I wanted a place to discuss my handguns and firearms in general. Everyone seemingly has lots to say about guns, so I promise you this won't be a rant blog.
I’d been wondering why the order was sitting. My first thought was that they didn’t have the gun in stock. I’ve seen gun stores sit on orders, awaiting for a new shipment of guns. I was going to give them another day before contacting them to cancel the order. I also did research and other folks that bought firearms from them stated they were very prompt with processing orders.
I waited maybe 24 hours to see if the order would progress, because I needed to contact my FFL to inform them of the shipment. Well, I checked today at noon and the order was fully processed and had shipped! It caught me off-guard and I had to complete a web form notifying my FFL that a gun was inbound to them for me.
As well, they no longer have them in stock. I must’ve got the last available B45R.
The gun arrives at my FFL on 2/14 (it is currently 2/11). So, they use quick shipping too, which is unusual during Covid times, as most gun stores are using the cheapest shipping possible and it’s usually USPS, which is slow 90% of the time.
Even when the gun arrives on Monday, I still have to await the FFL to contact me so that I can make an appointment for pickup. When I pick it up, I will try to shoot it before I leave (my FFL is a range/store).
I also bought some things for it, but those will probably arrive later in the week.
I bought 3 sets of full-size 1911 grips (I couldn’t decide on one type and I’ve other 1911s that I can install those grips on). One is a set of dark red wood grips with gold screws that may look nice on the black 1911 – they might be slick, though, so I bought an extra set that I can use for range duty. The site I bought from was Cool Hand Gear.
I also bought a 3-pack of full-sized 45ACP Metalform mags with flat base plates. They are GI mags. I need more mags anyways and I think flat base plated 1911 mags look good in certain guns. I bought these from eBay.
I also thought to buy a new recoil spring, just in case I need it, but I think that can wait a bit.
I’m also thinking I will eventually want a silver barrel bushing (the one on the gun is black)…the silver will match the silver of the trigger blade.
I usually try to buy a gun a year, specifically around this time. Last year, I bought a RIA 10mm 5″ double-stacked 1911 and Canik TP9 Elite SC. The year before that, I bought nothing. The year prior to that, which was the year I started making this an annual experience, I bought the PSA AK-V and AK-P.
I’d planned on getting another AK and had my eye on a 5.56/.223 variant but had a number of problems committing to another AK.
For one, higher end AKs are difficult to find in stock and when they are in stock, they quickly become out-of-stock.
Secondly, I’ve one pistol caliber AK pistol, as well as an AK pistol chambered in 7.62×39. I also have two AK rifles (both in 7.62×39). I’d wanted a 5.56 AK but couldn’t decide on if I wanted yet another long gun or pistol chambered in that caliber – I have both types already. I wouldn’t have cared but when I asked on the AK subreddit, the absolutely stupid replies back soured me to any AK, so I ended up not no longer wanting an AK.
I then decided to focus on a higher end 1911, either a mid-grade Sig or Springfield Armory. In fact, I wasn’t really caring on a particular 1911 maker. I just wanted the product to have a forged frame, slide, and barrel that was 5″ max with a traditional barrel (ie, no bull barrel). Price was $1000 max with a focus on lower price. I couldn’t find much that was in stock. I saw a LOT of Springfield Armory Garrisons but I wasn’t liking the sights on those (I wanted fully adjustable front and rear sights).
I’d been looking for weeks and couldn’t find much. I even looked outside of 1911s (looked at Sig’s P320 AXG Classic and Equinox – they were all expensive as hell). I’d also looked for the Springfield Armory SA-35 but they’re definitely out of stock everywhere.
I then decided to look at any 1911 that had forged slides and frames. I became focused on the IWI Desert Eagle 1911s until I saw that their frames are cast (precision cast but still cast).
Then I remembered that some of the Turkish 1911s had forged frames and slides. I focused on SDS and Tisas (SDS imports Tisas, I believe).
I found one that was discounted to $439 and tried to buy it but changed my mind right before I committed to the purchase because the website seemed fishy (it was http://www.2agunshow.com). The website seemed “sketchAF” and the price was super cheap, undercutting the next lowest 1911 of the same make/model by close to $40. Also when I tried to select an FFL at my location 5-10 miles round me, none of the usual FFLs showed in the results…it was very odd (maybe affiliated with dealers if it wasn’t actually sketch).
This gun was also listed at $432 here but went out of stock maybe 10 min after I saw it..
I ended up going to that next lowest priced gun of the same type and paying a bit extra for it (after researching the website/store first to ensure it was a legit site for regular buyers). I bought it.
A question that someone is going to ask, either at my Youtube channel or here, or even in the back of his mind when reading this: How in the hell did you go from Springfield Armory to a cheap Turkish gun?
