Rock Island Armory Tactical Sights Dimensions

182845 Views 94 Replies 54 Participants Last post by Peter RIA1911A1-MS, May 10, 2022

JRDANIELS

Discussion Starter · Feb 4, 2010 (Edited)

I have a Rock Island Armory Tactical and I would like to have a adjustable rear sight installed. Does this pistol have a Novak cut? It looks like a standard dovetail to me but I could be wrong. I know the pistol has Novak sights but I wasnt sure if it was a Novak cut on the slide. I need to know what type of sight to order. Thanks

41 - 60 of 95 Posts

mrwintr

· #41 · Dec 11, 2013 (Edited)

Kyonic said:
So if I wanted to put a set of Dawson front and rear on my RIA Tac that I got two months ago new which size would I need?

I would have to assume that they have now been using the .330x65deg.x.075 for anything built this year, but they have pretty good customer service, so I wouldn't hesitate to call them to make sure. That dimension is, as far as I can tell, a standard Novak cut.
Also, I changed my front sight on my 3.5" tactical RIA and it was a standard Novak style, but you are pretty much guaranteed that a small amount of filing will be necessary to get it to start into the dovetail....I believe that is common for most any replacement dovetail sight.

Grampaw

· #42 · Dec 11, 2013

Kyonic said:
So if I wanted to put a set of Dawson front and rear on my RIA Tac that I got two months ago new which size would I need?

Contact www.Dawsonprecision.com and ask them. they can and will work with you to get exactly what you want and need.
Has anyone mentioned that Dawson has great customer service?

mrwintr

· #43 · Dec 11, 2013 (Edited)

Grampaw said:
Contact www.Dawsonprecision.com and ask them. they can and will work with you to get exactly what you want and need.
Has anyone mentioned that Dawson has great customer service?

I actually just got done sending them an email the other day complaining that every time I try to order a sight or sight set from them, they are always "Out of stock". Maybe their customer service is good, but there ability to stock sights has a lot to be desired. And their reply was pretty bad, they basically told me they are doing plenty of business whether the sights are in stock or not. I wasn't impressed.

dondavis3

· #44 · Dec 24, 2013

@ MimiBUU

Great info

Thanks for posting

kokopelli123

· #45 · Dec 29, 2013

Update: I bought a set of the Trijicon CA128Y that StormWerks showed in the picture, saying they installed on his Citadel with no problems...I too have the Citadel, so imagine my surprise when I see that the front sight will NOT fit! It is too short, and the rear is going to need a little filing to fit- so I'm returning these...

I'm so frustrated!

mity2

· #46 · Dec 29, 2013

kokopelli123 said:
Update: I bought a set of the Trijicon CA128Y that StormWerks showed in the picture, saying they installed on his Citadel with no problems...I too have the Citadel, so imagine my surprise when I see that the front sight will NOT fit! It is too short, and the rear is going to need a little filing to fit- so I'm returning these...

I'm so frustrated!

I was wondering that. They are not Novak cut.

mrwintr

· #47 · Dec 29, 2013

kokopelli123 said:
Update: I bought a set of the Trijicon CA128Y that StormWerks showed in the picture, saying they installed on his Citadel with no problems...I too have the Citadel, so imagine my surprise when I see that the front sight will NOT fit! It is too short, and the rear is going to need a little filing to fit- so I'm returning these...

I'm so frustrated!

I have found it very rare to get a sight that doesn't need some metal removal to get them to fit. They are not supposed to just slide right in with little effort, except for rear sights on something like a S&W M&P that needs to be able to be removed to get to the safety plunger and spring....even then it takes some effort.

kokopelli123

· #48 · Dec 30, 2013

The rear sight would be no problem at all to fit- just file a little off the bottom of the sight. The Front sight however, does not have enough material- the slide's dovetail is cut deeper than the sight- the 'blade' of the sight that goes into the dovetail doesn't contact the bottom of the slide's surface inside the dovetail-

Does anyone have any help? I had to destroy my stock sights to remove them from the slide- they were in so tight even using a brass punch beat the crap out of thenm to remove them!

mity2

· #49 · Dec 30, 2013

2

kokopelli123 said:
The rear sight would be no problem at all to fit- just file a little off the bottom of the sight. The Front sight however, does not have enough material- the slide's dovetail is cut deeper than the sight- the 'blade' of the sight that goes into the dovetail doesn't contact the bottom of the slide's surface inside the dovetail-

Does anyone have any help? I had to destroy my stock sights to remove them from the slide- they were in so tight even using a brass punch beat the crap out of thenm to remove them!

My gunsmith - although I don't think its good way of doing it - filled the bottom with thin copper sheet when he installed XS big dot on my CS...

It works. But I see this as sort of something we, the sunday gunsmith do, but not professional gunsmith...

