RIA XT 22 mag 1911 pro--2nd attempt

[stagpanther]

It's been about a month since I sent my XT 22 pro back to armscor--as you might recall I had originally purchased something of a lemon. I never heard back from them other than to say it would take 4 to 6 weeks to fix it--but no updates. Low and behold, I was notified day before yesterday I needed to be home to sign for a package--and much to my surprise it was a brand new XT 22 pro!

I just stripped and cleaned it this morning, and they might have a different opinion--but this new gun is a different gun from the one I originally had sent to me--the box is different and though the outward appearance looks the same, I believe they modified the design of the gun and made improvements (either that, or somebody made a limited one-off piece of junk and tried to sell it as the same thing when I first bought it).

The barrel assembly fits much more precisely in the frame--there are no annoying issues with the getting holes lined up using the slide catch. The barrel itself has two sleeves fitted to it--just like the first one I bought--but these are smaller in diameter than the ones I recall on the first gun had. Again, a tighter fit in the barrel shroud. Everything operates more smoothly with less slop. Removing and re-installing the slide catch is still "challenging"--but nonetheless a huge improvement over "nearly impossible."

The only thing the original had over this one was a lighter trigger pull, so far it seems this one can go no lighter than 4.5 lbs, but that's not bad for a consumer-grade handgun.

After cleaning I took it out for a few function test groups using CCI varmint and target ammo, shooting from a bench rest at 15 yds both produced groups similar to this.



I had one jam n the 20 cartridges I fired--a last cartridge seems to have hooked the rim somehow on the magazine feed lip and could not be fed--but other than that the difference between night and day with the first gun I was sent.

RIA--you are forgiven.

[wmg1299]

I had almost the exact same experience with my XT22 Mag (Model M1911 A1 FS 22XT) when I sent it in due to repeated light primer strikes. After 6 weeks, I was notified that my gun could not be repaired and a new pistol had been shipped to me. The major difference I noticed was that my original gun had a small plunger that fit in a pre-drilled hole in the barrel shroud and set between the barrel and the shroud. I am not sure exactly what purpose the plunger served, but the new gun's barrel fits flush with the shroud and has no plunger. The new gun has run flawlessly, so whatever they changed with the new design seems to have worked.

[stagpanther]

Increasingly these days the unsuspecting public is the unpaid R&D team for many firearms concerns.

[9x19]

Glad they got you a working pistol!

My plain-jane early model has been a lot of fun.

[stagpanther]

Thanks--the 22 wmr is a heady little rimfire cartridge--a step up from the benign pop the lr or sr are. The cheese-grater grip panels are a bit much for my tastes and I don't care for the blue look, might look to replace those.

[darkgael]

Deleted.

[jetinteriorguy]

This pretty much is the same experience I had with the .22 TCM barrel in my gun. These guys shine in the service dept. I’m far from any kind of 1911 expert, the one and only one I’ve ever had is the 9mm/22TCM combo and once they replaced the 22TCM barrel and tuned it, it’s been an excellent gun. From the day the gun was sent back to the day I received it was 11 days and they paid shipping both ways. And to top it off I bought the gun used and that made no difference to them. By the way, if you think the 22Mag is fun, you should try the 22TCM, it’s crazy. Ammo isn’t too bad either, $20.00 for a box of 50 and it’s reloadable. But I don’t shoot it that much so I haven’t bothered reloading it yet. A 40gr bullet at around 2000 fps with almost no recoil but sounds like a .44 mag really gets your attention. People look at you funny on the range trying to figure out what you’re shooting.

[stagpanther]

That 22 TCM does look attractive--especially the reloading part, I was actually considering getting a ton of safety matches and trying to reload my 22 mag and 17 hmr. What's the recoil like compared to the 22 mag? After a while you start to loose the inherent advantage of the no felt recoil of the 22 lr by pumping them up on steroids.

[stagpanther]

Went out again today--this time just for gratuitous mag dumps shooting standing freehand at 15 yds. Very addictive, worse than crack , it took me maybe 10 minutes to blow through 100 cartridges of cci varmint and target. Had 1 jam but that might have been due to my less than stellar technique. What fun!

[stagpanther]

BTW--I discovered a much easier way to install the slide catch than described in either the manual (which is next to useless) or the video which leaves me wondering who in the world would do a strip in the field by removing the safety. Basically, after reassembling everything I insert the slide catch into the frame as normal--but I found you do not need to pull the slide back to the half moon in order to get the slide catch to start engaging the safety detente pin. So what I do is insert the catch about 3/4 of the way through the frame and barrel shroud; leaving enough room for a punch to depress the safety detente pin just enough so that you can easily pop the slide catch onto it, it should simply pop on with no extraordinary effort--there's no need to push the slide catch up either. At this point the slide catch will still have a few mm's of clearance to the side of the frame. To complete the slide catch all the way so it is flush with the side off the frame, now pull the slide back so that the catch end lines up with the half-moon--it should only take a gentle press down on the catch to get it to fully engage the safety detente pin and be fully inserted completely through the frame. Easy peasy!

[jetinteriorguy]

The 22TCM has very very little recoil, kind of weird actually. You hear this big boom with a huge fireball but hardly anything happens in your hand. Right now I’d like to find a matching rifle to go with it, I’m kind of big into the rifle/handgun caliber combo’s. What would be really neat would be a barrel/mag swap for my Just Right carbine, or something like the Ruger PC9. I don’t know if this cartridge would work with a simple blowback design in a more conventional style like the PC9 but I think it would be cool.

[stagpanther]

I’m kind of big into the rifle/handgun caliber combo’s

Me too--I was looking into that, the big guys have RIA's rifles in 22 TCM in stock, I was mulling over all that was needed. I got a 300 BLK when they first came out and didn't mind making my own brass from 223/5.56--this doesn't look any worse. The XT 22 fills up fast with unburnt powder, my guess is that's a big factor in jams and maybe why they tell you to keep the chamber and ejector clear of oil.