Gun Review: Rock Island Armory 1911-A1 Tactical semi-auto handgun in 9mm

By Nate Parker

Rock Island Armory Tactical 1911 in 9mm. (Photo: Nate Parker)
Would you believe that a Rock Island Armory 1911 has claimed a competitive shooting national title? It has — back in 2013, Mike Seeklander won the inaugural IDPA Back Up Gun Nationals (SSP Division) with a RIA 3″ 1911 in 9mm.
Armscor, the parent company of Rock Island Armory, originates from the Philippines, and has had guns on the U.S. market for some time. The Rock Island Armory brand was acquired by Armscor in the 1980’s shortly after Armscor Precision International opened its first office in the United States. Since then, they have run with it and grown the brand into what it is today. Rock Island Armory is one of the largest producers of 1911 frames in the world, manufacturing frames under contract for several other firearms manufacturers. More recently they have moved some manufacturing to the United States and have been updating their branding, coupled with a renewed push to increase their presence on retailer’s shelves. In 2015, Armscor/RIA inked a deal to be in all Cabela’s stores across the United States.
My introduction to RIA was about five years ago, well before their big push to get into the market,

Source: Guns.com