Torture Test: Tisas 1911

Today I was determined to get my Tisas M1911A1 to jam. So far the gun has had 500 flawless rounds through it with perfect operation, but I wanted to see how it would do fired fast and hard.

I used six USGI surplus Check-Mate parkerized magazines and the ammo was 250 rounds of Winchester Service Grade 230 grain ball. I fired the gun as fast as possible.



I was firing from a variety of positions including offhand standing, one-handed, kneeling supported, and kneeling offhand. Utilizing a GI style flap holster, web belt, and magazine pouch I reloaded the gun quickly from each position, dropping the empty magazines on the ground.



This took place in a sandy creek and there was some grit getting on the gun and magazines. I purposefully tried to “limp wrist” the gun by holding it loosely. The gun got very hot as firing went on.

I experienced ZERO failures of any sort.

The slide locked open perfectly each time, ejection was brisk and positive, and the trigger has now broken in to a very crisp letoff with no creep or overtravel and a very nice, short reset. This made shooting the gun quickly a breeze.

Back at the house the gun shows very little finish wear to the frame rails etc. with absolutely no damage to any components. Props to the Winchester service ammo, it fired very cleanly.



Bottom line is I failed at my challenge. The gun just kept running perfectly even though dirty, sandy, and fired in a variety of positions and sometimes with a purposefully poor grip just to see what would happen.

Accuracy, reliability, and overall quality of these pistols is phenomenal for the price. This is rapidly becoming a favorite and it has now earned a spot as my bedside companion.

I have to give this fine pistol a 10/10 score. For what it is, it cannot be beat and has proven much more dependable than some firearms costing much much more.

Thank you for reading!

I cannot imagine how many Colt and Kimber owners are clenching their fists in frustration at reading the OP.

With today's manufacturing technology and automated machine tools, there is no reason that Tisas products could not easily equal or exceed the quality of S&W, Colt, or any other gun manufacturer you could name. Workers in Turkey are no longer living and working in primitive mud huts, same is true for about any products other than guns.

LVSteve said:

I cannot imagine how many Colt and Kimber owners are clenching their fists in frustration at reading the OP.

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How was accuracy?

I cannot imagine why a Colt wouldn't perform as well or better. I've had no experience with a Kimber.

I have a Springfield 1911 .45 but I’ve also had a couple of Rock island and a High standard and another brand I don’t remember that was made in Turkey or Brazil, and they seem to be every bit as accurate, reliable and as high quality as the Springfield and Colts.

rockquarry said:

How was accuracy?

I cannot imagine why a Colt wouldn't perform as well or better. I've had no experience with a Kimber.

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Equal if not better to my 2015 1991A1.

Research how “well” the Colt M45A1 performed in MARSOC service. It was a disaster.

From all reports, the Tisas Raider (which takes styling cues from the ill-fated Colt) is a far better gun than the pretty prancing pony built ones!

Glenn R. McMannly said:

Equal if not better to my 2015 1991A1.

Research how “well” the Colt M45A1 performed in MARSOC service. It was a disaster.

From all reports, the Tisas Raider (which takes styling cues from the ill-fated Colt) is a far better gun than the pretty prancing pony built ones!

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Quite a statement...

@ Glenn R. McMannly Thanks for taking the time to report your test ! I read your post twice and saw that prior to the test you had 500 rounds down range with it. How many did you run through it for this test?

Being a 1911 fan boy, I have "a few" high $$ 1911's as well as "a few" budget clones. I have heard nothing but praise for the Tisas 1911 line up and will be getting one soon, if for no other reason that to try and kill it!

tmd17 said:

@ Glenn R. McMannly Thanks for taking the time to report your test ! I read your post twice and saw that prior to the test you had 500 rounds down range with it. How many did you run through it for this test?

Being a 1911 fan boy, I have "a few" high $$ 1911's as well as "a few" budget clones. I have heard nothing but praise for the Tisas 1911 line up and will be getting one soon, if for no other reason that to try and kill it!

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Thank you! I fired 250 through it today, bringing us up to 750 in total.

