she thought I was exaggerating.  After the first two shots, she said, “OK, this gun is loud!”  She later (after the range) said she was intimidated by it.  She shot it extremely well.  She loved the heft and the fact that the weight negated the recoil (never mind that it’s going to be a soft shooter anyways).  I took video of her shooting this gun and I was honestly flinching the whole time due to the muzzle flash.  The guy the next lane over kept looking over, probably mentally saying, “WTF is that?”

We fired 59 rounds of 22TCM with no failures whatsoever, although she kept unintentionally enabling the safety, which makes me wonder if it’s not positive enough in engagement…IMO, one should not be unintentionally enabling a safety.

I didn’t get a snapshot of the target but here’s some footage of her shooting the 22TCM:

Our time was running out so we had to decide on shooting only one of the two guns that still hadn’t been fired.  She decided to shoot my carry gun, the Grand Power P11, a sub-compact.  We only fired 36 rounds out of the P11, but I think she loved this gun just as much as the 1911.  She loved the lack of recoil.  I later showed her why it had no recoil…I showed her how the barrel rotated.  And she was very accurate with this gun too.  Here’s the target:

I shot a magazine and all my shots grouped under the red…very tight grouping and I wasn’t shooting slow.  She shot a mag and started up high (the grouping around the 7 & 8, above the red) then she took better aim and plugged the middle grouping.  She wasn’t messing around!

I shot the last mag of the day, from the P11:

I was going for head shots since we were out of targets.  I was trying to shoot once and rapidly follow up with another (not quite double-taps).  I had several flyers but still, that’s a pretty tight group of 12! 

She said she wants a sub-compact.  I have a few sub-compacts she’ll probably shoot:  a Sig Sauer P320C slide on an SC grip module; a Springfield XD9 Mod 2 9mm; a Bersa Thunder 380 Plus (not really a true sub-compact).  And she’ll probably end up renting some range guns to get a feel for what sub-compact she enjoys shooting.

We’re going to try an outdoor range this weekend if it isn’t too cold.

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Other happenings:

I ordered 3 mags for my P11 from Cheaper Than Dirt.  I ordered 3 12-round mags.  They sent me 3 15-round mags.  I double-checked the receipt and sho-nuff it says that I ordered 3 12-round mags.  I was a bit pissed.  I do not want the hassle of having to ship these back while waiting for them to send me the correct mags.  I opened one mag’s packaging and inserted it into the P11.  It fits fine, although it’s long and hangs out of the gun by an inch or so.  It’s fine for the range but not fine for carrying.  I guess I can keep them for range duty and use the two that came with the gun as carry mags.  :/

I also ordered 4 Jagemann 15-round mags for my Glock 19.  My Glock came with 3 10-round mags.  They’re supposed to be good mags.  We’ll see.  They were cheap @ approx $11 apiece.

 

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22TCM Canik flash MS Ultra muzzle range report RIA tactical TP9SA velocity

RIA MS Ultra Tactical Combo in 22TCM/9mm – Range Report

A range officer saw the ammo on the range table and was asking what type of ammo it was.  He stayed while I shot the first magazine.  He was awed and saw how tight the shot groupings were…many of the target holes were on top of each other.  He also commented on the muzzle flash.  It was bright enough to where I was sometimes flinching!
I’m disappointed with the video footage…the footage wasn’t framed good.  I may try to go to the range again tomorrow.

I shot 100 rounds through the gun.  There were only two feed issues.  One was when a spent case didn’t want to come out (common issue that’s related to the ammo case out of round or expanding).  The other (right after the first feed issue) was a double-feed.  After that, there were no more issues.

This 1911 has next to no recoil and had tight groupings, but I’m STILL not in full control of trigger pull (working on it…practice makes perfect).

Oh, and there’s copper along the slide, next to the ejector.  I’ve heard of someone mentioning that issue before (not sure what the cure was, other than sending it back to Armscor to have the extractor tuned).

By the way, the .22 TCM round is basically a shortened .223 round (no, it isn’t a necked down 9mm).  It’ll pierce 3/16″ steel. It has an approximate velocity of 2000 feet/sec, but realistic speeds from the Commander-sized barrel is in the 1900 feet/sec range, while RIA’s .22 TCM rifles will shoot this round at 2800 feet/sec. 
 
I also fired my FDE Canik TP9SA.  The gun had no issues.  I fired close to 100 rounds from it (half of it JHP that was also shooting flames…wonder if it was +P…I think it was some left-over Remington JHP that I was firing during my last range session).  There were no jams, but the mags are super-tight…I could only get 17 rounds into the mags up until the 3rd refill.