It’s a rare occasion that I take notice of a polymer-framed, striker-fired pistol. Now don’t get me wrong, they are good guns, it just so happens that they aren’t normally my thing. I was born a revolver guy.
In October I was fortunate to attend the Outdoor News America 2024 Writers Conference held at the Texas Gun Experience in Grapevine. If you ever find yourself in the area, this is definitely a place to visit. They have an impressive inventory of firearms, from multiple makes and models of top-shelf handguns and rifles to more common varieties you’d expect to find in every gun store. Their indoor ranges are really nice, as well.
Chris Toomer, CEO of Rost Martin, was one of the manufacturers who brought guns to shoot and gave us a quick rundown of his company that is based nearby in Dallas. I wrote a Q&A with Chris, so I won’t address the history of Rost Martin in this article. I do think you will find it an interesting read. Let’s look at their first gun offered by the company.
The Rost Martin RM1C
The 9mm RM1C is meant to fill the overwhelmingly popular demand for striker-fired compact pistols, and the physical attributes of this handgun show that much thought and consideration went into planning its features and design.
For my hand, the medium-sized rear grip adapter fits perfectly. The gun comes with large and small backstraps as well that are easily swapped out. The subtle texture of the grip allows for a positive purchase on the gun but isn’t annoyingly aggressive.
While it’s a double-stack magazine, the grip frame of the pistol can easily, and correctly, be held in my medium-sized hand. I’ve shot pistols with double-stack mags in the past that had to be held slightly canted to get enough finger on the trigger to shoot the darn thing. The two magazines that came with this gun hold 14 rounds, one fits flush with the mag well while the other has a mag extension that I really like. The RM1C is slim and should be a perfect fit for most shooters’ hands.
The pistol is optics ready with metal RMR plate and has Picatinny rail in case you want to add a light to the gun. The trigger breaks crisp at about five pounds, and with a short reset it can be run very fast, allowing for rapid follow-up shots on targets. The rear sight is a bold, black serrated “U” notch and the front sight has a white dot that is quick to pick up with the eye.
I was able to run a few rounds through some RM1C’s on the range in Grapevine, but I wanted to spend more time with one to really get more familiar with the gun. As soon as the pistol came in, I loaded up a couple of mags with some 147-grain ammo I had on hand and headed to the range.
Running the RM1C
Running several rounds through the gun offhand confirmed my initial impression. This gun felt good in the hand and shot well. Then, it experienced a few hiccups by not completely returning to battery. I spoke with Rost Martin’s gunsmith who seemed surprised at this and asked for me to return the gun so that he could inspect and diagnose the problem, which I did. It turns out a slight burr was discovered in the chamber. It was polished out and returned to me in record time.
Since getting the pistol back I have probably fired at least 200-300 rounds through it. It has been running the 115 and 124 grain loads fine, the 147s not so much. It is obvious that this particular gun does not like my stock of old Winchester Ranger 147 gr JHP ammo. It will not reliably feed the Rangers.
I have also experienced two separate feeding issues while firing Remington’s 147 gr Golden Saber ammunition, almost as if the slide locked back, as it should, once the gun runs empty. In this case however, the pistol still had rounds in the mag. I thought perhaps my grip had engaged the slide lock, but I could not replicate it while firing additional magazines.
Like I mentioned, I’m a revolver guy and the 9mm pistol I have the most experience with was issued by the Border Patrol three or four years before I retired. We were likewise issued 147 grain ammo, which that particular make of handgun would run. I have been told by more than one experienced shooter, folks with far more semi-auto handgun knowledge than me, that not all 9mms will reliably feed the heavier bullets. That seems to be the case here, at least with this particular RM1C.
What does all this mean? None of it is derogatory towards the Rost Martin RM1C. As far as the chamber burr is concerned, I have seen issues with many different guns from a variety of manufacturers over the years. It’s important to remember that firearms are mechanical, and none — or very few at least — are exempt from imperfections.
Two points should be made. One, Rost Martin is a standup company that will fix a problem if it arises. Since getting this pistol I have talked with others who own and shoot them, and they were surprised to hear that I experienced any issues at all.
One shooter relayed how he had shot his RM1C enough to get it very dirty. Add the fact that we live in west Texas, where dust was invented, and one can fully understand how filthy a firearm can become out here. The trigger on his pistol began to feel “gritty” and he contacted the company. Turns out that his gun only required thorough cleaning because it was gritty. After cleaning the gun, he found the feel of the trigger had returned to normal. He still praised Rost Martin for providing top-notch customer service by discussing the issue with him over the phone.
Point Two, before putting a gun to work, especially a personal defense gun, run several hundred rounds of your intended carry ammo through it to ensure it is reliable. This goes for autoloaders and revolvers. What one gun will run, another won’t. For serious work I will be sticking with the lighter 115 grain carry ammo in the RM1C, as it is feeding reliably.
At the time of this writing, Safariland has not yet released a holster for the RM1C. During some of my range time I carried the pistol in a DeSantis Thumb Break Mini Slide, a lightweight leather holster that carries the gun high and out of the way. A variety of ammo was used to test for real-world accuracy with the RM1C.
Accuracy
A list of brands used in the final stages of the review are as follows: Colt National Match (Double Tap Ammunition) 124 gr FMJ-RN, Federal 115 FMJRN, Hornady Critical Defense 115 gr FTX, Remington Range 115 gr FMJ, and Remington Golden Saber Bonded 147 BJHP.
For a demonstration of accuracy and reliability I elected to fire a magazine filled with each brand while shooting semi-fast, offhand at 10 yards. As you can see from the photo, the pistol and ammunition are plenty accurate.
Additional groups fired at 25 yards while sitting and resting my hands on a sandbag consistently produced six-to-seven-inch groups. The steel torso target at 50 yards was routinely hit while using a standing, two-handed, unsupported hold. This pistol shows good accuracy potential with a variety of ammunition.
Rost Martin’s pistol is well worth considering as a personal defense gun or an addition to your collection. It’s accurate, easy to carry, and it feels good in the hand. All of this for a gun with an MSRP of $450.00. The RM1C is the first pistol offered by the family-owned Rost Martin company, stay tuned for more to come.