Glenn R. McMannly said:

Bottom line is I failed at my challenge. The gun just kept running perfectly even though dirty, sandy, and fired in a variety of positions and sometimes with a purposefully poor grip just to see what would happen.

Accuracy, reliability, and overall quality of these pistols is phenomenal for the price. This is rapidly becoming a favorite and it has now earned a spot as my bedside companion.

I have to give this fine pistol a 10/10 score. For what it is, it cannot be beat and has proven much more dependable than some firearms costing much much more.

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Almost like shooting a Glock . . .

No major surprise IMO.
The 1911 design is about the most mature handgun platform still in production - and JMB designed it for battlefield reliability.
Turkish gun makers aren't exactly Johnny-come-lately to the business of building handguns either.
Theirs may not be quite as pretty as the prancing ponies or other "high end" companies, but that doesn't keep their versions from being just as good in terms of function and reliability.
I'll take two Tisas for the price of one Colt or Kimber any day of the week and twice on Sunday.
I think of guns are tools, so I am pretty much the antithesis of a gun-snob.

Tisas 1911's are rapidly making a name for themselves and becoming a "best bang for the buck" company! So far I only hear good things about them.

LVSteve said:

I cannot imagine how many Colt and Kimber owners are clenching their fists in frustration at reading the OP.

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I am a Colt 1911 owner...no fist clenching or frustration going on here.

LVSteve said:

I cannot imagine how many Colt and Kimber owners are clenching their fists in frustration at reading the OP.

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That’s kind of like saying that a Toyota owner would be upset if a Hyundai owner got good service out of their car. I really don’t think it works that way. I’m happy if someone likes and enjoys their bargain basement gun, car, watch, pair of shoes, etc., but that doesn’t mean I necessarily want the bargain product….

I’m sure the Tisa’s 1911 is a good 1911, seems like many people like them. I’ve passed over a bunch of them, I’m just not interested in bargain clone guns. I feel the same about all these Glock clone guns out there nowadays, I hear a lot of them are good, I’m just not interested.

Different strokes for different folks. People value different things for different reasons, it’s literally what makes the world’s economy go round!

The proprietor of my LGS and I discussed Tisas the other day both stating we had heard good things about them. He said their prices were going up because of their popularity.

Does not surprise me. I have yet to hear or read a negative report on those guns from those who have actually used them. I had a 1911 Tisas .45 GI model several months ago and had approximately 800 rounds thru it with no issues at all. On initial breaking it down for cleaning, I could find no tool marks whatsoever inside or outside of the gun and the slide to frame fit was close to custom tolerances. Only sold it because I found a Reeves Jungkind Python for sale and had to have it. Too many negative reports for me on new Colts and Kimbers over the years. I don't think that they compare in quality to the Tisas. But a lot of people will own nothing but their particular brand of pistol and that's ok. To each his own. A lot of positive reports on other Turkish made weapons also.

rockquarry said:

Quite a statement...

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What I get out of this is, that the American worker does not build a good product and that a Foreign worker does. Tells you a lot about where the values in this country are going. American craftsmanship is in the outhouse in more places than one. When I was a kid 99.9% of what my family owned was American built and foreign made items were mostly junk. Nowadays it seems to be the other way around. What happened?????

Baxter6551 said:

The proprietor of my LGS and I discussed Tisas the other day both stating we had heard good things about them. He said their prices were going up because of their popularity.

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What a shocker, a gun store owner says he is going to charge more for a product!

Recent reviews of Colt 1911 models in Handloader magazine by Brian Pearce have been very positive. I have a Series 70 Colt that I bought new back in the early 70s. it has the collet type barrel bushing that came from the factory as very tight and requiring a bit of firing to break it in. Once that was done it has been 100% reliable ever since. I think current Colts are probably better than ever.

The 1911 has been around for so long, tinkered with and refined to the point where just about anybody can build a good one.
While I do have some of the better names, I'm quite fond of my cheap Rock Island guns. I wouldn't mind giving Tisas a try.

Colt's problems were the result of poor management, cost cutting and worn out machinery. The newer Colts are nice guns, but they sure ain't what they once were. I'm hoping CZ can restore them to their former glory.