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Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:37 am
by Ttgoods
They look good.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:45 am
by Isabel1130
I think they stopped making them for a few years, and then started up again. A friend had one.

I think, (it was) a good gun, certainly the equivalent of a Les Baer. But as you know, things change, and I don't know who is in their shop now.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 5:42 pm
by JimPGov
YES I OWN 3. 2-45, AND 1-9MM. BEST BANG FOR THE BUCK. AND THEY ARE MAKING THEM AGAIN. THEY HAVE BOTH WAD GUNS AND BALL GUNS IN STOCK. JP

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Feb 12, 2015 10:02 pm
by shaky hands
Are they worth the $600 price hike compared with a Les Baer?

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 6:15 pm
by JimPGov
EMPHATICALLY YES !

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:01 pm
by shaky hands
I am surely convinced by the emphasis, but am afraid that my wife would demand more specifics before agreeing to the bottom line.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Fri Feb 13, 2015 11:33 pm
by Isabel1130
shaky hands wrote:I am surely convinced by the emphasis, but am afraid that my wife would demand more specifics before agreeing to the bottom line.
You will do better and cheaper by taking a Foster frame and slide to a good 1911 gunsmith and having them install a competition barrel, and a nice trigger.

You also will do better by buying a used Bullseye gun, be it Rock River, Les Baer, Dave Salyer, Jerry Keifer, David Sams and at least a hundred others.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 7:20 am
by Rover
Absolutely +1 with Isabel.

See ya soon at the Desert Midwinter, darlin'.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 8:59 am
by m1963
A decade ago it was our understanding that Rock River 1911 gunsmiths at that time had originally trained in the Springfield Armory Custom shop.

We own both a RRA Hardball gun (purchased years ago when they were $1600.) and a Springfield Armory Custom Shop Hardball Gun. We like them both. They are both equally competitive.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 2:15 pm
by shaky hands
Isabel1130 wrote: You will do better and cheaper by taking a Foster frame and slide to a good 1911 gunsmith and having them install a competition barrel, and a nice trigger.
I have no idea who are good 1911 bullseye gunsmiths, except may be for a couple of names that everyone knows of. But I have also heard that it takes eternity for them to make a gun.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 5:14 pm
by Isabel1130
shaky hands wrote:
Isabel1130 wrote: You will do better and cheaper by taking a Foster frame and slide to a good 1911 gunsmith and having them install a competition barrel, and a nice trigger.
I have no idea who are good 1911 bullseye gunsmiths, except may be for a couple of names that everyone knows of. But I have also heard that it takes eternity for them to make a gun.


Email or call this guy.

Dave Salyer


Salyer@comporium.net
(803) 448-5110

Tell him Kate sent you. He is a friend, and yes I also shoot a Centerfire gun that he built for me.

Unless the parts you want are unavailable, he will get the gun to you in less than 90 days.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sat Feb 14, 2015 11:14 pm
by shaky hands
Great, thanks!

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Sun Feb 15, 2015 12:40 am
by Isabel1130
Rover wrote:Absolutely +1 with Isabel.

See ya soon at the Desert Midwinter, darlin'.


Looking forward to it Rover.

Leavin Monday morning early, and picking up a couple of Colorodents on the way down. :-)

I will be camping at the range.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 10:42 am
by wolskyr
FWIW I asked my dealer to contact RRA last week about delivery times - they are quoting 6 months.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Mon Feb 16, 2015 1:22 pm
by Jerry Keefer
wolskyr wrote: they are quoting 6 months.
I have transferred a quite a number of the RRA ARs since the ban scare started.. Their delivery time has always been much less than the quote..PLus, they are great people to deal with.
I have not transferred a 1911 since they discontinued production.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Wed Apr 22, 2015 10:41 pm
by jbzeus
Just picked up a RRA 1911 wadgun Monday. It's a tight gun and good shooter. The test target on mine was 1.5". But... one shot made it the 1.5". I was told it was the first shot. The rest of the shots (I can't tell for sure but it looks like more than 4) gave a 1" group. Wooo Hooo!

I live within about 10 miles of the RRA shop so it's convenient should it need any work in the future.

As a new bullseye shooter I went on the advice of a local friend. Appears he did not lead me astray!

Enjoyed the transaction and working with RRA.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 4:23 pm
by Dipnet
I own a Rock River limited match (6-inch); it came with the 1.5" guarantee at 50 yards (which I believe they started and Les Baer copied). Any rate, it remains accurate pistol and is a joy to shoot. My only complaint is the early models lacked any identification on the pistol except for the serial number (RRA####) and on the Bomar sight. Dipnet

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Thu Apr 23, 2015 8:01 pm
by jbzeus
Yep. Mine is the same. Just the serial number and maker.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:01 am
by GunRunner
Dipnet wrote:I own a Rock River limited match (6-inch); it came with the 1.5" guarantee at 50 yards (which I believe they started and Les Baer copied). Any rate, it remains accurate pistol and is a joy to shoot. My only complaint is the early models lacked any identification on the pistol except for the serial number (RRA####) and on the Bomar sight. Dipnet
Les Baer didn't copy anything from RRA its the other way around, the two brothers that started RRA were employed and learned from Les before quitting and starting their on company.

Re: Anyone one own a Rock River Wadcutter?

Posted: Fri Apr 24, 2015 11:14 am
by SteveT
GunRunner wrote:Les Baer didn't copy anything from RRA its the other way around, the two brothers that started RRA were employed and learned from Les before quitting and starting their on company.
That's not how they would tell it. The Les Baer and Mark and Chuck Larson left Springfield to form a new company, but very quickly it became obvious that Les was not going to be an equal partner. They all learned their craft at Springfield and worked together creating what became Les Baer Guns, but they were not just employees and left very soon.

Chuck Larson has an uncanny ability to know what's going on inside the gun. He understands the function of the 1911 better than anyone I know. Chuck is also a perfectionist. If Rock River builds a gun, it is right.

I can't speak to Les' knowledge or ability, his guns perform well, but I've heard enough stories about his poor treatment of customers with problems that I am hesitant to get one.

I would not hesitate getting one of the new Rock River pistols. I talked with Chuck a little and with Mark Z (the main pistolsmith) a lot about their new CNC machines for making pistols. They were doing a lot of work fine tuning the settings to get all the dimensions right.

My personal list of custom bullseye pistols smiths would be (in no particular order) Dave Salyer, KC Crawford, David Sams, Joe Chambers and Frerking Custom (I forget his first name). All build terrific guns. Jerry Keefer, Ed Masaki and Roddy Toyota have built terrific guns, but I don't think they are building for the general public. I haven't seen many guns from Travis Strayhan and Accuracy X, but I believe they would be good, though they are both expensive.

Rock River bullseye guns and Springfield Custom Shop build good target guns. I consider Clark Custom more like those production companies rather than custom gunsmith. They aren't as focused on bullseye and target guns as they used to be, but I think they still build decent guns.