Four GI Style 45 ACP Pistols Compared

Affordable 1911s from Springfield, Tisas, RIA, and Taylors Gun Tests Magazine recently fired a quartet of GI style 45 pistols side by side. We felt well armed with all of these military-style handguns. The guns were an SDS Imports Tisas 1911 A1 U.S. Army, the closest to an original U.S. Military Mil-Spec M1911A1. Next was a Rock Island Armory GI Standard FS, a no-nonsense GI-style 1911. Then came a Springfield Armory 1911 Mil-Spec with updated features. And last was a Full Size A1 1911 by Taylor’s and Company, which is more similar to an M1911 than an M1911A1. To start, I should note that both the SDS, shown, and the Springfield Armory gun had early failures to feed jams. A drop of oil cured the situations, and both pistols ran flawlessly afterward. The Springfield Armory has an arched mainspring housing similar to 1911A1s, while the 1911 models had flat housings like found on the Rock Island Armory pistol. The magazine designs were different, but all worked perfectly in all the pistols. The Rock Island Armory and the Taylor’s magazines are made by ACT-MAG and are modern designs with eight-round capacities and bumper pads. They were very easy to load. The Springfield Armory (second from right) and Tisas (far right) used original GI-style magazine designs from Springfield Armory and Check-Mate, respectively. Their followers made loading the first round slightly more difficult than loading the ACT-MAGs. All four 1911s used a GI-style barrel bushing that does not require any tools for disassembly. Top left is the Rock Island, bottom left is the Taylor’s. Top right is the Tisas, and bottom right is the Springfield Armory. Left to right are the Rock Island, Tisas, Springfield, and Taylor’s pistols. A characteristic of GI-style 1911s is a small grip safety profile and a spur-type hammer. The Taylor’s was close to historically correct, especially with the spur hammer and flat mainspring housing. The Springfield is equipped with a modern large two-dot rear sight. Contributing Editor Robert Sadowski said that during the Failure Drill, the Rock Island Armory was easy to aim and hit center of mass. The smaller sights made the head shot more of a challenge. Sadowski said the SDS had a trigger-pull weight of 5.6 pounds, which is tolerable. Reloads with the SDS were tricky because of the lanyard loop. Sadowski said the Springfield Armory cycled smoothly in hand, and it was easy to control. During the Failure Drill, Sadowski said the Taylor’s was fast to shoot and easy to control. On all the pistols, we missed the modern feature of a textured front grip. The Rock Island uses a hammer spur similar to a 1911, a longer grip-safety spur from an A1, and fine vertical slide serrations. The ejection port is also lowered and flared, which is a modern feature to enhance reliability. The SDS is very similar to an 1911A1. It was the only gun in the test with double-diamond grip panels. The Springfield Armory uses a spur hammer and small grip safety spur to give it a GI look. The Taylor’s is close to a M1911 with small hammer spur and small grip safety spur. Thumb safeties varied. The Rock Island Armory, Springfield Armory, and Taylor’s all had a larger modern thumb safeties. The SDS had a period-correct thumb safety that is notably smaller. All worked with precise clicks when flicked on and off. The Rock Island’s trigger is serrated for better control. The checkered magazine release was positive in operation. The frame was cut out behind the trigger for easier access. The SDS Tisas had checkering on the trigger face rather than serrations. The checkered mag release worked well. It too had a frame cut out. The Springfield's trigger serrations were deeply cut and worked well. The Taylor’s frame was similar to a M1911’s; notice there was no relief cut in the frame behind the trigger. So, which one of these handguns would we buy? The Rock Island Armory GI Standard has an amalgamation of design features from original and modern guns. It is inexpensive and performs well. Accuracy averaged about 2.5 inches, despite the trigger pull being stiff at 6.8 pounds. We gave it a B+ grade. The Tisas 1911 A1 was the least expensive pistol, was also mostly a clone of the original M1911A1, had great accuracy, and ran well. We thought this was the Best Buy of the test and gave it an A grade. The Springfield Armory Defend Your Legacy Series 1911 has a lot of Mil-Spec features that make it look like an original, but modern refinements like the sights make it easier to shoot. We gave it an A- grade. The Taylor’s A1 1911 is actually more like an M1911 than an M1911A1. The trigger was heavy, but we still squeezed out some impressive groups. We graded it as a B+ gun.