That’s an easy question to answer. A true gun enthusiast will be acutely aware of Turkey’s history of gun-making and this particular brand, which is Tisas. Most uneducated folks think “cheaply made with non-quality materials and bad fitment/finish” when anyone mentions guns made outside of the US and 1st World countries in the EU. It’s a generally ignorant mentality. I’m not even sure Turkey can be considered a 3rd Word country. It’s like folks are thinking Afghanistan when thinking of Turkey! Folks familiar with Tisas-made 1911s know that they are quality. There are many models of US-made 1911s that are still using cast frames and many $1000+ 1911s are still using MIM parts. This particular 1911 has a forged slide, barrel (which even extremely cheap and shoddily built 1911s will have), and a forged frame. I don’t think ANY 1911s currently under production and under $500 have all three of those forged parts, with the exception of Tisas 1911s. Not only that, the fitment and finish of this gun equates more to $900-1000 1911s. If someone handled and even fired this firearm (but was withheld the make and country of origin), I bet they’d heap praises on it. And if they were made aware of the material makeup of the firearm, they’d further pile on the praises. When people know it’s from Turkey, they are immediately blinded and will actively refuse to further consider the gun. When I see this, I immediately have a general idea of their thought processes. “Buy only American products.” “Why would you buy something cheaply made when, for a few dollars more, you can have a Springfield or Sig?” And, it sometimes gets uglier: “Why would you support terrorism by buying a Turkish gun?”
Turkey is a NATO partner and the company named Tisas isn’t operated by the Turkish government. Yeah, no one likes Ergodan, but that doesn’t mean all companies in Turkey have Ergodan’s mentality.
While the price of the gun may be budget-minded, the makeup of the gun itself is pretty nice. I’m getting forged parts and the gun has little MIM parts (while all Springfield Armory 1911s are full of MIM). The Tisas 1911 was the better gun.
Also, going cheaper leaves me with some money for more ammo and options to upgrade the sights (I’m pretty sure the gun will come with contrast non-adjustable sights).
I will also probably buy another gun too, since I originally wanted to spend up to $1K. It will more than likely be an AR pistol chambered in 9mm – that’s something I don’t have. I will almost certainly buy a blemished one from PSA. I’ll post more about that later.
UPDATE (12/13/2023): The only MIM part in all Tisas 1911s currently produced is the recoil spring plug, and that can easily be replaced with a non-MIM part, without the need for fitting that part. They started doing that late 2022, I believe. Pricing has crept up, but Tisas are still the only guns under $1000 that have no MIM.
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.
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).
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
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.
Today, I was handling my three 1911s and noticed that two of them had safeties that were rather loose. What do I mean by loose? Well, a good 1911 will have a safety that will have a positive click when being manipulated. It will also take a conscious effort to actuate. It should not actuate (on or off) by being bumped or pushed by an object that is not a finger. The last time I took my Metro Arms American Classic Commander (that’s a mouthful) to the range, both my wife and I noticed that after loading a mag into the firearm and trying to shoot, the safety was unintentionally enabled.
Since it was Friday evening, I got a few old rags and broke them both down on my sofa while listening to the news. I fixed both safeties. Once I field stripped the 1911s, I removed the safeties. The Metro Arms had a single-handled safety lever while the Rock Island Armory had an ambi safety. Once those were removed, I remove the plunger springs from each and stretched them out a bit, which I thought would add more tension to the safety lever on each firearm. I put together both and then tested the safeties. The RIA 1911 safety stiffened up drastically. The Metro Arms 1911 had to be taken down again and stretched out a bit more, but in the end, I got the safety on that firearm pretty stiff.
I’m happy that I was able to sort this out on my own.
For each handguns, I measured trigger pull by averaging out 5 pull results. I also posted low measurements for the majority of them.
Here are the results:
Bersa Thunder 380 Plus –DA – 7lb even, with a low of 6lb 4oz SA – 3lb 10oz, with a low of 3lb 9oz
Beretta PX4 Storm Compact –DA – 9lb 4oz, with a low of 8lb 15oz SA – 3lb 12oz, with a low of 3lb 3oz
Springfield Armory XD9 Mod.2 Subcompact – 4lb 9oz average, with a low of 4lb 6oz
Ruger SR9C –5lb 7oz, with a low of 5lb 1oz
Glock 19 –5lb 5oz average with a low of 5lb even
SIG Sauer P320 Compact –5lb 7oz average with a low of 5lb 3oz
Metro Arms American Classic Commander (1911) – 2lb 15oz average with a low of 2lb 8oz (!!)
I had no idea that 1911 would measure that low. It’s one of three 1911s that I own, but it’s also one of the best that I own. I knew it was good but didn’t know the trigger would generate such a low measurement. I’ll update this page later tonight with the results of the triggers of the other two 1911s, just to compare all three of them.
