Forgot to add there's a promo for 100 rds and a mag. https://www.armscor.com/promotions/
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Forgot to add there's a promo for 100 rds and a mag. https://www.armscor.com/promotions/
I've got one for my g17, but it is the 22tcm9r which has a stubbier (that's a word, right?) bullet to be able to fit in the 9mm glock mags. It was blowing primers on my test shots so haven't dug into it too much, but figured it was due to the heavy typical glock striker and the hot tcm round that caused it. Fun to shoot through!
So I picked up the RIA 22 TCM from Patrick at B.A.N.G. Today (he’s doing well!).
It is indeed the “Premium” FS. That’s what they advertised but when you’re getting a $949 msrp gun for $349.99, you have to wonder if it’s the real deal! LOL
First off, the RIA website is a bit confusing so I wasn’t 100% sure what would come in the box. When I ordered the gun, I also ordered an extra mag because from my research, it sounded like the gun was only coming with one. I always want 3 mags minimum for any pistol, so 1+1+1 more when I submit the promo.
I also ordered 200rds of ammo (more on that later). When the ammo arrived, there was no extra mag in the box. I thought “Uh oh” but didn’t call PSA just in case they put the extra mag in with the gun. Imagine my surprise when I opened the gun case and found not one or two but THREE mags! Score! That makes the deal even sweeter!
My first impression on inspecting the gun was “Wow, they REALLY don’t want the gun rusting in transit!” It came packed in a thick plastic bag and it was swimming in an oil bath!
Once I got it home, I wiped it down and started looking at it closer. Again, the RIA page is confusing as they mention both an “Armor Series” finish and “Parkerized Coating”. The Armor Series is advertised as a diamond-like carbon or DLC coating, which is known to be one of the hardest, most durable gun finishes on the market. Parkerizing is, well, parkerizing. Good for corrosion protection and great for holding lubricant, but not super durable.
So which is it? Well, it’s both I guess? The finish on the whole gun is definitely a harder, blacker finish than parkerizing EXCEPT the magwell and checkered slide stop. Those definitely look parkerized and are a slight mismatch to the rest of the finish. Odd, but not a big deal IMO.
Both the front fiber optic and rear LPA adjustable sights also appear to have the DLC finish, which is good. The rear sight is really well set and square to the slide (something not every manufacturer does well with adjustable target sights. The website says “2 dot rear”, but fortunately it’s a very nicely serrated (full coverage) blade with radiused edges, which I much prefer. The windage and adjustment screws are nice and tight, with good detents. Sadly the front sight isn’t similarly serrated and the fiber optic pipe isn’t the brightest I’ve seen, but that’s not a huge knock. Both front and rear sights are very well centered on the flat-topped slide. The dovetail base on the front sight is also beveled at the edges to match the slide contour. That shows attention to detail during assembly that not every manufacturer gets right (I’m looking at you Beretta Tennessee plant!)
Slide to frame fit is very nice if not match grade. That’s probably a good thing with the .22TCM. The recoil spring is matched to the very light recoil and probably runs around 10-11# (riding on a 1-piece full length stainless guide rod, which is the only shiny part on the gun). Overly tight would likely cause reliability issues in this case. The front and rear serrations have crisp but not sharp edges, offering a good purchase when manipulating the slide. I love the ball-end mill cuts that meet up with the short railed frame. Very Dan Wesson-esque.
The barrel is fit very well at the hood with no play at all. The barrel bushing fit to the slide is very good and can just barely be turned by hand. Fit to the coned barrel has a barely perceptible amount of tolerance, again probably not a bad thing with the cartridge in question. The entire barrel is DLC coated except the integral ramp, which is very smooth and mirror polished. Truly, it’s one of the best looking out of the box feed ramps I’ve ever seen. The muzzle crown is almost full depth like a custom gun. Again, a nice touch.
The slide glides smoothly on the frame rails with no tight spots, grit or binding. For a DLC coating, this one is definitely more on the matte side, so it may feel even better once I strip it, clean and apply Slip 2000. The serrated mag catch is smooth and slightly extended. It engaged well with the teflon finished mags and releases cleanly. Mag catch spring pressure is on par with at you’d expect on a target gun. If I were doing field use, I might swap it out with a Wilson spring for a bit more security.
