Rock Island XTM

Rock Island Armory — sometimes they create a niche, sometimes they fill a niche. There wasn’t a 1911 in .22 Magnum but now there is. I can just hear the engineers when company president Martin Tuason left the room —

“He wants us to what?”

“I think he said ‘build a .22 Magnum 1911.’ ”

“That’s what I thought he said.”

Since it’s Armscor/Rock Island Armory (the company building more 1911s than any other company in the world), they did it.

I’ve been working with a Rock Island Armory XT22 Magnum Pistol off-and-on for three weeks now. Week one was love. Week two — not so much. Week three and I was back head-over-heels in love. My advice is this: Don’t give up on this gun if you want to enjoy a unique bit of firearm charm.

Problem Solved

There are some challenges in building a small caliber, locked breech, semi-automatic pistol. The XT series is a classic Browning-pattern 1911 but with some major differences. For one thing, the slide is more like a Beretta 92/M9, open at the top with the barrel visible. However, it’s not the barrel you’re seeing — it’s a sleeve. The system is described as a modified 1911A1 frame incorporating a sliding barrel inside a barrel shroud, fitted with an integral lug, along with a modified slide open at the top and firing pin function suited for the .22 Magnum cartridge. There is also a dovetailed fiber optic front sight atop the barrel shroud.

Obviously, when it comes to operating details, there are differences that became evident as I got to know the pistol. The high pressure of the .22 WMR cartridge, along with the slow burning powder, requires a little pressure release right after ignition. The XTM uses a pinned barrel design and delayed blowback slide. You can see a small gap between the barrel shroud and the barrel as the gun goes into battery.

In a standard 1911, the barrel tilts to unlock and this requires the barrel link to pivot. On this gun, the only movement is rearward — there is no tilting. This means when you disassemble the gun for cleaning, you’ve got different-looking parts than a “standard” 1911. It’s no big deal, except for the recoil rod and spring plug, which are threaded. You don’t need to remove it when disassembling the firearm. I removed it.

The darn thing had been locked down with thread locker. I talked with one of the gunsmiths at Rock Island and he said it’s done because the plug works out over time while shooting. It’s worthwhile to check the plug and tighten from time to time.

Rundown

The back portion of the slide is typical 1911A1 with a drift adjustable, solid black rear sight and small GI-type vertical cocking serrations. The slide lock, plunger tube, mag release and thumb safety are old school 1911 as is the grip safety. The grip panels are rubber with the familiar checkered diamond cut pattern and RIA logo. The mainspring housing is flat with 25 LPI checkering while the front strap is smooth. Hammer and trigger are skeletonized while the hammer has a serrated non-slip thumb surface. The trigger has an over-travel adjustment screw and pulled at a consistent 4 lbs. 6 oz. The finish is parkerized and the gun weighs 2.5 lbs. empty.

The magazine holds 15 rounds in an alternating double stack formation. All parts are made of CNC-machined high ordnance steel.

Range Time

My first trip to the range with the XTM was a get-acquainted trip. I didn’t shoot it for accuracy but I did some chronograph readings just to see how it compared with the Kel-Tec PMR30 and my Henry pump .22 WMR with 20.5″ barrel. With CCI’s 40-gr. Maxi-Mag cartridges, the XTM averaged 1,295 fps while the Kel-Tec was a little slower at 1,258 fps. From the rifle barrel, the average was 1,788 fps.

I had a crew of kids and grandkids with me on the trip. They wanted to shoot a bunch of different guns so I let them shoot the XTM along with the others while I sat back and watched. I gave them six different brands of ammunition and there were no issues with the gun. The fire-breathing magnum rounds, with associated loud pops, were a hoot for the kids to shoot.

After the first trip, I cleaned the gun then took it to an indoor range to get a better feel for the piece while doing some accuracy testing. I took all my .22 WMR handguns because I wanted to see how shooting the XTM compared to shooting the PMR30 and two revolvers — a Ruger Single 9 and Taurus Raging Bull, both with 6.5″ barrels.

Range time highlighted differences in how the XTM operates compared to other 1911s.

The first is putting the gun into battery — it will not rack or slingshot. The only way to get it into battery is to disengage the slide lock. Because of the 15-round double-stack magazine and the length of the .22 WMR cartridge, the grip is slightly larger than most 1911s and I couldn’t reach the slide release with my right thumb.

I learned to push the slide release down with my left thumb. Once I got used to this maneuver, I was fine with it. The next difference is the slide doesn’t lock back after the last round is fired. This is by design and noted in the manual.

The best group was with the CCI Maxi Mag 40-gr. JHP rounds, five in a ragged hole and the other five within two inches. However, there was a problem — with each type of ammunition, I got light primer strikes on at least one, sometimes two rounds. Each time I simply cocked the hammer and the gun fired, but it obviously wasn’t an ammo issue.
I then remembered something the gunsmith told me about lubrication. He said to make sure there was plenty of oil underneath the barrel shroud where it contacts the slide, but to keep the breech face dry. You should also clean the chamber and breech face at least every hundred rounds. I cleaned and oiled the gun as suggested before the next range trip and the gun has operated flawlessly ever since.

Takeaway

Looking at the overall experience with the XTM, the gun worked fine out of the box. It had light primer strikes after I cleaned it using my usual method of cleaning. After cleaning it again and following Rock Island’s instructions, it worked flawlessly with multiple types of ammunition.

If you’re a 1911 person and just want to enjoy shooting something different, you’ll like this gun. When you see the way the Rock Island engineers solved some of the challenges of making a 1911 operate with a lightweight caliber, you’ll understand why they are among the best at creating innovative products at very reasonable prices. MSRP of the XTM is $598.

www.armscor.com

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