Tag: 5"

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.45 ACP 1911 Tisas

Tisas Duty 45ACP Has Now Shot Over 1000 Rounds!

I’m glad we’ve reached the 1000 round goal with this gun.

I’ve owned this gun almost four years now – 3 years 10 months, to be exact. During this time, this gun has been a pain in the ass.

The last 200 or so round was not kind to me. There was an absolute crapload of fails to feed.

Initially, the gun was straightup single shot when I decided to take it to the range again, in December 2025. Immediately, I knew there was an issue when firing the first mag. I almost packed up and went home but I thought about it for a minute or so – I was thinking, “how am I going to troubleshoot this at home?” I decided to stay but I knew it was going to suck.

I spent that whole range session clearing malfunctions. I think I shot 50 rounds (I actually shot 42 rounds). I was there for an hour. The gun would be so locked up that the only way I could clear the malfunction was to pull the mag (and the mag was resisting).

The rounds were hanging on the feed ramp, no matter the magazine. I had maybe 9 magazines with me: two 8-rnd Mecgar mags, an 8-rnd ACT mag, three ACT 7-rnd GI mags, and three Wilson Combat ETM 8-rnd mags. They were ALL misfeeding. The GI mags are somewhat new, as well as one WC mag…those shouldn’t have had issues.

It was not limp-wristing, as this was happening before I fired the gun. The very first rounds were failing to chamber, whether I slingshotted the first round or if I dropped the slide on a full magazine.

One other gun uses the above-mentioned mags, which is my Metro Arms AC Commander. Yes, that gun was misfeeding too, so I kept thinking it was the mags that was causing the issues.

I lubed the gun and put a light coating of oil on the feed ramp, and then tried each mag again. The FTFs didn’t go away.

I then decided to just focus on the GI mags. I just kept shooting, thinking that the gun would eventually start shooting well again. It didn’t. I went home perplexed.

The next day, I cleaned the mags, all but the GI mags (again, as I’d cleaned them the day before the range visit). My thought was that maybe I’d assembled the mags wrong. (All nine of them?) I did notice that three of them had rather limp spring tension. I lubed each and ensured that each was properly re-assembled.

I also suspected the ammo. I only had one type of ammo with me – Winchester white box 115-gr FMJ.

The next day, I returned to the range, with Herters 115-gr FMJ. I started with that first, in a GI mag. I had immediate failures. I again kept shooting and, toward the end of the range visit, I noticed that the gun was now only misfeeding on the very first and very last rounds of the mag. As well, when the gun misfed, I was now able to sharply bump the back of the slide, which fed the round (I’d attempted that on the first range visit and the slide wasn’t having it). I only shot with the GI mags. I went home perplexed again, but a bit more sure…I don’t think the issue was the mags, as the gun felt it was getting a bit better.

When I got home, I gave the gun a once-over to ensure nothing was amiss internally (field stripped). I didn’t see anything amiss.

I then decided to order parts. I ordered a 16-lb recoil spring and a new extractor, which I didn’t think was needed, but I was getting desperate. Once I received the spring, I found that the GI guide rod would not accept the spring (it was an EGW spring). I did quick research and found that this was a particular issue with Tisas guns – the guide rod was slightly out of spec, which caused the slide to be blocked from it’s full range of rack-back. I ordered a replacement GI guide rod from EGW, which fixed the issue. I also tuned the extractor two hours before the range visit.

I also ordered an 18-lb recoil spring for the Metro Commander, as well as a new extractor (that gun had a known bad and not really tunable extractor).

I took both guns back to the range. I only used the GI mags. The Tisas shot 69 flawless rounds…no feed or extract issues. The Metro shot 62, with 2 misfeeds (one FTF and one FTE) – I didn’t tune it’s extractor, but still, I got 60 fault-free rounds from that gun.