The ambidextrous manual safety is well fit with good detents. The paddle contour is very nice and size would lean more towards “carry” over target. The hi-ride beavertail safety is likewise well fit with no excess play. It has a moderately sized raised pad with Ed Brown style “memory grooves”. The mainspring housing is checkered steel but sadly, the points are a bit dull so not as much purchase as I’d prefer.
The G10 grips are well contoured to the frame, which again is not something every manufacturer does well. A really nice touch is how the grips are extended and contoured back to the grip safety below the manual safety. On the STI 2011 frames, there’s a metal hump here that wears on my thumb and index finger joints after a while. That won’t be an issue with the RIA. The finish is pretty smooth on the golfball /serrated pattern. That’s a tossup because they’ll carry well, but may not be aggressive enough for run-n-gun. The right side panel was loose at the bottom out of the box. I can see why when I grabbed the torx wrench because the thread fit was so tight, at first I thought it was all the way down. That’s a good thing because they definitely shouldn’t work loose!
Things get a bit less stellar in the ignition set. It has a really nice, fully coated, slotted target hammer with radiused inside and outside edges. I’m sure it’s MIM, which you’d expect on a sub $1K 1911/2011. The skeletonized trigger has a serrated metal bow with overtravel stop. It may be coated aluminum but it feels like steel? Regardless, fit in the trigger window is just average, with some excess play both horizontally and vertically. There’s a noticeably gap at the top and bottom, which is a pet peeve of mine. There’s plenty of takeup before it engages the sear as well. The hammer/sear engagement is positively GI spec. It’s not overly draggy, but it’s plenty long and mushy. The overtravel stop isn’t adjusted out of the box.
The magwell is a mixed bag. The inside of the well is superbly blended to the beveled frame all the way around. Seriously, outside a full custom like a Wilson Combat with a once-piece hand fit magwell, I don’t think you could do better. The well is held in place with both a set screw on the bottom AND an extended MSH pin on the sides. That makes for very little play at the front, which can be an issue with magwells that only use a set screw. The outside edge of the magwell is slightly radiused for comfort and the sides at the top blend fairly well with the grip panels.
Why a mixed bag then? Well, the front and rear of the magwell is absolutely not at all blended to the frame and mainspring housing. There’s a literal hole where the excessively deep and narrow frontstrap serrations go down inside the magwell, making for a nice debris collection point. At the rear, there’s a U-shaped notch with squared edges and two nice fork points to poke whatever comes into contact with them. Seriously, it’s a glaring letdown compared to everything else the gun does right.
If I were nitpicking, I don’t care for the RIA billboard being done in white on the rear of the slide. It’s a 99% black gun, so, just, why? Fortunately all other markings on the gun are very well done, with even depth, good alignment and tastefully executed. There’s a very small milling imperfection on the trigger guard undercut. Seriously, you wouldn’t even notice if you’re not on the OCD spectrum. Again, the frontstrap serrations are just, weird. They make an already square feeling grip somehow feel even more square and they really don’t provide much purchase. If you’re not going to checker or stipple the frontstrap, just leave it smooth. Seriously, I’ll probably slap some grip tape over it.
The gun with empty mag tips the scales at 49.1 oz. It’s definitely a chonker! Fortunately those little 40 gr pills are light. Topping it off with 18 rounds only brings it up to 54 oz. The weight and balance shouldn’t shift noticeably from full to empty and recoil should be very light.
Overall, this is a really nice gun. I’ve seen examples from major American manufacturers that aren’t as nice. As a 1911 with a $950 msrp ($825-$850 street price) it would be worth the coin. As a double-stack 1911, it’s definitely worth msrp. I half expected a blem gun at $350 and wouldn’t be upset, but it doesn’t have an errant toolmark or blemish on it. If it runs reliably at the range and has acceptable accuracy, it’s a STUPID GOOD deal.
If it does run well, I’ll be fitting a 9mm barrel to make it a more versatile gun. If that goes well, I’ll properly fit the magwell to the front and back of the frame, then send it, the slide stop and flgr to Springer Precision for DLC coating to match the rest of the gun. I’ll also add a tool steel ignition set. I’m not sure if the STI 2011 trigger will fit this gun, but if it does it will be getting one of those as well.
*One note on ammo. I ordered the only .22 TCM ammo PSA showed in stock at the time. What arrived was .22 TCM9R. Apparently after developing the .22 TCM, Armscor came up with the 9R variant with a deeper seated bullet to fit in magazines developed for guns with a 9mm size frame. Apparently Glock conversions are somewhat popular and RIA has since released the polymer framed MAPP in 9R. I’ll need to research and see if this poses any feeding or chamber pressure issues in the 1911 framed TCM Premium FS. Hopefully they’re compatible like .223 in a 5.56mm chamber?
