New Series 70 1911

[Chief351]

I am a fan of full-size service pistols for concealed carry. In order of preference I habitually carry either a 5" 1911, a Hi-Power, or occasionally a CZ 75B. Most frequently though, it's been one of my two 1911s, both of which are Series 80 pistols.

For years I've been hankering for a Series 70 1911, and was trying to save for a blued Colt. Whatever I bought would certainly go into my carry rotation, and I would likely not expose a pretty blued Colt to the rigors of daily carry. However as a retired person living on Social Security, I finally admitted to myself that a $1000+ piece of firearm jewelry was out of my range financially.

Looking around at the 1911s available in the $500 range, which pretty much limited me to the Rock Island and other imported guns. However I've looked at those in the past and not been very impressed. Eventually I became aware of the Tisas 1911s manufactured in Turkey. They've been getting uniformly good reviews, and are advertised as having forged frames and slides, hammer-forged barrels, excellent machining and fit and finish, and good accuracy. I read every review I could find, and except for two reviews from people who struck me as "haters" who could find nothing good to say, every other reviewer heaped praises on the gun. Anyway, I found one for $465.00 so I ordered it. Picked it up from my FFL two days later.

The one I purchased is what they call the Duty model. It has a 5" barrel, Novak-style 3-dot sights, front cocking serrations, Ambidextrous thumb safety, beavertail grip safety with a memory bump, rowel hammer, flat grooved mainspring housing, long trigger, G.I. guide rod, undercut trigger guard, and countersunk slide release. Here's a picture I snapped on the day I brought it home:



First thing I did was examine it, then detail strip detail-strip it for cleaning, and this is what I found:

- Passed the grip safety and thumb safety tests
- Field-stripping was easy as rotation of the barrel bushing was snug but did not require the (included) bushing wrench. No visible crack of daylight showing between the rear face of the bushing and the slide
- Barrel fit is close to perfect! No play in the bushing. Pressing down on the barrel hood results in no perceptible movement. The fit of the barrel lower camming surfaces to the link and to the slide stop looks to be perfect as well. This is the first 1911 I've owned that will not "stand on the link"!
- Machining is excellent with not a single tool mark anywhere
- Extractor tension is OK, maybe a little loose, but it did hold a live cartridge through some shaking
- As I detail stripped and wiped down all internal parts, I examined each one to try to determine if they were machined parts or MIM. I looked for the tell-tale mold separation lines, sprue marks, and the circular marks from the plungers that push the parts out of the mold. None of these marks were evident anywhere on any of the parts. Accidentally, during reassembly, I dropped the disconnector and the slide stop on the porcelain tile floor, and they both rang like bells! Not the dull clack that MIM parts usually make in the same circumstance. So the Turks either took extra care in polishing away all of the marks, or, just maybe, these are all machined internal parts!

I took it to the range last Thursday, which happened to be the first day this year that dropped down below freezing overnight. I brought an assortment of ammo, both 230 grain hardball and JHP, and some 185 grain Speer Lawman JHP. I did not use the single "mystery magazine" that was included with the pistol, but instead I used the Checkmate magazines that I have had good luck with in the past. Most of the hardball I shot was random stuff that I had accumulated over time that I would toss in a "range ammo" jar.

I fired all of the 230 grain hardball ammo from Checkmate 7-round magazines with G.I. folded followers with the dimple, and the mag tubes had the U.S.G.I "hardball" field lips. All fed and fired perfectly. All shooting was at my club's "Centennial" pistol range, from under a roof (shady and darned cold) at 7-yards. After a couple magazines to get used to the sights, how the gun pointed, and the trigger pull (5-1/2 pounds out of the box), I fired this group:



3-1/2" including the two "flyers". Point of aim was center of the orange dot.

So far I don't think I need to touch the sights.

I then tried the JHP. I started out using Checkmate 7-round mags with "hybrid" feed lips and the Speer 185 grain JHPs. Couldn't get it to feed at all. I then tried some Remington XTP JHPs (bullet weight not marked on the box), and they wouldn't feed either. I then switched to the Checkmate hardball mags, and the Remington stuff fed perfectly. More break in and experimentation will be required until I feel confident to carry JHP.

So far I am exceedingly happy with the Tisas! I prefer short triggers on my 1911s, and I went on to SDS Imports web site, on their parts and accessories page, and ordered a short trigger as they put on their G.I. clone pistol. I also picked up off of the internet a used Colt arched mainspring housing - a take-off from someone building a "race gun" from a G.I. style pistol, but I seem to be adjusting to the flat mainspring housing just fine, and I may just leave it be.

Setting aside the politics between the U.S. and Turkey, I have no regrets buying this pistol. Interested in your comments.

[jefferson101]

I bought a Regent PC45 back in '19, and have found nothing to complain about

I've got one of their HP clones also.

Well made firearms, reasonably priced.

[Chief351]

Here's an update on my Tisas.

I've been carrying it as my EDC for a couple of weeks now. My normal carry mode is IWB in leather holsters - usually something on the lines of a Summer Special type. One of the concerns that I had with this pistol is that it didn't feel like the thumb safety wasn't very positively detented. Well, the first day I carried it I found that the safety had switched itself from "safe" to "fire" twice - this had to be fixed. It seemed to me that the plunger tube spring was a bit weak, so I ordered a replacement spring from Wolff Gunsprings, and when it came I immediately swapped it in. The safety detent is very positive now, and the safety hasn't switched itself on me for a couple of weeks now. I'm calling it fixed.

Here it is in my favorite holster. It's a Summer Special clone that I've had for 25 or 30 years now, that I bought from Dillon Precision back when they had their own line of gunleather. If the safety is going to be accidentally switched on or off it's going to be in this holster;



I also prefer short triggers on my 1911s as I like having a little more room in my trigger guard. Also I think that the short trigger better fits the ergonomics of the hand better and promotes a more straight-back trigger pull. I went on the SDS Imports web site, the importer of the pistol, and ordered a short trigger as they supply on their G.I. WWII "replica" 1911-A1. It dropped right in without requiring any molestation by my files and stones. I was just doing some dry-fire practice with the pistol, and I decided to field-strip it and lube it Trigger pull come in now at exactly 4-1/2 pounds.



Finally I decided to swap out the grips that came on the pistol as they didn't seem to have enough "gripability", and the pistol tended to shift in my hold. This pistol has the old-fashioned Swenson-type ambi thumb safety that is retained on the right side by a tongue on the safety trapped in place by a relief cut in the right-side grip panel. Well it seems like the grips with the safety cut are kind of scare lately, and when you find one they're pretty pricey. I found a set of grips made by Magpul that had the safety cut, and when I put them on I found that they had less traction than the stockers. After pondering the situation for a bit I got out my Weller electric soldering iron and stippled them. I think this is going to work out OK. I really like the thumb groove in the left grip as it makes it easier to reach the mag release, which has a pretty stiff spring. Also I shoot with a low-thumb grip, and this gives me a place for my strong-side thumb to land.

So right now I'm calling this pistol done! Very happy with it.