My wife is still looking for my birthday present (always a pistol), and the LGS had a NIB RO Elite in 9mm for $650 today. The price is fair, and the pistol looks great. An older couple came in, and sold their collection of guns yesterday, and the RO is definitely unfired. Any problems with them? TIA!
There are always potential problems, but I'd be a buyer at $650.
"Gunfighting is a thinking man's game. So we might want to bring thinking back into it."-MDFA
“It worked pretty good if you could shoot.” -Pat Rogers
I bought one during the last year they were produced (unknown to me. Just happened that way) and paid about 50% more. It is a very nice pistol, but mine at least suffers from what many 9mm 1911s suffers from in that the slide is fairly sluggish and often doesn't return to battery. I have begun to use the thinnest gun oil I have available and it has helped. Using grease is a no-go. Has a decent trigger and is pretty accurate. I installed a Stan Chen mainspring housing/mag well and installed LOK grips on it, making it mine. I don't shoot it too much though, but think $650 is a darn good price.
They are pretty nice pistols. A couple of things I would have to do right way are install regular thickness grip screw bushings and grips, and a 11# recoil spring (assuming it's a Government model). Springfield Armory tends to under-spring their 9mm 1911s.Originally Posted by FrankB
If the slide hangs up on the disconnect when returning to battery that can be fixed -- it just depends on your appetite for dealing with such things. Not all of them exhibit that behavior but some do.
It's a real good price.
I can't visualize the exact configuration but it sounds like a good deal. They can need some work, though.
One of my SAs was doing that, turned out to be the tip of the sear spring was so sharp and rough that it was gouging the disconnector bevel and holding it up. A Colt sear spring and polish of the disconnector was all the fix required.If the slide hangs up on the disconnect when returning to battery that can be fixed
That gun's extractor was weak, it now has a Wilson.
My other SA needed the integral ramp recontoured to feed hollow points. Too steep, I guess in the name of "case support".
Not to discourage you, just read the boards about all the tinkering any new 1911 type can need.
Code Name: JET STREAM
Many 9mm 1911s, particularly Springfields, have disconnector drag. A gunsmith can correct this via a disconnector relief cut also known as the “bob marvel” cut.
We found that a sharp, chisel-like spring edge and/or a rough disconnector surface where said spring leg rubs across it to be the main bad actor in our 9mm RO's if they were slow to return to battery or occasionally required a nudge. This is something I took care of myself, slightly deburring/rounding off the sharp edge(s) of the spring with a hard Arkansas stone and flat polishing the spot on the disco that the spring pushes/slides against. In our experience, they all needed a bit of breaking in, but after that, they run better than we initially expected and we run them wet.
(We ALWAYS load the 9mm mags - any of the different types they ship with - down by one round. It just saves time and frustration.)
The nines make for a fun range gun and pasture plinker.
Last edited by gato naranja; 09-28-2023 at 08:47 AM.
gn
"On the internet, nobody knows if you are a dog... or even a cat."
That’s one of the reasons I like 1911 pistols. Oddly enough, my wife’s Springfield Garrison is the only 1911 I have replaced at least some of the parts. I haven’t needed to replace parts because of failure, just to improve triggers.* The RO Elite’s trigger was a little gritty, but I have tools for that.
Thanks Everybody!
*Thinking back, I didn’t have to do a single on my Dan Wesson 1911’s.
Last edited by FrankB; 09-28-2023 at 09:59 AM.
I don't have that option. I shoot 9mm Colt and SA as IDPA ESPs and am required to load 10+1 (Unless I am prepared to have at least one 9 round magazine along which would limit me to 9 in all magazines. That is a technique that faded a good many years ago.) I have magazines selected and "tuned" for different jobs.(We ALWAYS load the 9mm mags - any of the different types they ship with - down by one round. It just saves time and frustration.)
Code Name: JET STREAM
Thanks for the info. I had no ixea this might be the cause of the sluggish slixe on mine. I will have to look into it.... Or trade it in on a Dan Wesson, preferably 6Kodiak or Bruin.
Reply With Quote