The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - My new RIA 1911 XT22

XtremeRevolution · December 14, 2012, 01:47 PM

Finally had a chance to take some decent pictures of this thing. I picked this up on Saturday.

This is The Armscor/API/Rock Island Armory 1911 .22. Unlike the 1911 .22 handguns made by Sig/GSG and Colt/Umarex, this one is full steel, slide and frame. The frame is a full 1911 frame. You can convert this into a 9mm or .45 1911 for $285 direct from RIA, which requires replacing the entire top end, magazine, extractor/ejector, and mainspring housing each time you swap between the two. With some basic tools, I'm told it can be done in the field, but it's not something I would do repeatedly. There is a cutout in the foam in the case for an extra slide.

The slide is an open top slide like the Beretta 92 in order to reduce slide weight of a full steel slide for correct cycling. The sights are dovetail sights and can be replaced, with the rear sight being made of aluminum to reduce weight. I plan on replacing these at some point in the future. High velocity .22 ammo is required. The magazines are the same ones used by the Kimber 1911 .22 conversion, which are poly. I purchased two 14-round magazines for mine.

Price paid was $442 from budsgunshop.com. I paid an additional $5 for shipment insurance, and $23 to my FFL for the transfer, for a total of $470 out the door.

PICTURES WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEXT POST DUE TO POST LIMITATIONS.

To see how the gun works, here's RIA's promo video:
http://youtu.be/MQErZVT0TuI

I haven't gone out to shoot this yet, but will as soon as I have time to go to a range. Initial impressions are quite good. The gun is solid, heavy, and well built. It feels great in my hands. The beavertail feels very nice, and the safety snaps into both positions securely with a bit of effort but requires only your thumb.

Now, the issues. The 10-round magazine it came with does not lock into the pistol. You can slam it in with the butt of your palm as hard as you want, and you'll still be able to slide it right back out without hitting the magazine eject. I tried to file down a few spots that look like they were snagging against the opening of the pistol, but that didn't help at all. I called up RIA and they said they're out of magazines right now and are waiting on a new shipment, but will replace it for me. The ProMag 14-round magazines I bought from MidwayUSA.com locked in flawlessly.

The ProMag 14-round magazines I bought had one area where the slide rubbed against them, which had to be filed down. Being made of poly, this was very easy to do. Here are some pictures of what I had to file down.

In this picture, you'll be looking at the bottom left ridge of the top of the gun, where you'll see a strip that got rubbed by the slide:
http://imageshack.us/a/img821/3206/20121208194606.jpg

Here's that same part filed down:
http://imageshack.us/a/img10/4171/20121208194002.jpg
http://imageshack.us/a/img690/4995/20121208194501.jpg

RIA recommends 500 rounds of break-in. Can't wait to take this out to the range!

December 14, 2012, 01:47 PM	#1
XtremeRevolution Senior Member Join Date: September 25, 2012 Posts: 147	My new RIA 1911 XT22 - .22LR Finally had a chance to take some decent pictures of this thing. I picked this up on Saturday. This is The Armscor/API/Rock Island Armory 1911 .22. Unlike the 1911 .22 handguns made by Sig/GSG and Colt/Umarex, this one is full steel, slide and frame. The frame is a full 1911 frame. You can convert this into a 9mm or .45 1911 for $285 direct from RIA, which requires replacing the entire top end, magazine, extractor/ejector, and mainspring housing each time you swap between the two. With some basic tools, I'm told it can be done in the field, but it's not something I would do repeatedly. There is a cutout in the foam in the case for an extra slide. The slide is an open top slide like the Beretta 92 in order to reduce slide weight of a full steel slide for correct cycling. The sights are dovetail sights and can be replaced, with the rear sight being made of aluminum to reduce weight. I plan on replacing these at some point in the future. High velocity .22 ammo is required. The magazines are the same ones used by the Kimber 1911 .22 conversion, which are poly. I purchased two 14-round magazines for mine. Price paid was $442 from budsgunshop.com. I paid an additional $5 for shipment insurance, and $23 to my FFL for the transfer, for a total of $470 out the door. PICTURES WILL BE POSTED IN THE NEXT POST DUE TO POST LIMITATIONS. To see how the gun works, here's RIA's promo video: http://youtu.be/MQErZVT0TuI I haven't gone out to shoot this yet, but will as soon as I have time to go to a range. Initial impressions are quite good. The gun is solid, heavy, and well built. It feels great in my hands. The beavertail feels very nice, and the safety snaps into both positions securely with a bit of effort but requires only your thumb. Now, the issues. The 10-round magazine it came with does not lock into the pistol. You can slam it in with the butt of your palm as hard as you want, and you'll still be able to slide it right back out without hitting the magazine eject. I tried to file down a few spots that look like they were snagging against the opening of the pistol, but that didn't help at all. I called up RIA and they said they're out of magazines right now and are waiting on a new shipment, but will replace it for me. The ProMag 14-round magazines I bought from MidwayUSA.com locked in flawlessly. The ProMag 14-round magazines I bought had one area where the slide rubbed against them, which had to be filed down. Being made of poly, this was very easy to do. Here are some pictures of what I had to file down. In this picture, you'll be looking at the bottom left ridge of the top of the gun, where you'll see a strip that got rubbed by the slide: http://imageshack.us/a/img821/3206/20121208194606.jpg Here's that same part filed down: http://imageshack.us/a/img10/4171/20121208194002.jpg http://imageshack.us/a/img690/4995/20121208194501.jpg RIA recommends 500 rounds of break-in. Can't wait to take this out to the range! Last edited by XtremeRevolution; December 14, 2012 at 02:02 PM.