Aloha all!
I purchased this combo at the last GTG from a forum member. Several people seemed envious at the time, so I thought I'd work on a review. This first portion just deals with fit, finish, and whatnot. No firing.
The combo came packed in a fitted case. The case itself is that thin, semi-rigid plastic that cheap cases are made of. I'm not completely happy about that. The interior is foam-lined, with cutouts for nearly all of the pieces. The way the foam is cut, they expect you to store the gun with the .45 slide attached and the .22 slide loose. You can do it the other way, but the .45 slide doesn't fit properly in the foam cutout.
Notice I said "nearly" all of the pieces. There is an extra mainspring housing assembly (MHA) with no dedicated place to live. More on that later.
There were two included manuals in the kit: one is a standard 1911 manual; the other, a dedicated XT-22 manual. Neither addresses how to interchange components. A quick YouTube search shows you how, and RIA has its own videos on the subject.
Fit and finish are good. Not Kimber good, but better than usual RIA good. The action out of the box was quite rough, but since the gun had apparently never been cleaned or lubed, I wasn't too worried. Skeleton trigger, commander hammer, extended beavertail grip safety are standard, as are enhanced profile sights on both slides. The sights are adjustable for windage only. We'll see if that's an issue. Parkerized finish seems nice. Both slides are steel, so even as a .22, this thing feels like a 1911
The .45 slide utilizes a full-length guide rod, which I hate. Full-length guide rods mean hollow recoil spring plungers, which means you can't disassemble this thing with your thumb. You need something hard and flat to press the plunger. I'm seriously thinking about replacing that with a standard guide rod and plunger, but I'll wait a while to make that decision. Also, the bushing was really quite difficult to rotate and to remove, even after I removed the recoil spring. I'm hoping that loosens up with a little use.
The .22 slide uses a captive recoil spring, and the assembly/disassembly requires some deft manual dexterity. It's much easier to do seated at a table.
I emailed RIA to ask about the spare MHA. Turns out the two springs have different weights. One is 17 lbs, intended for use with the .22 slide; the other is 20 lbs, intended for use with the .45 slide. Both housings are polymer, not steel, which is the only "wrong" thing about this pistol. Exchanging the MHAs requires tapping put a pin then driving it back in, something I am not keen to do often, and doubly not keen to do at the range.
I emailed RIA to ask about the advisability of leaving one spring on for both calibers. They advise that I do not risk damage to the gun, but using the improper MHA increases my chance of malfunctions. Looks like some brutality testing is in order!
Also, the MHAs are virtually identical, and are not marked. Can I get an honest WTF?
Overall, I like this gun. It's solid, the action (after cleaning and lubing) is firm and positive on both slides. The trigger break is clean, the wood grips are nice. I can't wait to put some rounds thru it!