I’ve hindsight in that I maintain a range log of all my guns. What I should’ve done was, as soon as I had issues the very first time, was consult my range logs. I had this exact same problem in the past with the Tisas, in December 2023. I shot 147 rounds that visit. Here’s my log entry:


Today’s range visit was a HORRIBLE experience. There were many FTFs, which is weird since yesterday’s feed issues were due to aluminum case ammo and GI mags.

The gun is absolutely filthy, though, even though I lubed the rails before the range visit. I can’t remember the last time I cleaned it. The feed ranp is jet-black.

Many of the feed issues were rounds nosediving on the first and second rounds of the mags. Every mag had feed failures at some point in the shooting. I’ve WC mags, ACT GI mags, the two OEM Mecgar mags, and an ACT 8 rounder (that’s known to be crappy). They all failed. There were so many fails that I stopped counting. Most of it was the PMC bronze, although I also shot Speer Lawman TMJ 230-grain ammo and Blazer aluminum cased ammo. I spent a shitload of time clearing malfunctions.

Three of the PMC rounds hung up on the feed ramp and the projectiles were so pushed in that I had to discard them. Also, more than a few PMC rounds had case lip dings…I saw those on the spent casings as well as the ones that misfed. WTAF.

The gun was failing to feed even before shooting the gun (was occurring during racking after mag insertion — and yeah, I’m sling-shotting with authority. Again, the feed ramp is absolutely filthy, so that could be the issue. I’ve only cleaned it once since ownership (Feb 2022).

Yesterday’s small count of feed issues could just be that the gun was filthy AF. I’ve to keep in mind that these guns are not Glocks, so I shouldn’t be treating them as such. They require cleaning.

I’ll clean the gun today and visit the range again tomorrow or Friday to test again. I’ll also give the internals a once-over, just in case something is amiss with the gun.

I think I’m just going to not shoot PMC JHP through this gun anymore…it’s a waste of ammo. I’m just confused as to why this box was so bad when yesterday’s box wasn’t as bad. Last year, I also shot this same ammo without issues…they’re all from the same batch (I bought like 250 rounds of that ammo a year or two ago, from an online ammo store).

Also, my hand (between the thumb and index finger) is tore TF up…skin isn’t broken but it may as well be. I’ll have to either shoot with gloves or put a bandage on that portion of my hand. I think it’s actually the right side of the grip and thumb safeties that’s chewing up my hand.

I find it difficult to believe that the extractor and recoil spring got tired before 1000 rounds were shot, but I’ve no idea what type of metal is being used for Tisas OEM parts.

If mag springs were the issue, I’d still be having issues, even with the GI mags. I’ve yet to test the non-GI mags, though.

I also bought new 4 GI mags, although they are of questionable quality (they are Triple K branded). If I have issues with them, I’ll buy replacement springs, plus Triple K has a one-year warranty on it’s magazines.

Again, the Metro needed a new extractor and I was aware of that issue, but it’s also super odd that both guns were exhibiting the same issue, even with newish (ACT GI) mags. There’s no way all of those mags had spring issues, though.

I was going to say that I was done with cheap guns, but my RIA guns have never done this (I’ve three RIAs, two 9mm and one 10mm) and one of them is over 1000 rounds, while another is close to 700 rounds…neither of those have ever had functionality issues.

I do want an Officer 1911 and I’m eyeing a Taurus since that’ll get me a Series-80 1911, and I’ve never owned an Officer or Series-80 1911. I just don’t feel I need all my guns to be $1000. I suppose I could buy an RIA Officer, but I need front strap serrations and Taurus has those on their Officers.

Of all my 1911s and 2011s (in fact, of ALL my guns), the Tisas Duty is the one that I’m really disappointed about. I already said this before, but Tisas isn’t my favorite brand…not because I’m joining some Haterade campaign against Tisas (because they’re Turkish or a cheap brand). I’ve documented all of my issues with my Tisas guns and each of those issues are objectively shared. I’ve no bias but I don’t want shit that’s always going to break, either (or run but have heavy-assed triggers, funky sear springs, funky rails, or funky optics cuts, all of which my Tisas DS had).