Anyway, I’m not sure how long it will take me to get to the range for a test shoot, but I’ll post results when I do!
It is indeed the “Premium” FS. That’s what they advertised but when you’re getting a $949 msrp gun for $349.99, you have to wonder if it’s the real deal! LOL
First off, the RIA website is a bit confusing so I wasn’t 100% sure what would come in the box. When I ordered the gun, I also ordered an extra mag because from my research, it sounded like the gun was only coming with one. I always want 3 mags minimum for any pistol, so 1+1+1 more when I submit the promo.
I also ordered 200rds of ammo (more on that later). When the ammo arrived, there was no extra mag in the box. I thought “Uh oh” but didn’t call PSA just in case they put the extra mag in with the gun. Imagine my surprise when I opened the gun case and found not one or two but THREE mags! Score! That makes the deal even sweeter!
My first impression on inspecting the gun was “Wow, they REALLY don’t want the gun rusting in transit!” It came packed in a thick plastic bag and it was swimming in an oil bath!
Once I got it home, I wiped it down and started looking at it closer. Again, the RIA page is confusing as they mention both an “Armor Series” finish and “Parkerized Coating”. The Armor Series is advertised as a diamond-like carbon or DLC coating, which is known to be one of the hardest, most durable gun finishes on the market. Parkerizing is, well, parkerizing. Good for corrosion protection and great for holding lubricant, but not super durable.
So which is it? Well, it’s both I guess? The finish on the whole gun is definitely a harder, blacker finish than parkerizing EXCEPT the magwell and checkered slide stop. Those definitely look parkerized and are a slight mismatch to the rest of the finish. Odd, but not a big deal IMO.
Both the front fiber optic and rear LPA adjustable sights also appear to have the DLC finish, which is good. The rear sight is really well set and square to the slide (something not every manufacturer does well with adjustable target sights. The website says “2 dot rear”, but fortunately it’s a very nicely serrated (full coverage) blade with radiused edges, which I much prefer. The windage and adjustment screws are nice and tight, with good detents. Sadly the front sight isn’t similarly serrated and the fiber optic pipe isn’t the brightest I’ve seen, but that’s not a huge knock. Both front and rear sights are very well centered on the flat-topped slide. The dovetail base on the front sight is also beveled at the edges to match the slide contour. That shows attention to detail during assembly that not every manufacturer gets right (I’m looking at you Beretta Tennessee plant!)
Slide to frame fit is very nice if not match grade. That’s probably a good thing with the .22TCM. The recoil spring is matched to the very light recoil and probably runs around 10-11# (riding on a 1-piece full length stainless guide rod, which is the only shiny part on the gun). Overly tight would likely cause reliability issues in this case. The front and rear serrations have crisp but not sharp edges, offering a good purchase when manipulating the slide. I love the ball-end mill cuts that meet up with the short railed frame. Very Dan Wesson-esque.
The barrel is fit very well at the hood with no play at all. The barrel bushing fit to the slide is very good and can just barely be turned by hand. Fit to the coned barrel has a barely perceptible amount of tolerance, again probably not a bad thing with the cartridge in question. The entire barrel is DLC coated except the integral ramp, which is very smooth and mirror polished. Truly, it’s one of the best looking out of the box feed ramps I’ve ever seen. The muzzle crown is almost full depth like a custom gun. Again, a nice touch.
The slide glides smoothly on the frame rails with no tight spots, grit or binding. For a DLC coating, this one is definitely more on the matte side, so it may feel even better once I strip it, clean and apply Slip 2000. The serrated mag catch is smooth and slightly extended. It engaged well with the teflon finished mags and releases cleanly. Mag catch spring pressure is on par with at you’d expect on a target gun. If I were doing field use, I might swap it out with a Wilson spring for a bit more security.
The ambidextrous manual safety is well fit with good detents. The paddle contour is very nice and size would lean more towards “carry” over target. The hi-ride beavertail safety is likewise well fit with no excess play. It has a moderately sized raised pad with Ed Brown style “memory grooves”. The mainspring housing is checkered steel but sadly, the points are a bit dull so not as much purchase as I’d prefer.
