Author Topic: Zenith/Tisas M45 Mid Sized 1911 from CDNN – Long Term Review  (Read 6704 times)

Offline flejl

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Zenith/Tisas M45 Mid Sized 1911 from CDNN – Long Term Review
« on: February 02, 2019, 05:56:13 PM »

Over the past two years I have had very good luck purchasing “a few” pistols made in Turkey and imported to the US, so back in October 2017 when CDNN first started to sell the Zenith imported pistols I decided to take a chance and but one.
My experience with the pistol and Zenith would cause me to say if you are looking for a reliable 1911 “out of the box” look some place else. My experience is the Tisas 1911 import by Zenith is accurate, but not reliable, so it should be viewed as a project or parts kit pistol.
My experience with Zenith warranty support is they can only be contacted by Email, they will try to help a couple of times, then if they cannot fix the pistol, the will tell you to go to CDNN or ignore you if the cannot resolve your problem.
On a positive note, Zenith did pay to have my pistol picked up and shipped to their Virginia site two times but both times they did not solve the problems.
On the down side, when I contacted Zenith after receiving it back the second time, it was suggested I should contact CDNN for a replacement. I contacted CDNN, who after considering how to handle the matter politely stated it a Zenith problem and they could not help. Any attempts to contact Zenith warranty support since then have been ignored.
Now the even more interesting part. Since I was more or less told by Zenith and CDNN to go away, I looked at the “adjusted and tuned extractor, polished feed ramp and throated barrel” work they did not once but twice, and found an extractor that had the “hook” rounded off so it could not garb the case rim, sharp edges on the barrel throat, and a badly botched feed ramp polish (no 1/32 gap between frame and barrel ramp).
So far, I have replaced the extractor with a Wilson Combat Bullet Proof extractor and that one change solved all but an intermittent problem feeding the last round using the Zenith branded magazines.
I have also fixed the sharp edges on the barrel throat that had been putting gouges in the nose of the 230FMJ rounds I use to test the pistol. I planned to test the pistol again this weekend, but weather and family commitments will delay this until most likely next weekend.
In closing, I have to say I still do like the Zenith/Tisas M45 and when looking at the cost to buy the parts to build a 1911, it is still a good deal, but as stated in the first line. But if you want a 1911 that works out of the box, I would look elsewhere and if you are considering one of the Zeniths at CDNN would be to reconsider the idea.
I have read allot of good reviews on other 1911s in the sub $500 price range and would go in that direction.