I learned this lesson the hard way too. I'm not a basher of Rock Island products, just stating what happened to ME with MY gun. I had under 1,000 rounds through it and the slide stop notch on the slide got peened so out of whack that it wouldn't lock back anymore. It gave me a good enough introduction to 1911s so I parted with it (buyer was well aware of the issue) and got something better. A SW1911!