At one point, I’d been thinking about using the Tisas Duty as a home defense gun. Not now. I’ve plenty of guns that have never had issues – I’ll pick one of those over a finnicky Tisas.

Categories
ACT frangible Garrison mag release Mecgar PMC SDS Imports Springfield Armory Wilson Combat

One 1911 to Rule Them All – 5″ 45ACP!

UPDATE: I posted to Reddit about the new gun here.

I went to the range today to have my new 1911 transferred to me – the SDS Imports 1911 Duty B45R.

I got there at 9 AM. I turned in the paperwork by 9:15 AM. I was given the gun at 9:20 AM.

The gun was immaculate. It also appears that someone cleaned the gun. It wasn’t pristine-clean, but it had no cosmoline on it (I’m not sure how these guns are normally shipped/stored – many are covered in preservative, which is what cosmoline is). It did have lube on the the frame and slide rails. I cleaned it anyways.

Surprisingly, the gun came with two Mecgar mags! I was expecting one mag, so that’s a big plus. I’ve spoken with other folks and they state that theirs came with one mag. My gun also came in a case. Those other folks stated theirs came in a cardboard box.

The gun is cerakoted but almost looks like it’s parkerized. It is black with a silver trigger and barrel. It has backstrap serrations but has a bare frontstrap. The ambi safeties are not bulky and have extended levers…they look nice!

I’d two other mags – branded Wilson Combat. I planned to use them with this gun at the range this evening. I also planned to use my ACT mag that came with my Metro Arms ACC 1911.

I had a small stash of 45ACP – two boxes of International 155-gr frangible ammo, which doesn’t perform all that well. I also bought two 50-round boxes of PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ from the range when I arrived. Before I’d left for the range, I’d had the time to swap out the black plastic OEM grips with brown/tan/black grippy G10s that complement the gun.

I ended up shooting the two boxes of International and shot one of the two boxes of PMC. The PMC felt as if it were hot ammo (it always does). The International ammo surprisingly had no misfeeds.

One of the mags caused a failure at the very first round within it’s mag – It was the ACT mag. I ejected the mag, stripped it of ammo and put it to the side. I would not use it the rest of the range session.

The Wilson Combat mags were not flawless, but I’ve found it wasn’t a fault of the mags. The gun has a mag release that will work for the Mecgar (and ACT) mags but will not work well with the WC mags because it needs to be beveled. The mags would sometimes not want to be inserted. To fix this, I need to order a mag release from Wilson Combat. It will swap into the SDS 1911 without issue and will work with non-WC mags.

Pics of the gun:

A photo of the SDS 1911DB45R after the transfer.
These grips are NICE but a bit too slick for range use.
I shot the gun for the first time tonight (17 Feb). I used these G10 grips. I’ve no complaints…they work well, and I had no issues controlling/gripping the gun.

Pics of the range targets:

SDS 1911B45R first shots.
This is 32 rounds of PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ at 7 yards. I was getting familiar with the trigger, sight picture, and the ammo.
I wanted to directly compare the PMC Bronze 230-gr FMJ and the International frangible 155-gr ammo. I bought maybe 250 rounds of the International maybe 2 years ago and it’s inconsistent ammo but it’s better than not having ammo. Upper left and lower right is PMC. Upper right and lower left is International. All targets have 8 rounds. All were shot at 7 yards.
These were shot at 10 yards, using International frangible 155-gr ammo. First, I shot center, then I shot upper left, then upper right, and lastly I shot lower left. I’m getting tired and it’s showing…the rounds aren’t hitting where I’m aiming. The groups are still decent, though, especially the first group.
These were at 10 yards, and all are shot with International 155-gr frangible ammo. 8 rounds were shot at each target. I’m getting tired. The groups aren’t bad, though.
This is 4 mags of 8 rounds each. The distance is 7 yards and I used International 155-gr frangible ammo. These were fast (not exactly rapid) fired, maybe 2 shots a second, starting from low ready for each mag. Not bad for me.

