A firearm’s practicality in shooting for defensive situations is paramount in my mind when I try out a gun. I recently became acquainted with Rock River Arms (RRA) and a small sampling from its arsenal during a trip to the heart of the Midwest.
RRA presented the Poly RRA 1911 in .45 ACP, with a 4.25-inch barrel, for my shooting pleasure. I was skeptical at first, not because it was a polymer gun on a steel frame, but because it was a 1911. In my previous 1911 shooting experiences, I disliked the amount of felt recoil, grip style and size, and I found some of them difficult to aim.
Though I had primarily thought of RRA as a rifle-focused company, it manufactures pistols quite nicely. Traditionally there’s a good amount of grumbling over polymer guns. In my experience, I have never personally found much fault with them because I’m shooting based on hand-size versus grip-size, ease of use and comfortability.
The Poly RRA 1911 was no such beast to shoot. The gun has a rounded grip, among other features, which I liked. As company representatives promised, the design allowed for a better, tighter grip with a good seal, and I found it far more comfortable to hold and shoot. Other 1911s are thinner, and though this firearm looks a little bulky, this turned out to be a benefit to my shooting.
The sights were easy to re-focus, and the felt recoil was easier to manage. For me, all of this comes back down to how good a grip you can get on the firearm, and instructs everything else that follows in shooting comfortability. As a woman with small-medium hands, I find how tight and comfortable it is to hold the gun in my hands before and after firing to be the most important aspect in why I choose a gun. After each shot, I found I had the same grip every time, making it easier to get back to the set position as I brought the gun up to shoot the next round. At a little over 2 pounds, the gun was easy to manage and I did not tire of shooting it.
Shooting is only as fun if you can enjoy the tool you are using in the work or play you are doing. As with anything else, the right fit to the person is paramount.
