Tuesday, January 21, 2014

An Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) Pistol Is In My Sights

It's been a long time since I made my most recent firearm's purchase. Most of the money that I have spent on firearms related purchases, over the past year, has gone to pay for ammunition. Now that the NY SAFE Act prevents me from making direct purchases of ammo from online dealers, I figure it may be time to shift the focus of what types of items I am targeting. A gun buy seems to be in my future; it is probably not going to happen very soon but also not in the way too distant future. I need to get some debts paid off and then after that, I will start saving for a new gun. One of the guns I have in mind, and I can assure you it is not merely because of the retail price of it, is the Armscor, Rock Island Armory, Tactical .45ACP pistol.


I only own a single 1911 pistol and have been thinking of getting another full sized 45 Auto. That this one is selling in some places, like GrabAGun, for only $409 (see this linked ad) is a definite plus but as I said, I am not just under the allure of its low cost. Other things that attract me to this pistol are the facts that it is an all steel pistol and that has some nice features usually found on higher end pistols. Those little extras include: an adjustable rear combat sight, snag free front sight, a Parkerized finish, skeletonized trigger, combat hammer, extended beavertail, ambidextrous safety, etc..

At first, while trying to get more info on this pistol at the Armscor USA website, I was a little confused. The advertised model, at GrabAGun does not exactly match any model shown on the actual Armscor website (at least as I write this) and it was very difficult to find info on the Armscor site for the same exact model number. I kept putting in the model number and coming up with no info for it. Differences in the advertised one and the one shown on the Armscor site under the designation of Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) included the grips and the serrations on the slides but I finally did come up with a spec sheet of sorts, on the Armscor site, for the same exact model number.  The features as listed on the Armscor site can be seen here: Armscor TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP).

Then again, speaking of differing features of the TAC 1911 FS between that seen on GrabAGun's site to the one shown on Armscor's site, I should point out that the specs differ, from page to page within the Armscor website itself depending on what page you are viewing. The product info page for that model shows it with smooth wood grips but the disassembly and assembly videos on the Armscor site show it with new black rubber grips for 2013. Whatever that and other possible small differences may exist - I kind of, sort of, think I want one, especially at that advertised price or close to it.

I have liked Armscor ever since buying an Armscor Model 14Y, bolt action rifle several years ago. It is an inexpensive but high quality, youth rifle in .22LR hat has remained absolutely excellent despite a good deal of use over the years. If Armscor manufactures their pistols with as much quality as that little rifle, then they are likely a great buy. I figure, that within a few months of saving some cash, I should be able to find out first hand about whether or not the TAC 1911 FS (.45ACP) is high quality firearm or not.

Another note about Armscor, I find the disassembly and assembly videos that they provide on their website for these pistols to be a nice touch. It would have been even nicer had they used brighter lighting and gotten in closer on some shots and had Bubba (not his real name) gotten each step correct explained the first time around and used proper nomenclature other than his own made up parts names - such as his use of "the ambi" to describe the left side slide release lever in the disassembly video. That is nitpicking on my part though and nonetheless, I truly appreciate them posting those videos because they go a long way to help me better understand the workings of a 1911 pistol.

All the best,
Glenn B