I recently saw a M1911A1 ASF Tisas. It is a clone of the Remington Rand model built beginning in 1943. Of all the clones I've seen, this one is the closest. And the price is right (low $400's).

I have an older Springfield Armory M1911A1 that is supposed to be a WWII clone. It's close, but not as close as the US Property marked Tisas. It doesn't bother me that the Tisas is made in Turkey. The frame on my SA pistol is an IMBEL from Brazil.

Does anyone have any real world experience with Tisas 1911's? I keep hearing they're good pistols, but I don't know anyone that owns one.

If anyone has any 1st had experience with these pistols, I'd love to hear about it.






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BTDT, Got The T-Shirt

Try this ....

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Y. B. Ord & A. Ree

I have their 1911A1 and it shoots quite well. The machining inside and out is excellent. I believe them to be a very good value. The factory magazine was unimpressive and the follower would hang up, so I run my Wilson Combat magazines in it.

I had a Tisas 1911 similar to a Gov’t. Model. Worked flawlessly and was very accurate.

I have the GI model and love it. One of the best buys you will find these days.

John

I had a GI and it functioned well and appeared to be well made.

I don't have one but I'm considering buying one just to burn eight pounds of pistol powder before I die.

I have a CMP A1 that I'll never shoot that looks just like that and a Gold Cup that I shoot a bunch, but a cheap replica that I can pound into the ground has my attention.

I've had some Colt 1911's gov't models in the past but they weren't A1's The true 1911 A1 has really atrocious sights but then that's just what you get with true replicas. I think it might be like shooting a model 3 S&W. .

It's a stroke of marketing genius for sure.

Thanks for the Hickock 45 link. That guy might be older than dirt but he can still shoot.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Have never had a problem with their 1911's. Latest one I bought is the M45A1 clone, which is more than good enough for me.

Had a chance to buy a "real" one, but at the time the price was too high, which is a decision I regret in the present given how much the things are going for now.

Never owned one but have seen 3 at the range where I work. All have preformed well and been pretty accurate considering the sights and have pretty decent triggers. All were pretty new so I don't know how they will hold up over time but initial QC seems good. (There was mention of a rough finished mag that malfunctioned and was tossed but for the price you can buy extra mags, if needed.)
Ed

I gave my son one for Christmas last year and it's been tested pretty thoroughly by him. He's 18 and generally shoots under my "supervision" so I bear some witness to his shooting habits.

His Tisas .45 Gov. Model has proved to be completely reliable and accurate. Seems quite durable as well.

The only criticism I might have, and it's no disadvantage for my son's young eyes, is that the reproduction sights are small and hard to see unless it's solar noon on a cloudless day - for me.

Nice gun and a great value. I did put some nice walnut grips on it for him before I wrapped it. They look a lot nicer than the plastic ones that came standard.

Bryan

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Ordnung muss sein
SWHF #789

If I were MUCH younger, I’d buy a couple dozen Tisas 1911s and bury them deep in my safe. 😉

To me, the Tisas are the modern version of the 1911s made by Norinco back in the day. I bought a few Norincos back then, and they were excellent.

I have 2 Tisas, one a parkerized Tank Commander in 45 and a 1911 A1 GOVT, cerakoted in 45. I have taken them apart and inspected them and shot the heck out of them both. Excellent guns in every way. I bought both of them for $299/ea. You get way more than what you pay for in my opinion.

With President Trump's focus on American manufacturing, which I fully support, I am not so sure these guns will still be available at their current prices for long. So, I will probably get a few more just to have them in case the price doubles.

I hope they come out with an Officers-sized platform in 2025. If they do, I'll get one immediately.

FWIW, I've had mine at least 3 years now, I think, and the few times I've had it out it's never failed to do anything it's supposed to. But at the most I've only put maybe 4 boxes through it (200). The sights stink, but for point & shoot self-defense, and maybe a decent home gun, it's a good bargain. Go for it!
Edit to add: I like it better than the ATI one I had as it doesn't deposit the empties down my back. I believe they did some minor changes to the feed ramp and the ejection port on the Tisas, also.

