Rock Island's BBR 3.10

Call it 3" at 15 yards for a full load of 11 rounds. Roy feels it could do
better with some time — and practice — as the BBR was plenty accurate.

Armscor, the parent company of Rock Island Armory, manufactures more 1911s than any other company in the world. Since the 1980s, 1911s arriving from Armscor have dominated the affordable 1911 market here in the states (and the world). Over the past 20 years or so, they’ve also made serious in-roads in every other category of 1911 style and design there is. In short, they’re not only the backbone of the 1911 marketplace, but through diligence in product improvement, research (and an ISO 9001 certified facility since 1997) are at the forefront with new ideas, designs and technology.

The fact they’ve remained loyal to their commitment to keep price-points affordable has helped to make Armscor USA (the ammo brand) and Rock Island Armory (the gun-side of the house in the U.S.) favorites of American shooters of all sorts. I’ve known Martin Tuason, the president of Armscor, for years now. His passion for the industry — and for the U.S. — is obvious and contagious. Trust me when I say he’s not one to rest on any laurels and is at the very point of the spear, driving the company to keep raising the bar. Since his grandfather acquired a modest firm in the Philippines around 1940, the Tuason family has focused on the international market, growing to meet the challenges — while never losing track of the fact their employees — and customers — are family to them.

So, the reasons for their successes are obvious if you simply look at what drives them and what they hold important. I tell this bit of historical tale to offer you some insight for the next time you handle a Rock Island Armory in a store. Think beyond a price point, to the roots, commitment and drive of the people behind it, all of which brings us smartly to the Rock Island Armory BBR 3.10 in .45 ACP. It’s distinctive — even intimidating — and brings this family history of innovation and engineering into today’s world. It’s also a handful — and you can trust me on this!

A firing grip means the little finger sort of curls under the base plate.
The BBR is a two-hander for sure!

A couple of full-sized 5" .22 TCMs from Rock Island show off the tiny
BBR’s footprint — yet it holds 10+1 .45 ACP rounds.

But Why?

I asked myself this very question when I first saw the BBR. If you’re not too new to shooting, you might remember the Para Ordnance Wart Hog line of 1911s. There was one model mirroring the BBR closely — although the BBR is not a copy. The Wart Hog also cost $1,000 in 2004 dollars, while the BBR’s MSRP is $699, offering the same 10-round magazine and 3.1″ barrel. The BBR is also ported, with a fully adjustable rear sight, among other upgrades. It’s a good idea, taken to the next level.

Part of the “Baby Rock” series from Rock Island, this one is a far cry from the .380 “mini” 1911 introduced previously. At about 33 oz. with an empty magazine, the BBR’s all-steel construction (frame and slide) help to balance light weight with the heft needed to help control the beast. And yes … it’s a beast, not for the faint of heart or a novice to handgunning. This is not the first gun you should buy to carry and shoot if you’re new to things.

The front strap is about 1.8″ long, allowing right at two fingers on the grip with your pinky sort of curling underneath the magazine floor plate. Firing a 230-grain .45 ACP ball load or a higher performance defensive load tends to cause the little BBR to rock and do the jig in your hand, all the while trying to escape. A “firm firing grip” is an understatement and needs to be harkened to, and you can take this advice to the bank.

At about 5.5″ tall and 6.3″ overall, the BBR is tidy, but when you grab it in-hand, you’ll find the grip — 1.48″ wide — a bit of a challenge. Not quite a Desert Eagle challenge, but nonetheless a significant bit of real estate to cover. I have what I’d call medium-sized hands and while at first, I hesitated, thinking I’d not be able to manage a good grip, I was actually wrong. One adapts in such situations and combined with the off-side hand to help things along, I soon found myself enjoying shooting this fire-breathing dragon.

But still, why on earth do we need the BBR? It’s easy actually — it’s one of the smallest, lightest, highest capacity 1911-style autos in .45 ACP you can find anywhere. If you trust your life to this fat cartridge, the BBR brings 11 rounds of .45 caliber thump literally into the palm of your hand. Learn to control things and it can easily be a good friend to you when times get rough.

With a 3.1" barrel and full .45 ACP caliber, the Rock Island Armory
BBR 3.10 is among the smallest of 1911 designs.

