Anyone have a Metro Arms (aka "Bersa) American Classic 1911?

[GatorFarmer]

I traded my money pit of a DPMS .308 AR carbine away a while back. One of the things that I received in exchange for it was a NIB 1911 .45 auto. This one was made by Metro Arms out of Manila and is stamped as the American Classic II.

It seems to have some nice features - nicely blued, beavertail grip safety, Novak styke sights, ACT brand (mfg in Italy) 8rd mag and wood grips.

These are sometimes called the "Bersa 1911" because it has the same distributor apparently, but they are not made in Argentia and Bersa has nothing to do with them.

I have a Series 70 Colt that is almost as old as I am that shoots nicely, though it does pinch my hand. Still since it works so well I'm loathe to modify it.

This Phillipines made 1911 has been sitting in the box for some months now, and the previous two owners also had it sitting in the box. One guy bought it, never used it, traded it to a guy I knew, and he had it sitting before trading it towards my DPMS...

Does anyone have one of these? I haven't bothered to shoot it and originally was going to get rid of it. Attempts to turn it into a 9mm auto failed (I ended up with a 1000rds of 147gr Gold Dot bonded LE JHP ammo in that caliber) so I still have it. I've been thinking of putting a set of rubber Hogue grips on it, normally I leave wood grips on such a gun, but the lack of checkering on the front strap seems unusually irksome this time around. I'm wondering if I want to invest even that level of attention on it, or if I ought just leave it sitting until the end of the world fever heats demand up a bit further and then find it a new home.

 

[Rule3]

I remember seeing them both at the LGS some time ago. For the price (less than $400 if I recall) they did not appear to be bad at all. They actually had a decent fit and finish. I have not seen or heard of them since.

Firestorm and American Classic II Government Deluxe Model 1911 .45 ACP Auto Pistol

 

[Fishslayer]

There are some very nice 1911s coming out of the PI.

I love my RIA Tactical. A friend who is into high end guns tried it and said "It's more accurate than a $500 pistol has any right to be."

 

[qwiksdraw]

AC Gov't model

I have the American Classic Government model, which means no bells and whistles. It's a fantastic gun, accurate and a quality made gun. Oh, and it's fun to shoot too!

 

[walter o]

If the smooth front strap bothers you put on a piece of skate board tape on the front strap and SHOOT the gun . They are fun and a good buy at the price.

 

[jdh]

There was one in the LGS not to long ago that had the absolute best trigger you have ever seen on an out of the box 1911. 3#, no take up, crisp break, and no over travel. It was in the process of being sold unfortunately.

 

[GKC]

My local gun shop had one, it was the American Classic II version, in stainless...actually, it was a hard chrome finish, rather than the traditional stainless. It had all the bells and whistles on it, as opposed to a government model. I was considering buying it, and did a lot of research on it.

Reports on the full size models were generally all good...the commander and compact models are the ones which seem to be problematic. The issues with the government model are mostly with the magazine catch (easily replaced with aftermarket) and the slide stop (may take some fitting of an aftermarket part, or the OEM slide stop may need to have some of the back surface relieved.

I finally decided not to buy it, because there was a S&W revolver I wanted more. Had that not been the case, I would have bought it...it's a good gun, according to most reports.

 

[shooboy]

I had one, great gun for the money. I had a Kimber 22 conversion with it too. Never missed a beat with the 45 slide, had to cycle the 22 slide quite a few times to make the conversion run right. Awesome value for the money, loaded with features and had a slide to frame fit that made me wonder why all the Colts I handled had such excessive slide shake. These are made on new CNC machining centers that hold extremely close tolerances, so fit is very good. Here's the one I had:

 

[qwiksdraw]

Rock Island Arms makes 1911's under 5 different monikers, and if memory serves me correctly "Metro Arms" is one of them.

They're well made robust 1911 clones that should give generations of service with a modicum of preventive maintenance.

MetroArms and Rock Island Armory (actually Armscor) are different companies. They both are Philippine companies that make excellent 1911's.

 

[Gunzuki]

I have one in the satin nickel plate , Smooth action Np's mine is the pure 1911A1, Gotta be honest it's very well made I love it. I don't carry it though, Cocked and Locked scares the beejeesus outa me. Fraid I am gonna shoot myself i guess. but I do keep it cocked and locked in my top drawer just in case some idiot decides to break In. We have had some were I live lately.

 

[H Richard]

If this is the same as the Rock Island Armory I can't say anything bad about them. Solid no frills reliable and accurate. I have a Compact (3 1/2") model that I added the beaver-tail grip safety and the Millet sights to myself. Go to the 1911.com forum and read all the comments about them and you will be convinced it is a great gun.

 

[TACC1]

I am on my second RIA. The first one I gifted to a close friend,
and it was extremely smooth in function. The one I have now is just a 1911, but the grip panels were smooth wood, so I replaced them with
the Hogue panels. It's just a darned nice gun! TACC1