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Waiting For The Sun.

Probably the best buy in the 1911 market. They just plain work.

The nickel Commanders tickle my fancy, just gorgeous.

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I’m your Boogie Man, uh huh.

I bought a 9mm Duty model and had a diagnosed extractor issue (hook to breech face) leading to stove pipes. I contacted customer service and they sent me a new extractor and it has been working great ever since. It is more accurate than my S&W 1911 E Series. I paid $360 before taxes, shipping and FFL transfer. Total was $380 after taxes, shipping and FFL transfer. Worth every penny and I am very happy with it.

I would go with a stainless model if I bought another, but it was out of my price range at the time. I've seen them for about $80 dollars more than I paid for my cerakoted B9 Duty. In hindsight, an extra $80 would have been worth not having to worry about a cerakote finish. I'm not a fan of cerakote type finishes on guns (just a personal preference, no bad experience with cerakote), but at the Tisas price, I made an exception.

With all that said, would I buy another. Without a doubt, YES.

I have a non railed "Duty" in stainless I got last spring. Over the course
the year I ran 2100 rounds of my cast 230gr round nose reloads through
it. It didn't like Wilson mags but the blued E-Landers & Chip McCormick's
ran great.

Trigger is better than my Kimber and my buddy says it's about as good as
his Ed Brown.

Mine's forged and they are very underrated for the price.

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never get out of the boat

I went a little crazy with Tisas 1911s this year... I bought the first (9mm Raider) on sale cheap and was so amazed at the quality that I ended up with a bunch more.



I bought one of the $299 1911A1s specifically to shoot a local 'military 2 gun' match that requires 'as issued' guns or reproductions that pre-date 1950. My Tisas 1911A1 is fitted better than most of the Colts I've ever owned and shoots very, very well. I won the pistol portion of our latest match with it.



I mated a Kimber .22 conversion to a Tisas Enhanced Duty frame for a .22 bullseye trainer and it shoots well.



I have a few others as well, including a Tisas DS Carry, their version of a 2011, and it has been 100% so far, though I don't like the platform as much as a traditional 1911.



The only issue I've had with any of them is a Carry 9mm that I bought used, and it was an extraction issue, but only with one brand/bullet weight... runs 100% with everything else.

IMHO, the Tisas 1911s are the best value on the 1911 market by far. The quality you're getting at the price point is just amazing. I have Colt, Kimber and Sprinfield 1911s as well, and the Tisas are put together just as well, if not better than any of them. And the Tisas are all forged frames and slides, and no MIM parts. I think you'd be hard put to go wrong with one...

PSA had the TISAS 1911A Stakeout in 38 Super/9mm (2 barrels, 2 mags) in electroless nickel (a matt finish, not shiney like chrome) for $399 before Christmas! The 38 Super mag is an Ed Brown to boot! Machining on mine is perfect inside and out. Even has a titanium firing pin!

Both shoot wonderfully and an aftermarket finish like this is $300 easily!

My 1st TISAS but not my 1st 1911:. I am VERY impressed and totally satisfied.

Cheers!

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Sit Reloader Sentiret

I have a Tisas HiPower clone. It's been great. I see no reason to avoid this brand if the goal is to have fun with it.

FWIW they are back in stock at PSA but at a slightly higher price. $425 IIRC. Still a deal.
I missed out before Christmas and am trying to get up the dough for one.
I bought a 1911 Service of theirs but haven’t shot it yet.

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Who are those guys?

After all the positive reviews and comments, I bought the $299.00 Tisas 1911 Government .45 ACP 5" 7rd Pistol, 1911A1GOVT. I haven't shot it yet but was impressed with the fit and finish, even when PSA says it is cerakote finish. Looks like the price was bumped up twenty bucks. Still a great value.

I do, mine has been Glock like in flawless operation. It seems to me they are as well made as anything Colt has produced in the past 40 years, and I'm not slamming Colt.