Controls are vintage 1911, but the wide grip hides a double-stack of 10 .45 ACP rounds.

Adjustable sights are a surprise, and a welcome one. You can dial
this accurate shorty right in with your favorite load.

Details, Sir

If you go down a list of custom touches found on most high-end 1911s, you’ll find them residing here too. The compact G10 aggressive textured grips lead the way toward control, and an abbreviated beavertail grip safety with a modest bump on it helps to activate things when needed. The rear sight is adjustable and compact, the front sight is a bold blade and the thumb safety, magazine release and slide lock are where they belong. Checkering on the front strap and on the hammer spring housing is aggressive enough to hold onto but won’t tear skin.

The design is bushing-less, simplifying things and making the short design possible, while the aluminum trigger is adjustable for over-travel using the built-in screw. The finish is a business-like Parkerizing on the steel bits, and I’m guessing anodizing on any aluminum bits. There’s a modest amount of “melting” going on to take the edges off, literally, and I like the fact the cocking serrations are only on the rear of the slide. I’ve found forward serrations (to enable easier press-checking) usually just grind-up a good leather holster. I don’t miss them at all.

The recoil spring is captured on a guide rod, and the ported barrel lines up neatly with ports in the slide. More about all that later.

Rock Island says the trigger pull should be “five to seven lbs.” and mine tested right at 5 lbs., 10 oz. and was actually quite good. I’d not want one much lighter than this on a recoil-hungry thumper like the BBR. Mine came with one magazine, although more are available from Rock Island.

Interestingly, 11 .45 rounds take up the entire slide length of the BBR.
A veritable “lead storm” if launched all together!

Steeling My Nerves

I’ve fired lightweight .44 Magnums, .500 and .460 Magnums and even .475 Linebaughs in lightweight revolvers so I was ready for a fire-breathing monster here. Alas … I was disappointed. I think the ports help, no doubt, but also contribute to the fire-breathing and loud part of the equation. I found if you simply hold onto the BBR as if your life depended upon it — which it might — it’s quite controllable. Having said this, I also wouldn’t hand this to a new shooter and, with a charming smile, say, “Oh, you’ll enjoy shooting this one!”

They won’t.

If this was a 9mm things might be different. But then it wouldn’t be a .45, would it? I think if you’re experienced, not necessarily recoil sensitive and simply keep your head on straight and don’t out-think yourself, you’ll do fine. I put about 150 rounds through this test gun in one sitting and it would have been easy to shoot more. I also honestly expected it to act-up, at least at first, but it ran absolutely 100% with the Armscor 230 ball I used. I did clean and lube it well prior to shooting it and a bit of maintenance like this pays dividends just about always. A good stiff wrist helps too.

More out of curiosity than anything, I shot it at 25 yards, but honestly feel 15 makes more sense. I likely wouldn’t try for groups with my 2.5″ .45 ACP 1917 revolver at 25, and this is essentially that. The target shows 11 into 3″ shots at 15 yards and I wasn’t trying too hard. I’m betting things could tighten up if I took my time. A good 25-yard center torso hit would be a piece of cake, though.

Interestingly enough, the actual rifled portion of the barrel on the BBR is about 2.2″ so I vote on giving it at least a chance. Although, because I have little control over good judgment at times, I fired a magazine at my 80-yard torso gong and scored 7 out of 11 hits. The BBR shoots — but it does take some experience to manage things.

Chronographing the ball ammo from the BBR and a 5″ 1911 showed the ball ammo only lost about 25 fps in the short gun, which is what I expected. However, higher performance lightweight bullet ammo tends to lose 100+ fps, which also doesn’t surprise. You should do some experimenting to make your own carry ammo decision.

Roy found holsters fitting an Officer’s ACP-sized gun to work fine.
This old Yaqui Slide was particularly handy.

Now What?

All in all, it goes thump, you notice it, then you get used to it — and you start to enjoy it. If you think you need a pocketful of .45 ACP for a close-in encounter, you’d be genuinely hard-pressed to find anything better than the BBR. You really could sort of throw out a wall of 230-grain bullets in about the time it takes to think of it. That’s bound to get something’s attention?

For more info: Armscor.com, Ph: (775) 537-1444, [email protected]

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