My son has the PT1911AR in blue with the rail, just like the one you're considering.
The only chronic problem it suffers from is that the thumb safety on the right side (for left handed shooters) occasionally shoots loose and starts to back out. A nylon dowel and a rap from a small hammer pushes it back in until the next time it shoots loose.
Somewhere between 500 and 1,000 rounds, the take down pin on the slide stop lever broke right in half mid-shaft during a range session. It is a MIM part. When I first bought my Kimber Stainless Ultra Carry II, it came with a defective slide stop lever which they replaced for free for me a few days after I bought the gun. I still had the "defective" Kimber part in my gun case, and we dropped it right into the Taurus and went right back to shooting. Today, a little over a year later, that "defective" Kimber part is still in my son's Taurus, and the Taurus still functions perfectly.
The PT1911 seems to be very accurate. My son can flat wear out bullseyes with it at the range. He likes the Heinie "Straight 8" sights. I'm not nearly so sanguine about them, but I haven't shot the pistol near as much as he has, so I'm not used to them.
We paid $699 for the pistol at Euless Guns and Ammo, not long after they first hit the market. I'm inclined to ignore the broken slide stop pin as an issue, since a broken pin is easily and cheaply replaced. I
am quite disenchanted with MIM parts in general (
see my thread about a broken hammer on a
new $1,729.00 Springfield M1A Loaded), although the Kimber part we dropped into the Taurus is a MIM part itself and it continues to function just fine.
I don't know very much about the Rock Island Armory 1911s, except that they tend toward the lower end of the price range for a 1911 pistol and have a good reputation for reliability, but my impression is that Taurus has more or less successfully split the price ground between the RIA pistols on the one hand, and more upscale brands like Springfield and Kimber on the other hand. For the price, you really do get a lot of additional features usually only available in higher priced pistols, but that savings comes perhaps at the price of somewhat shoddy assembly (as in the safety that keeps shooting loose) and critical parts which may break at the very moment your life is on the line (as in the broken slide stop pin).
The other criticism for the "AR" model is that the design of the rail on the frame results is a smaller array of available holsters for it. The rail protrudes downward far enough that the gun won't fit holsters made for other 1911s with rails such as the Kimbers or Springfields. Holsters
are available — just not in the same array of options/manufacturers.
If I were to buy myself a Taurus PT1911 — and despite my above criticisms, I actually
like this pistol — I would do three things:
1) I would buy a model without the rail. I don't actually need one, and being left-handed, I already have enough holster hassles. (My son doesn't need a rail either. He just wanted to be "tacticool." Lesson learned.)
2) I would replace the EOM ambidextrous safety with an aftermarket part that stays put.
3) I would replace the slide stop with a
forged aftermarket part.
Despite the negatives I've listed here, you actually have a very nice pistol, so don't let my opinion discourage you. Just make a note to yourself to keep an eye on things, and God willing, you may have gotten one that will never have any problems. I hope this helps.
