Well, my new arrival is finally here...........

I've wanted one of those Rock Island CS (compact 1911) pistols for quite some time, as it seemed to be the perfect balance between power and portability. Since the Democrats were so nice about giving me some stimulus money, I got stimulated and bought one. It took a fairly long search to find one at a decent price......heck, ANY price for that matter as things are getting tight out there.......but it finally happened.

Initial impressions......the gun is well made, well finished and tight. In fact, it's a wee bit too tight. The safety is quite stiff and will need quite a bit of operation before it smooths out. The factory included two empty test cases which disclosed that the firing pin is slightly off center. Not a big deal at all really. The gun has a generously wide beaver tail which I was delighted to see. My other Rock Island 1911 (full size) will leave a bruise on the web of my hand after an afternoon's shooting, so this should be better.

Today it's off to the range and get it started on a diet of cast. My "comfort" load is 5.5 grains of Unique under a Lee 225 grain round nose. I'm expecting some failures to feed, etc until it loosens up a bit, but this is the first NEW gun I've bought for quite a while. After seeing what's going on out there lately, I feel lucky to have actually gotten it!

Rock Island makes an even smaller version with a ported barrel/slide. I considered that one but decided it was too much dynamite for one hand, so I got the next size up. All in all, a very nice little package.....:)

Rock Island makes a fine little gun for the cost. I have a A1 that was my second handgun purchase. My how that poor thing was abused over the years. I've almost sold it a few times. She's not the most reliable. Good memories though. I've been very "stimulated" myself. I've purchased 3 in the last month or so.

Your reliability comment surprised me. My full size Rock Island had some issues also, but it was always an off brand magazine problem, easily corrected by a good replacement.

One of the first handguns I bought was a Rock Island 1911 and it is a shooter. Once I got loading it figured out it just goes bang and has been reliable. I did get it throated by Doug and it was an improvement for reliable feeding , and allows you to keep your boolits fat enough. The spring housing that holds the plunger that locks the safety came loose and made the safety difficult to disengage , It is now superglued to the frame and has stayed put so far. It is a good low priced 45.

3006guns;
I presume it is a .45 ACP (the loading data suggests that), but 1911's come in more than one caliber.

Plus, we NEED pictures (it didn't happen if there are no pictures:groner:

Congratulations on your purchase! A few years ago, I was at a friend's home and he showed me a Kimber CDP II in .45 ACP. It was SO pretty, that I did something that was completely out of character( I am NOTHING if not practical:shock:). I swapped a Colt 1911 Commander that had been worked on and was TOTALLY reliable. I had never seen the Kimber CDP II before, and was taken by it's appearance. I KNEW it wouldn't be reliable, as everyone KNEW that was the case with these short barreled compact 1911's.

As it so happened, I only had rounds with me that were loaded with the H&G #130 short nosed SWC bullet that was only loaded to target level. I KNEW it wouldn't cycle the new acquisition. i stopped by our outdoor range and figured that I would singly load it, if necessary as I REALLY wanted to shoot it, just to see what I had. There were a couple of my pistol shooting friends at the range, so I waited for the next relay, and set up a timed fire target at 25 yards. I started off with a full mag, of those short nosed target loads. I was shooting standing, two handed. I fired five, reloaded and fired five more. The worst shot on the target was a couple of nines and the gun was totally reliable, even with those light target loads. It also shot to the sights, was reasonably comfortable to shoot. All these years later, I still have this wondrous little piece. in a belt slide it works perfectly and properly loaded makes a FINE carry piece.

Hopefully, your Springfield will do the same:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...080&fit=bounds

They are awesome little guns and quite accurate. A friend has one that was worked over but kept the factory barrel. We had no problem hitting gallon jugs at 50+ yards with it.

Never had a Rock Island, but have read good things about them. Had an Officer's ACP sized Para LDA, shot well, I just couldn't get used to a pivoting trigger in what was basically a 1911.

Played with a friends Commander and Officer's ACP (read that as put several thousand rounds through them over the years). I don't really remember any accuracy or recoil issues with them.

As for the idea that you have to have a high-dollar 1911 for it to be reliable? Hogwash. In the late 1980's I had an Auto Ordnance 1911A1 which pretty much defined cheap. It was also reliable. No it wasn't a Camp Perry candidate, but I bet it would work as needed if the chips were down. Kind of wish I still had it.

Robert

High dollar? I'll find the receipt for my combat commander. Haha.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Dale53

3006guns;
I presume it is a .45 ACP (the loading data suggests that), but 1911's come in more than one caliber.

Plus, we NEED pictures (it didn't happen if there are no pictures:groner:

Congratulations on your purchase! A few years ago, I was at a friend's home and he showed me a Kimber CDP II in .45 ACP. It was SO pretty, that I did something that was completely out of character( I am NOTHING if not practical:shock:). I swapped a Colt 1911 Commander that had been worked on and was TOTALLY reliable. I had never seen the Kimber CDP II before, and was taken by it's appearance. I KNEW it wouldn't be reliable, as everyone KNEW that was the case with these short barreled compact 1911's.

As it so happened, I only had rounds with me that were loaded with the H&G #130 short nosed SWC bullet that was only loaded to target level. I KNEW it wouldn't cycle the new acquisition. i stopped by our outdoor range and figured that I would singly load it, if necessary as I REALLY wanted to shoot it, just to see what I had. There were a couple of my pistol shooting friends at the range, so I waited for the next relay, and set up a timed fire target at 25 yards. I started off with a full mag, of those short nosed target loads. I was shooting standing, two handed. I fired five, reloaded and fired five more. The worst shot on the target was a couple of nines and the gun was totally reliable, even with those light target loads. It also shot to the sights, was reasonably comfortable to shoot. All these years later, I still have this wondrous little piece. in a belt slide it works perfectly and properly loaded makes a FINE carry piece.

Hopefully, your Springfield will do the same:

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...080&fit=bounds

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Hey dale53

I ended up with a 1st gen cdp pro. The most notable difference between the 1st and 2nd gen is the 1st has a proper melt job. There is not a square or sharp edge on that gun. I'm not really a kimber fan but knew the 1st gen guns were supposedly a pretty close custom gun before kimber got too big too fast.

But having me and somehow I got old the stainless full 1911 was causing me some problems. The light weight of the aluminum fram has helped and the 4 inch bbq. Gives me more confidence when it comes to reliability but the biggest surprise was the felt recoil. To me there is no difference between that kimber and my full size all steel 1911's

Sent from my SM-T377V using Tapatalk

I've never owned a Rock Island, but I own a Springfield Ultra-Compact that is pretty much the same thing. It locks up really tight as well, but still runs reliably, so I'm sure yours can as well. I agree that the steel framed officers size 1911's are about perfect for carry gun. They can chew through recoil springs though. I'm not sure R.I. recommends for there setup, but the general rule of thumb is supposed to be something like 500 rounds per spring change.