Review of Rock Island M1911A2 2011 Hi Cap .45 ACP

[fp45liberator]

I've been lusting after these for awhile, so when a local dealer announced they had one I jumped on it. I really wanted one in 9mm, but this will do for now.

Most of my experience has been with single stack 1911s, so this platform is new to me.

I was surprised by the extra weight from the full dust cover and rail. The rear sights are adjustable LPA novak style, with two odd white dots that I intend to black out. Front sight is fiber optic and dovetailed in. It appears to take P14 mags, as the magazine it came with (mecgar) is marked P14. It does come with a magwell installed, so I'm unsure what mag extensions will fit with it.

I was impressed by how tigh tthe slide/frame fit was. Certainly better than my Springfield Loaded 1911s, as well as my RIA Tac 1911 9mm. Trigger broke at 5 1/2 pounds.

The gun fed hardball without a hitch, but did fail to go into battery the first few rounds of Missouri 200 SWC. After the first few FTF, however, it ran fine. Accuracy at 50' was ok at just over 2 1/2" with ball, and 2" with the SWC. I'm hoping this shrinks a bit after some trigger work.

The gun felt HUGE in my hands. I'm used to a single stack 1911 with slim grips, and this pistol is immense. I'm sure you S_I/Para/Caspian fellas are used to this grip, but this is a hog. The VZ grips offered a lot of traction control and the gun didn't move in my hands.

Not much else to say. I know there hasn't been a lot of info out on these guns, so I thought a review may help some folks. Feel free to ask any questions.

[mwc5]

NICE !!!

[fp45liberator]

I did a quick trigger job using existing parts and my Ed Brown sear jig and a little polish. Took it down to 3.5 pounds and the accuracy really firmed up - everything was at 7-10 yards, however. I ordered some Dawson basepads and wolf extra powered springs - I hope they'll work. I'll let you know!

[wbpowell]

I am looking to get the 40 cal version of this, i am waiting patiently for word on mag extensions. how does the mag well work as it is?

[GoGreen09]

Bought one too, but since I'm in California I have the neutered mags. Pistol has been great so far except for the slide locking prematurely with the extra MecGar mags that I bought. They look exactly like the one that came with the pistol from the outside. After I broke them down, I found that the follower and spring were different. I have loaded all of the magazines and they've been sitting in the safe for almost a week now. I'm hoping it's just the springs. Not really sure what my next step would be since the pistol works fine with the original mag.

Walstein - would you use this for competition?

[fp45liberator]

I plan to use it for limited - why not? Mine is having slick lock issues with mec-gar mags as well. Did your problem get fixed? I was thinking about dimpling the slide catch where the detent seats.