Firstly I haven't gotten to shoot this gun quite as much as I'm wanting to right now with work and all. Through the first 50 rounds I put through it I had no jams, misfires, etc. The novak magazine that comes with it is excellent compared with some of the ones I've seen from Kahr and some others. The recoil on the gun isn't bad at all. I do have 2 problems with the gun as it comes out of the box. 1) The grips. I suffer from sweaty palms when I shoot and the polished hardwood grips( well made and pretty) made it really hard to keep a good grip on it. 2) The sights. The back sight is narrow and the front sight is a little short. At 3 and 7 yards it isn't too much of a problem but at 15 yards and farther it becomes a little harder to squeeze everything into that narrow rear sight. Thats it off the top of my head. Would I recommend this gun to someone looking to buy a .45 and not spend an arm and a leg? Yes I would.

How many total rounds did you put through it?

50 rounds isn't even close to breaking that bad boy in! :)

Never shot one, but Rock Island is a total 1911 clone, right? If so you can go nuts with the after-market accessories, esp. grips and sights . . .

Congrats on your new pistola. The sights on it are the GI style from what I've seen, so yeah, not the best in the world. I've heard the complaint about the grips before, too, but thats an easy fix. The only other problem I've heard about the RIs is that the slide stop is a bit out of spec and brittle, so prone to breakage. A new one is only $19 - $50, depending on whose and what type you get. http://www.midwayusa.com/ebrowse.exe/browse You might want to think about fixing it before you have a problem.