Two 1911s Under the Radar: Ithaca Versus Roberts Defense
If you have between $1500 and $2000 to put into a good 45 auto, which one will you get? There are many candidates, and choosing between them is often more a test of which brand name sounds the best — Wilson, Baer, Nighthawk, Guncrafter to name just a few — rather than which gun is the best for an individual shooter. Frankly, guns in this price range are very hard to separate because they're all pretty darned good.
For this test, we looked at two names that aren't top of mind, even though one of them has a historical provenance that is hard to match. The test guns were full-size 1911s in 45 ACP, one being the Ithaca Gun Co. M1911-N #1911-C45G10 45 ACP, $1799. Between 1942 and 1945, Ithaca Gun Company made 382,000 of the 45-caliber Model 1911-A1 pistols for the military, and according to company documents, Ithaca received a "certificate of appreciation" from the federal government for improving a manufacturing procedure for the triggers. The original Ithaca Gun Company was located in Ithaca, New York, and was probably best known for its M37 shotgun. When Ithaca restarted several years ago in Upper Sandusky, Ohio, new management invested in CNC machining to make its older guns cost-competitive with more modern designs. Those techniques were also applied to a very modern pistol product pitched as a semi-custom 1911 for carry or duty use. The Ithaca comes in a hard plastic case with foam inserts and a 1-year limited warranty.
Our second pistol was a Roberts Defense Super Grade Pro 45 ACP, $1549, made by the firm in Oshkosh, Wisconsin. Unlike Ithaca, which makes just two full-size pistol variants, Roberts makes six pistols in the Super Grade line alone (all $1549), including our full-size two-tone test gun, a full-size stainless model, two 4.25-inch barrel Custom models, and two of the firm's Carry models with 3.5-inch barrels. The company's Operator lineup includes four pistols (all $1649) and the Recon line has three versions (all $1499). Roberts Defense was founded in 2011, and the company says each firearm is hand-built using 100% American-made components. Each firearm comes in a tactical soft case with an accompanying gun lock. Impressively, Roberts Defense offers a lifetime transferable warranty.
Rob Unger, president of Roberts Defense said, "All of our parts are hand-fitted with the utmost attention to detail. We purposely build a limited amount of firearms to fit and function flawlessly, while never compromising, and making our high-quality product available at a reasonable price."
We shot the guns for accuracy and function, and evaluated them for more than a year in self-defense training and general use. These were both outstanding pistols, yet we found some anomalies that might help you pick and choose.
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Glock G19 9mm
We can remember when the Glock pistols were shipped in a kind of Tupperware box. The model lineup was short, but one of the first variations in size was the Model 19. Today, Glock pistols arrive in handsome and distinctively styled hard-side cases. There are as many as six different models chambered for 9mm, including the G18 and G18C select-fire machine pistols. Glocks www.teamglock.com website boasts of the G19, The compact version of the G17, this is the preferred pistol of NYPDs 40,000 officers and the standard weapon of the United Nations Security personnel. Designed and built in Austria, but assembled and tested at the Glock facility about 25 miles from Atlanta, specifications of the G19 list more easily in metric. For example, the 102mm barrel was 4.02 inches long. Height was an even 5.0 inches, but width is listed as 1.18 inches, and the G19 measures 6.85 inches, or 174mm long. The frame included an accessory rail along the dust cover, but the tip of the gun was noticeably tapered, so the rail was integrated without adding bulk. The frame was constructed of polymer.
The appeal of the G19, in our view, was its simplicity and the directness in which the design takes on the smaller chores that make up the operation and maintenance of a handgun. Takedown begins with removing the magazine and clearing the chamber. If the trigger is cocked, it must be pulled to release tension. The slide was retracted about one-quarter inch. There was an audible click and a sense of disengagement. Two sliding levers located on each side of the frame just above the trigger were pulled downward. We then released the slide against the tension of the recoil spring and continued moving it forward off the frame. Actually, we found the slide was eager to leave the frame, so we had to be careful to catch it. One aspect of the Glock that is unique and somewhat fascinating is reassembly. You just slide the top end on to the frame and it clicks into place.
Lubrication as recommended by the owners manual was sparse. Surfaces such as the outside of the barrel, barrel hood, and inside the top of the slide were to be lubricated by passing over them with an oiled patch of cloth. The slide rails themselves required only a single drop of oil spread over each slide rail cut. Weve heard of people oiling the firing pin channel, but this is expressly prohibited on page 38 of the multilingual manual. Only one component of the action assembly is to be oiled. That was the point at which the rearward end of the trigger bar touches the connector at the right rear corner of the frame. We should note that Glock pistols are commonly referred to as being striker fired. Indeed, both our Ruger and Springfield Armory pistols use this terminology in their owners manuals. But the parts list inside the Glock manual lists a firing pin, and we could find no reference in the manual or on the manufacturers website to a striker.
Holding the Glock 19 in your strong hand immediately makes you aware of a rakish angle to the grip and the sense of palm swell jutting into your hand. From here the pad of the index finger compresses the firing pin safety located on the face of the trigger. The square profile of the slide was topped with a rear sight blade that was tapered on each side, bringing the eye to the rear notch that was surrounded by a bold white U shaped outline. The front sight shows a single white dot.
The trigger was simple and repeatable, with a consistent 5.5 pounds of resistance for each shot. In our action test we concentrated on moving the trigger quickly and evenly. But it was at the bench where we utilized a slow, controlled press. It is in this mode that any grit or creep will come to light, but we found no such imperfection.
Our best accuracy was achieved when firing the Remington UMC 115-grain JHP rounds and the Federal American Eagle 124-grain FMJ ammunition. Each round produced an Average Group Radius (AGR) between 0.75 inches and 0.79 inches. The Black Hills 115-grain FMJ rounds were not far behind with an AGR of 0.85 inches. The remanufactured Black Hills 124-grain rounds were not as accurate but still more than acceptable at 1.27 inches. We think the most important conclusion we could draw from this data is that the Glock 19 was versatile and did not necessarily favor one weight bullet over another.
In our action tests, our first run lasted 2.09 seconds. The fastest of our ten runs clocked 1.84 seconds, and the first six consecutive runs printed shots perfectly inside the lower and upper A-zones. We ended with four shots outside the lower A-zone and two shots outside the upper A-zone. Average elapsed time was 1.99 seconds. We found that the quality of our follow up shots was closely linked to how smoothly we let the trigger reset. In terms of speed, almost anyone can move his trigger finger faster than he can pick up the sights. We probably would have been able to shoot faster and more accurately if the G19 was fit with higher definition sights. But may we suggest that taller sights would probably be less impact resistant and more prone to dragging out of a holster. When we talk about scoring zones, were referring to a theoretical game. In harsh reality, every one of our hits were effectively placed to provide a stopping blow.
Our Team Said: We think the G19, with its trim, fast handling, may be the most versatile Glock of all. The 19 dared us to shoot faster, but adding higher-visibility sights would be the ticket to better accuracy at speed. In this matchup, where each gun is worth buying, wed pick the Glock first if ease of maintenance is high on your list of wants.
To read about more top-rated 9mm handguns, purchase "The A Team: Concealable 9mm Handguns & Gear" from Gun Tests.
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Makarov 9×18
Gun Tests Magazine recently tested a Makarov in a larger caliber, 9x18 (about $150). It was blued, and had plastic stocks and fixed sights. It had a safety that dropped its hammer. It was well preserved, and about thirty years old.