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Live long and prosper

I too have a Stakeout . I bought mainly because you guys talked me into it . $399 for a 1911 with 2 barrels ? It don't take a rocket scientist to think about that . I bought it mostly for the 38Super , I figured even if I had to buy a good barrel I'd still be ahead . I did read on the 1911 forum a member sent his off to have an adjustable put on it , I'm going to follow suit .

As someone who used to own one of those Springfield “GI” copies with the Imbel frames, I will just say this. The Tisas is a MUCH better gun and a lot closer to the real military editions.

I own a Tisas ASF .45 and have fired a full 1000 round case of ball through it. ZERO jams. Excellent trigger. Very fine accuracy. For the price? 10/10. It would STILL be a good gun for TWICE the asking price IMHO.



I don’t have the money for an original GI. This scratches the itch very very nicely.

I had a Crimson Trace LaserGrip for the 1911 sitting unused: fits perfectly and compliments the irons very well!

Cheers!

P.S. Good Buy, BTW!

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Sit Reloader Sentiret

This one was described as a blem and was delivered
at $318.00.
Nary a hiccup with near 200+ rounds thru it.

I'll stick with Colt myself, but why would a gunsmith not work on a Tisas? Seems like Tisas has a good reputation for quality.

The cabal doesn’t like newcomers.

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Release the Kraken

I didn't buy a new 1911 to be worked on, which is why I didn't buy a Colt. I wanted something that worked right out of the box, which is why I prefer Glocks. My commander sized Tisas has been as reliable out of the box as a Glock so I'm not overly concerned if the uppity top names won't work on it.

Attached Images

TISAS M1911A1 Tanker 55.jpg (228.4 KB, 345 views)

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- Change it back -

My first Tisas was this one. I got the pick the one out of four that had the best combination of tightness and good trigger pull.

Darn near doubled the price by adding real red Cocobolo grips



took it to the range and I was sold after I shot this group



shoots well at 25 yards too



Every time I went to the local gunstore, I had a real hard time not buying a Tisas when they were priced $400 or less.

This is has all the features I want: tall sights, chrome barrel, GI grip safety, added an arched mainspring housing as I am getting to like the arched for one hand shooting.



I had a RIA blow a case head, because the magazine release held the round too low. The bullet was stuffed in the case during feed. That cracked the coco bolo grips on that pistol, blew the innards of the magazine, rounds included out. After that I realized that strong grips might protect my palms in an over pressure incident, and I was lucky the magazine had a plastic bottom plate and popped off easily, dropping pressures. Since then, I have been fitting 1911's with cheap Chinese ($14.00) double diamond, red laminate G10. G10 is hard and sharp, like a wood rasp, so it is real grippy, and since it is an epoxy laminate, it ought to be orders of magnitude stronger than wood.

tall rear sight with a tall and big front sight





the more recoil, the greater the flinch!



The original GI sights were developed for shooting against a black round circle on a paper target.





If you are shooting on paper, and your aimpoint is a small round circle, thin sights allow hold off against the bull if the windage/elevation is off. Remember, the sights were non adjustable. So the shooter could compensate a left shooting 1911 by holding at 5 O'C, maybe 2 O'C. Large sights, such as I prefer, you cannot pick a point because the sight is so much larger than the bull. As such, the GI sight is better for paper punching, but they are not fast acquisition sights.

One of the things I have noticed, is how firearms and sights have developed in tandem with "Combat Games". Prior to WW1, combat training was shooting on paper targets with round black circles. Sight width was based on the diameter of a round black circle on a piece of paper. But in real life, the Huns never wore on their uniforms black circles over a contrasting background. Any enemy wearing bullseye's would made excellent aimpoints for 1911 users. But it was not to be. Today, you can see so called "Tactical" pistols designed to win quick draw games, but whether the games reflect reality is different issue.

You are in his sights!



The Tisas models I own are all variations of the basic GI model, the primary variations are sights and safeties. I consider the A1 safety a better safety. They are all reliable, as accurate as I can hold off hand. I only have 45 ACP pistols and 99% of the rounds are 230 round nose bullets.