The G10 grips are well contoured to the frame, which again is not something every manufacturer does well. A really nice touch is how the grips are extended and contoured back to the grip safety below the manual safety. On the STI 2011 frames, there’s a metal hump here that wears on my thumb and index finger joints after a while. That won’t be an issue with the RIA. The finish is pretty smooth on the golfball /serrated pattern. That’s a tossup because they’ll carry well, but may not be aggressive enough for run-n-gun. The right side panel was loose at the bottom out of the box. I can see why when I grabbed the torx wrench because the thread fit was so tight, at first I thought it was all the way down. That’s a good thing because they definitely shouldn’t work loose!
Things get a bit less stellar in the ignition set. It has a really nice, fully coated, slotted target hammer with radiused inside and outside edges. I’m sure it’s MIM, which you’d expect on a sub $1K 1911/2011. The skeletonized trigger has a serrated metal bow with overtravel stop. It may be coated aluminum but it feels like steel? Regardless, fit in the trigger window is just average, with some excess play both horizontally and vertically. There’s a noticeably gap at the top and bottom, which is a pet peeve of mine. There’s plenty of takeup before it engages the sear as well. The hammer/sear engagement is positively GI spec. It’s not overly draggy, but it’s plenty long and mushy. The overtravel stop isn’t adjusted out of the box.
The magwell is a mixed bag. The inside of the well is superbly blended to the beveled frame all the way around. Seriously, outside a full custom like a Wilson Combat with a once-piece hand fit magwell, I don’t think you could do better. The well is held in place with both a set screw on the bottom AND an extended MSH pin on the sides. That makes for very little play at the front, which can be an issue with magwells that only use a set screw. The outside edge of the magwell is slightly radiused for comfort and the sides at the top blend fairly well with the grip panels.
Why a mixed bag then? Well, the front and rear of the magwell is absolutely not at all blended to the frame and mainspring housing. There’s a literal hole where the excessively deep and narrow frontstrap serrations go down inside the magwell, making for a nice debris collection point. At the rear, there’s a U-shaped notch with squared edges and two nice fork points to poke whatever comes into contact with them. Seriously, it’s a glaring letdown compared to everything else the gun does right.
If I were nitpicking, I don’t care for the RIA billboard being done in white on the rear of the slide. It’s a 99% black gun, so, just, why? Fortunately all other markings on the gun are very well done, with even depth, good alignment and tastefully executed. There’s a very small milling imperfection on the trigger guard undercut. Seriously, you wouldn’t even notice if you’re not on the OCD spectrum. Again, the frontstrap serrations are just, weird. They make an already square feeling grip somehow feel even more square and they really don’t provide much purchase. If you’re not going to checker or stipple the frontstrap, just leave it smooth. Seriously, I’ll probably slap some grip tape over it.
The gun with empty mag tips the scales at 49.1 oz. It’s definitely a chonker! Fortunately those little 40 gr pills are light. Topping it off with 18 rounds only brings it up to 54 oz. The weight and balance shouldn’t shift noticeably from full to empty and recoil should be very light.
Overall, this is a really nice gun. I’ve seen examples from major American manufacturers that aren’t as nice. As a 1911 with a $950 msrp ($825-$850 street price) it would be worth the coin. As a double-stack 1911, it’s definitely worth msrp. I half expected a blem gun at $350 and wouldn’t be upset, but it doesn’t have an errant toolmark or blemish on it. If it runs reliably at the range and has acceptable accuracy, it’s a STUPID GOOD deal.
If it does run well, I’ll be fitting a 9mm barrel to make it a more versatile gun. If that goes well, I’ll properly fit the magwell to the front and back of the frame, then send it, the slide stop and flgr to Springer Precision for DLC coating to match the rest of the gun. I’ll also add a tool steel ignition set. I’m not sure if the STI 2011 trigger will fit this gun, but if it does it will be getting one of those as well.
*One note on ammo. I ordered the only .22 TCM ammo PSA showed in stock at the time. What arrived was .22 TCM9R. Apparently after developing the .22 TCM, Armscor came up with the 9R variant with a deeper seated bullet to fit in magazines developed for guns with a 9mm size frame. Apparently Glock conversions are somewhat popular and RIA has since released the polymer framed MAPP in 9R. I’ll need to research and see if this poses any feeding or chamber pressure issues in the 1911 framed TCM Premium FS. Hopefully they’re compatible like .223 in a 5.56mm chamber?
Anyway, I’m not sure how long it will take me to get to the range for a test shoot, but I’ll post results when I do!
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