My 10mm on the other side, I used Tritium .180" from Fusion that's cut for RIA sight cut.

It was no drop in, but took me 30min with 60degree file and nothing done to slide side. As you can see, I have more than enough material - Infact, I think I may want to file bit more to take out the gap between the sight blade and slide itself...

See less See more

mrwintr

· #50 · Dec 30, 2013

mity2 said:
Sadly, that's one thing Citadel has on RIA. RIA is NOT standard cut...

Keep in mind this thread was about Rock Island Armory Tactical sights, not Citadel .....and what is a CS?

bigfatdave

· #51 · Dec 30, 2013

mrwintr said:
and what is a CS?

Compact Size

Officer frame, 3.5" barrel
One of the standard Armscor size designations

kokopelli123

· #52 · Dec 30, 2013

mrwintr said:
Keep in mind this thread was about Rock Island Armory Tactical sights, not Citadel .....and what is a CS?

Armscor makes the RIA and the Citadel...same gun/different markings and features.

mity2

· #53 · Dec 30, 2013

kokopelli123 said:
Armscor makes the RIA and the Citadel...same gun/different markings and features.

Yes. But Im not sure if sight dimension is same between RIA and Citadel.
Some tells me that Citadel is Novak cut, and RIA isn't
Well, we know RIA isn't, and now we know Citadel isn't either.

mrwintr

· #54 · Dec 30, 2013 (Edited)

kokopelli123 said:
Armscor makes the RIA and the Citadel...same gun/different markings and features.

OK you're correct, Armscor does make Citadel 1911's, but sold by Legacy sports..?

mity2

· #55 · Dec 30, 2013

mrwintr said:
OK you're correct, Armscor does make Citadel 1911's, but sold by Legacy sports..?

Yes. Same gun, sold under different distributers and different packaging, and different warranty.

There are some minor difference between the RIA guns, and Citadel guns(different color, and different serration), but otherwise the same.

Some say Citadel feature better fit/finish, but I don't see one

kokopelli123

· #56 · Dec 31, 2013 (Edited)

I'm on my second Citadel Full Size, and have handled 2 others. All of them have had smoother/crisper triggers than their RIA counterparts that I've handled. I have no idea what the reason is behind this- I know they are made by the same people in the Armscor facilities, and I reckon all the parts are fairly common between guns. The main difference between the Citadel and RIA Tactical was the addition of front slide serrations and no fiber optic front sight on the Citadel (which was why I chose the Citadel over the Rock Tac), but now the Rock Tac has the same sights, and the Match has the FO.
Armscor also extends their lifetime warranty to the Citadels because they made them. Legacy Sports offers a one year warranty because they simply market them. Interesting fact is that the Citadel pistol doesn't say 'Legacy Sports' on it anywhere- because they aren't even the importer- it has AP INTNL PAHRUMP NV PHILIPPINES because Armscor imports them themselves...

Also, STI uses the Citadel as their 'Spartan' model, but uses the fiber optic front sight from the RIA Tactical as the only change beside roll marks on the slide. STI Spartans have the same importer markings on the guns.

There are several other brands of 1911's out there that are Armscor as well, as we know, and they all have different combinations of features- and all of them, sadly, have a proprietary Novak 'STYLE' sight cut, NOT a 'Novak sight cut'.

I guess the real problem is that Sight manufacturers have yet to realize the HUGE market they have for Armscor 1911 sights!
Meprolight, Trijicon, etc...someone should produce night sights and different other configurations that are spec'd to the Armscor cuts that require no messing with- they would have an instant hit on their hands!

See less See more

dondavis3

· #57 · Dec 31, 2013

I ordered a front fiber optic sight for my RIA 1911 Tactical 9mm from Dawson Precision.

It arrived yesterday saying on the package that it was for my gun.

I took it to my LGS and they put it on in 5 min.

They said that they sell a lot of RIA's and were glad to know a company that makes a sight the slips right onto the Rock.

Buy the way - it's so easy to pick up the front sight now.

Great mod in my opinion.

See less See more

hackmeister

· #58 · Feb 19, 2014

I want to put a fiber optic front sight on my RIA 1911 from here:
http://store01.prostores.com/servlet/fusionfirearms/the-ALL/keyword/RIA/s/1/Categories

It looks like my options are .160 or .210. Which one is closes to the original front sight?

hackmeister

· #59 · Feb 22, 2014

Based on everyone's recommendations I ordered a fiber front sight from Dawson Precision.

ddaarr

· #60 · Mar 4, 2014

My gun came with the black rubber grips but with the large billboard on the slide.

I see that companies like Fusion have an RIA specific front sight. I don't have another RIA to compare.

Anyone can confirm that the newer RIA's have the Novak front sight.

Is the Novak cut deeper, from top to bottom than the older RIA front sight cuts?

41 - 60 of 95 Posts

This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.