UPDATE:
I measured my 1911s:
Rock Island Armory MS 1911 (22tcm) – 2lb 12oz average with a low of 2lb 10oz
Rock Island Armory MS 1911 (9mm) – 3lb 13oz average with a low of 3lb 8 oz
UPDATE 2:
I measured my Glock 22 Gen 3 police trade-in (has a 5 lb trigger):
Glock 22 Gen 3 (40 S&W) – 4lb 10.8oz average of 5 with a low of 4lb 4.9oz
Springfield Armory XD45 Mod.2 Subcompact – 5lb 0.1oz average with a low of 4lb 10oz
I went to the range for a quick visit today. I brought two 1911s this time: my RIA midsized 1911 in 9mm and the Metro Arms AC Commander 45.
The first thing I did was fire 50 rounds from the 1911 that was a solid shooter (the 9mm)…it ate all the ammo without issue, but at first I was shooting very low left with it as well. See the picture’s captioning.
I started at the left corner, then went to the right corner, then stopped because I wasn’t hitting point of aim (the red). When I did very slow trigger pulls when aiming at the center target, I hit point of aim. I’m having issues with the 1911 trigger…it wasn’t the Metro Arms that was the issue. That was at 7 yards.
I then began to focus on my trigger pull. I still had trouble trying to figure out which part of the finger to use, but I found that if I shot slowly, I was dead-on. I went through most of a box of ammo pretty much hitting point of aim. It’s an issue of me not being used to the trigger mechanics of a 1911.
I also had two light strikes, which was weird…I’ve not had such issues before. They both fired when I reloaded them into the mags.
Ammo was Remington UMC 115-grain FMJ.
I then went to my trouble-maker 1911. I had no issues aiming after my 50-round session with the 9mm 1911, although my hands were sweaty and I ended up using gloves.
This is MUCH better than my last range visit, when I was hitting very low left and not being even close to center target.
I also shot 49 rounds of Geco 230-grain FMJ without ANY feed/extract issues. There was 50 in the box…yeah, I had one issue where the round didn’t extract (this is a first…this gun has an exclusive history of not feeding properly). But one in 50 is NOT bad, especially when I was having feed issues several times (ie, 2-3) with each magazine. I think the extractor needs to be replaced, but the tuning I did on it helped a LOT!
So, I’m glad I sorted these issues out. I think I’ll put the 1911s away for a while, because they don’t shoot like my other guns and I don’t want my muscle memory getting mucked up.
Oh yeah, I decided to shoot some extra ammo I had sitting around (Remington HTP 147-grain JHP subsonic). I shot 50 rounds of it through my Grand Power P11. The P11 did NOT like that ammo at all. There were lots of failures to return to battery, so much that I was hitting the back of the slide almost as much as I was pulling the trigger. I thought that HTP wouldn’t be as bad as UMC…I was wrong. I need to remind myself to not shoot Remington out of the Grand Power. EVERY time I do, I’m disappointed.
All of those are listed on Gun Broker. There were at least 7-10 of them listed, but most were over-priced. I only listed those that were under MSRP, but I did list the Combat Plus because many people are asking where to find those models and supply is scarce.
Also, a few weeks ago, I ended up taking my Metro Arms 1911 (the American Classic Commander, specifically) and my Sig SP2022 9mm to the local range.
I also ended up putting 50 rounds of American Eagle 124-grain through my current carry gun, the Grand Power P11, just to test to see if it was still having issues returning to battery (it ate all 50 rounds without issue). I’m currently at 582 total rounds through that gun.
7 yards out, American Eagle 124-grain, Grand Power P11
The SP2022 ate 60 rounds without issue. That handgun is fantastic and is extremely easy to shoot accurately. I’m at 279 rounds through the barrel with NO issue whatsoever.
7 yards, Remington UMC 147-grain flat-nosed FMJ, Sig SP2022 9mm
The Metro Arms has been problematic. I shot 48 rounds through this gun this session and had many failures to feed. In fact, when I go through my range log, This gun has a history of failing. It isn’t the mags that are causing the issue (it happens with all three mags and two of them are new and from Wilson Combat). I actually searched and found that this is more than likely an extractor issue. I checked and found it was too loose. I tightened it up and now need to revisit the range to test to see if that helps. If it doesn’t, I’m going to buy a new recoil spring and extractor. That should fix the issue. Another thing of note is that the feed ramp has some major abrasions from the last range visit when I shot Tula through it…it did NOT like Tula and I’d made a note of it (and the feed ramp) in my range log. I shouldn’t need to polish the ramp with so little ammo through the gun, especially since the ramp had a mirror finish when I received the gun. The gun only has 188 rounds through the gun.
7 yards, Winchester White Box 230-gr FMJ, Metro Arms ACC45, one FTE (24 rounds total)
As well, the point of impact is not hitting where I’m aiming (I’m aiming for the red with the front sight covering the X. One thing I neglected to check was my trigger finger placement and how I was actuating the trigger.
I may visit the range tonight just to test the 1911.
I still haven’t shot my AR-15 yet, either. I’m saving that for Father’s Day. 🙂