I recommend the original load used in the 1910 rounds used in the 1910 pistol test trials: a 230 FMJ with 5.0 grains Bullseye for a velocity of 800 fps. If your pistol won't shoot or function with this load, you have a stinker for a firearm.







I called Tisas about the materials in the pistols. I got two different stories, but each was a European version of 4140 steel. The original GI 1911's, the frame was SAE 1035, something almost unhardenable and similar in composition to rail road spikes. Real cheap stuff. The slide was SAE 1050, I know lawn mower blades made from 1055. Real cheap and tough. These materials are called plain carbon steels and are also very low grade. These were the absolute minimum that would go 5000 or 6000 rounds. Original 1911's were not built to last forever, those that shoot original GI 1911's find the slides crack between 10000 and 20000 rounds. However, something made out of 4140 should last orders of magnitude longer.

I do like the fact the post 2023 Tisas has all forged internal parts, pre 2023 internal parts were MIM, and the forged slide and receiver are hardened then machined. GI 1911's only had the slide nose hardened for two inches, to keep the nose from being knocked off under recoil. I do believe the Tisas slide is only "slightly" hardened as you don't really need knife blade level hardness in this application. Hardness and toughness work against each other. This pistol functions with an impact load, and toughness gives a longer fatigue life than does hardness. All you need to do is harden the steel so it holds up to the pressures of combustion, and keep what toughness you can to allow for a greater fatigue lifetime. A forged 4140 part should not have voids, and the material is just vastly better in all respects to the plain carbon steels used in the GI 1911's. One data point, the Charpy impact energy required to shear 4140 at minus 40 F is probably four times greater than plain carbon steels. Alloys have come a long way since 1900.

If you need another vote, I have 2 government models and echo all the positive comments.

I will note that mine have little to zero throat (leade) and don't appreciate reloads seated even slightly long.

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Just Say No - To Social Media

I've owned, collected, shot and competed with numerous 1911s for decades: from WWI through current Colts, Kimbers, S&Ws, Paras, Remingtons, Springfields, Dan Wessons, Ed Browns, and modern SIG variants. I like a bargain as much as anyone else, and after reading some reviews, purchased three Tisas 1911s this past year.

I still have two of them. For me they have been a mixed bag, along with a couple of other SDS Imports firearms. I probably would not purchase another, as the guns as delivered don't meet my standards, and their customer service is sub-standard.

First was a Stakeout .45. This pistol has been mostly excellent, shoots very well, excellent machining, completely reliable. Price was right, but it did have some flaws which I corrected, which the later two guns also had, and seems to me to be endemic to these guns:

1. The magazine catch springs were way beyond spec oversprung; I replaced them with a spec spring.
2. The plunger spring, conversely, all had inadequate tension, and the thumb safeties were mush. Again, replaced with a spec sping and correct function restored.

Otherwise pleased with the Stakeout .45, I purchased a parkerized Tank Commander .45. This pistol shot acceptably, not particularly accurate, and had the same flaws as above. However, it had a third flaw in that it would not eject a live round. The ejector as installed by the factory was the longest such part I'd ever seen, even longer than a 9mm ejector - ridiculously long. The pistol ejected fired brass but an unfired round coiuld not be removed from the barrel. I decided to repair this myself (I'm a Colt 1911 armorer) and shortened the extractor to correct Commander length and reprofiled it for correct ejection. To an assembler or inspector who know what he was doing, this problem would have been obvious, so it gave me pause concerning Tisas.

I saw the nickel plated Stakeout in 9mm/Super 38 combo model that has been mentioned and purchased one. Once again, the mag catch and plunger springs were wrong, and replaced. The pistol was very accurate with the Super 38 barrel. However, extracting factory live rounds was balky, the the rifling was engraving the chambered bullet in various 130 grain FMJ ammunition. Apparently the chamber leade was incorrectly cut. This was with Aguila and Winchester factory FMJ ammo, Corbon JHP ammo, and various 125 grain JHP handloads, all measuring to correct cartridge OAL and easily clearing a cartridge check gauge.

