Recommend me a Rock River .45

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Mon Jun 04, 2007 3:28 am

After reading the advice you guys gave me on a bullseye .45, and after reading the site Bullseye linked www.bullseyepistol.com, I've decided to go with the Rock River. Many of the match grade parts mentioned on bullseyepistol.com come standard in RR's, and there aren't any Bullseye gumsmiths near where I live, and I don't wan't to send my pistol away for a year -- so it was a no brainer after taking in the info you all gave me

Now with that being said, which one should I get? My price range is 1,700ish MSRP and below. Right now the two that I'am most interested in are the NM Hardball (what is "hardball" or "ball" ammo mean anyway?) and Basic Limited Match, I want something that has good iron sights and that can be tapped for a red dot mount -- I don't wan't to be locked in to just the red dot, which seems to be the case with a lot of the RR's.

Thank you for the advice.

Post by **Bullseye** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 5:34 am

George in order to make useful recommendations we need to know how you are going to use this pistol. Are you intending to shoot NRA/CMP Bullseye competition or IDPA/Action style competition? Without your intentions it is difficult to give useful advice.

"Hardball" or "Ball" is the term given to military issue style ammo. For .45 cal it is 230 grain round nose fully jacketed cartridges. Typically this ammo has a good recoil to it and can wear a shooter out physically. The pistol's springs and internal components are beefed up to handle the stresses of heavily charged ammo. This type of ammo tends to make the newer shooter flinch a lot, as they attempt to recover from the felt recoil a little too early.

Wadcutter ammo or pistols are set up to function with lighter bullets and recoil. These tamer rounds tend to allow a shooter to concnetrate more on shot placement rather than recoil recovery. The springs and internal components are tuned to allow perfect functioning with lighter bullets and weaker recoil. When optics are added to the slide, the pistols function must be flawless thus requiring specific or "pet' loads to work perfectly.

Hope this helps.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 2:50 pm

Well, I wanted it for both IDPA and Bullseye style, thats why I wanted good iron sights and to be able to drill and tap it for optics.
But after reading around I don't think it is possible to have one pistol that is competitive in both IDPA and Bullseye -- besides it won't be the last .45 I ever buy so why try to use it for both anyway.

There is no Bullseye league near where I live, but there is an IDPA league at the range I go to, so realistically it would be used for IDPA.

Thanks.

Post by **Bullseye** » Tue Jun 05, 2007 4:16 pm

Looks like the Basic Limited would better suit your shooting needs.

Here's a picture of 45 hardball (ball) ammo cartridge.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 4:45 pm

Well I ordered a Rock River yesterday

I ended up with a Hardball. I had RRA throat it to feed wadcutter, set the trigger pull to 3 1/2lb (comes with 4lb), 25lpi front strap, 25lpi flat mainspring housing and I had it accurized for the 2" guarantee at 50yds (although my dealer misunderstood this part so I'm gonna have to clear that up). The only feature I'm not sure about is the mainspring housing shape, nobody I know has an arched 1911, so I may be changing that when it comes in.
I would have had RRA install an ambi safety on it, but I didn't want the extended style and that was all they offered

I'll have to install that myself.

I like the more old fashioned look of the Hardball better than the Basic limiteds new style look. Also after reading what Bullseye had to say about the 2 different recoil systems, and shooting both, I decided I liked the old JMB style better, so I figured there is no reason to pay more for something I don't want... After shooting both the only thing I noticed is that the 2 piece is a bit more heavy, but I didn't really care about that either way.

thank you very much to everyone who took the time to help me figure out what I wanted! And thank you Bullseye for taking the time to explain the different ammo types, recoil systems, barrel throats and the different types of match 1911s.

Now to wait 6 to 8 months (thats what RRA quoted)

I'am fully expecting 10 months

Post by **Bullseye** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 6:04 pm

It takes time to build them right. Most 1911's come with the arched mainspring housing, typically you have to ask for the flat one.

Here's an arched.

Here's a flat.

It's the part just below the grip safety.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Tue Nov 06, 2007 10:13 pm

Interesting, all of my friends had flat. Out of 10 1911's they didn't have one arched mainspring housing. So I never got to try the arched type. But flat felt good so I figured I'd go with the known. I've read how to change them out, doesn't sound that hard so I'll probably switch between flat and arched when it comes in.

I have a question about the Springfield you posted. Is its beaver tail (not sure if that is the proper name for this style) a grip safety? Or is it just there to help prevent hammer bite.

Post by **Bullseye** » Wed Nov 07, 2007 6:56 am

The Springfield's grip safety tang is slightly extended to prevent hammer bite. It is a regular style grip safety.

The Thompson has an actual Beaver tail grip safety. It is wider and has a curved (spoonlike) contour to fit comfortably into the notch between your thumb and index finger. Tactical style shooters who like to use a high grip like the fit and feel of the beaver tail grip safety.

Changing out a 1911 mainspring housing is a relatively simple task.

R,
Bullseye

Georgezilla · Post by **Georgezilla** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 12:40 am

Well I changed my order to have a Bullseye Hammer and an Ed Brown beaver tail

I ordered the pistol for mostly IDPA and the beaver tail sounded too useful to not have, even if I don't like how it looks.

Post by **Bullseye** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 6:40 am

If you shooting IDPA you'll like the way the grip safety feels. It fits into the web of the hand very nicely.

R,
Bullseye

jaeger45 · Post by **jaeger45** » Thu Nov 08, 2007 8:17 pm

Georgezilla wrote:Interesting, all of my friends had flat. Out of 10 1911's they didn't have one arched mainspring housing. So I never got to try the arched type. But flat felt good so I figured I'd go with the known. I've read how to change them out, doesn't sound that hard so I'll probably switch between flat and arched when it comes in.

I have a question about the Springfield you posted. Is its beaver tail (not sure if that is the proper name for this style) a grip safety? Or is it just there to help prevent hammer bite.

I do fun bullseye shooting, freehand. And I can shoot for hours. No problemo: I have a beavertail safety grip, and a flat mainspring housing. (At first, the flat housing looked ugly to me, reminding me of the original 1911 housing, of which it was a copy-- until I came to appreciate it later.)

In the service, all 1911A1's had the standard curved mainspring housing with vertical grooves and the short-horned safety grip. I found that after two mags of GI ammo- the steel-cased rounds designed really for submachineguns- highpowered to provide enough power to force back the heavy bolts of the SMGs- the grooves would start cutting into my palm. And the short horn would start biting the web between my thumb and trigger finger at every recoil. Ughhh!....