Before I left the range, I looked at their store items. They carry WC mags and had one full size 1911 mag left. I bought it (since it’s price was $34, which is rather inexpensive from what I remember of WC mag prices).

The gun is solid. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with it, aside from the mag release. It’s accurate. It’s smooth. The trigger is awesome. The finish and fitment is on par with $700-800 guns (Springfield Armory Garrison), in my opinion, yet I bought this gun for under $500. My only misgiving was that I didn’t get it in stainless steel (that version is $100 more).

Categories
10mm 1911A1 1911A2 22TCM FS HC Rock Island Armory Rock Ultra

Time for A 10mm Range Visit

I picked up the RIA Rock Ultra FS HC 10mm this morning before work (5 min wait to get background check results – I’m squeaky clean).

As usual, the handgun was covered in cosmoline and was in a plastic bag.  It came with one mag (as expected) and a manual.  The envelope with the spent cases showed an inspection date of 12/18/2020, meaning the gun is new.

The recoil spring is Popeye strong…you probably need to open a can of spinach to rack the slide.  I’m not joking…it’s strong and probably needs to be.  One of the things I struggle with when handling the gun is racking the slide.  I wish the slide had more aggressive serrations, because I sometimes can’t get a good enough grip to properly rack the gun.

I field-stripped the gun to clean off the preservative (it is not lube).  The machining is really nice.  This gun has a bull barrel, too…there’s no bushing, so you need to use a tool or paper clip to field strip the gun.  Now, to break down the recoil spring assembly (which consists of  the recoil rod, spring, and reverse plug), you’re not going to be able to do it your fingers.  The spring is far too strong.  Use the slide to help with that process.

The thumb safety needs to be tightened…it’s a bit loose (all of my Filipino 1911s were).

Speaking of the trigger, it is not light but also not heavy: 4 lb 4 oz on an average of 5 trigger pulls.

I changed the fiber filament of the front sight.  I had trouble removing it.  It appears as if someone (maybe) used an adhesive or even Locktite to secure it.  I replaced it with a TruGlo filament.

I took the gun to the range this evening, along with my RIA 22TCM.  The Rock Ultra manages recoil very well…I had no issues controlling the handgun, although I was using 180-gr FMJ range ammo (S&B and Ammo Inc).  It shoots far better than my Glock 22, but it has a lot more weight than the G22, as well.  The 10mm was launching spent casings against the side of the booth and I’ve no doubt it’ll throw brass 20+ feet.

The S&B ammo is NICE ammo!  It’s clean and very accurate.  I was shooting from 7 yards.  I always do…no need to shoot further than that, IMO, and it’s a good distance to benchmark a handgun.  I shot 25 rounds of S&B, noting that my grouping was relatively tight.  I then loaded a mag of the Ammo Inc.  That ammo sucks!!  I was all over the place and at first thought it was me.  No.  The ammo is very inconsistent and was throwing ammo all over the target.  I will not be buying anymore of that ammo…well, I might, if the ammo prices keep climbing.  Bad ammo is better than no ammo, I guess.

As always, when shooting 1911s, I always shoot low left of center.  The groups may be tight, but I still shoot low left.  I think I’ve determined what I’m doing wrong.  When the gun is in my hand and I’m aiming down the sights, I’m almost 100% certain that the gun isn’t aiming straight down-range.  I must be aiming left.  Also, I caught myself (twice) flinching when pulling the trigger.  The flinching is making me pull low left – I actually saw it when reviewing my GoPro range footage (which is why I use the camera when shooting).  So, I’ve to work on getting better at shooting 1911s.  I did eventually walk the rounds to bulls-eye with the 22TCM 1911, though (I shot 50 rounds).

I will return to the range soon, but will probably bring the AK pistols next go around.  I may bring the Rock Ultra as well, if I can find more 10mm ammo.

Categories
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.