I returned this one to SDS Imports with photos and a description of the problem. Two weeks later the pistol comes back to me with no repairs or replacements whatsoever performed. Note said "6 rounds of factory ammo fired without a problem". Well uh duh... the problem was not firing but extracting of a live round as was well-described. The "technicians" they employ in Tennessee obviously cannot read, nor do they give a rats behind about the customer's issue.

A couple months before this, I had purchased an SDS Imports MAC 2 Tactical shotgun. It worked great. I decided to buy another in nickel finish. This second one would not function with Winchester factory full-power 00 buckshot: failures to extract about 80% of the time. This is the type of ammo SDS says you must "break-in" the shotgun with, functioned 100% in the first MAC 2 I purchased, and every other shotgun I own. Comparing this specimen to the Benelli M2 it was copied from, it appeared to me that the extractor was incorrectly fit and sprung in the bolt head, and the chamber leade had somewhat of a rough finish.

So I sent this second one back to SDS with photos of the problem. A month later the shotgun gets returned with no repairs done, with a note: "Fired 5 rounds of 1-14 oz 1330 fps field load with no issues." Well that's real nice, but a tactical shotgun that will not work with US factory full-power buckshot is not acceptable.

Based on these experiences with SDS/Tisas, I'm gonna conclude they are a typical Turkish firearms product: sometimes you get a good one, and when you don't, the customer service is bottom-tier.

I won't be buying any more of them.

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Retired LE Instructor/Armorer

As of two minutes ago PSA had the 1911A in Electroless Nickel 9mm/38 Super Combo back in stock for $429...!

Cheers!

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Sit Reloader Sentiret

The ASF models have the old style ejection port. If you want a model like that, then that's what you want. I bought the one with the larger port. It looks close enough to me and was cheap. Sales come and go so if you're patient, you can find what you want. Forged frame, slide and barrel.

I bought the 9mm Sting Ray model and after 600 or so rds, I had trouble with the extractor. Sent it back and go it back with a note they adjusted the extractor and polished the feed ramp. Same problem developed after another 5 or 600 rds and I took it to a local gunsmith who worked on the extractor. It has been fine since, but had to stop shooting when it got cold. The smith said the guns are not made to military specs and lots of aftermarket parts won't fit. I like the gun and hope to get it working properly.

The extractor problems seem to be worse in the 9mm versions.

The majority of M1911 clones are made to use military spec parts. An extractor that needs frequent adjustment is likely an extractor that needs to be replaced with a higher quality part. Ideally, the M1911 extractor should be machined from a bar and heat treated so that it acts like spring steel. Unfortunately, most production 1911 clones today come with cast steel or MIM extractors and these generally do not have spring like qualities.

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VCDL, GOA, NRA

lot's of satisfied people in this thread.. I am not one of them. Sample size of one that had extraction issues.. Customer Service was the absolute worst I have ever experienced from a Gun Company. Based on that, they will never get another dime from me. Your results may vary.

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Plastic has no soul

Details please. Was yours .45 9mm or .38 Super?

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Who are those guys?

I'm not criticizing Tisas as I've read lots of good things about them. However, I'll spend twice as much and buy a Colt. The Colt will have good resale value and be more desirable and I know they shoot well and hold up well and their service dept. is generally good.

If you shoot a good bit and keep your guns for a while, the price of a Colt amortized over the years is hardly noticeable as is the cost of a Tisas, even if the Colt initially costs twice as much.

Just another way of looking at things. If you like the Tisas, get one. You'll likely be happy with it.

Not that I need another M1911, but my main concern with having a Tisas would be complete parts interchangeability with mil-spec. Seems that Tisas would want that.

This post ends any interest for me getting one.

I have interchanged grips, triggers, mainspring housings and thumb safeties with no more fitting required than any other 1911....

I got one of their newer models, it’s a 1911 Govt. nickel with a 9mm and 38 super barrel, looks great and shoots great, never thought I’d say that.