Greg,
I am just happy to have some interest on this board in the Rowland. Single actions are a struggle for me, the 1911 is in my comfort zone. The Rowland is on the lower edge of really big game hunting, and I have been struggling all these years to convince myself that my 454 is not always needed. Like I said, if it were only Whitetails or hogs, things would be so much easier.
Rio, welcome to the darkside. I think the R1 is a good choice, as long as the sight cuts are not goofy in dimensions. For the Rowland you really need a dovetail front, just to keep the sight on the gun. I could not tell from photos but I assume it is pinned. With the roundtop slide and dovetail rear you are probably going to have fewer aftermarket choices that are just "drop in", but once you nail down the angles of the cut, you will know what you have for choices. Just make sure whatever you choose is good quality. If you buy something like a MMC or Champion or other lesser types that have moving parts, the Rowland can eat those up. been there done that ;^)
And the R1 front sight does look pretty tall, so you may find with 230 and less weights you may have enough to work with. One of the bene's of this platform is that the auto has a different enough recoil impulse and design from Single Actions that going up in power and bullet weight does not requite as radical of difference in poi/poa (compared to revolvers). As an example I could live with one setting between 185's and 250's, as we are only talking about an inch or two at 25 (with my setups).
Jim Clark and Johnny Rowland were both in Louisiana at one point, and were pretty tight. Not sure what their relationship is today, but they may have a monetary connection so I would not lose a bit of sleep going through Clark. And as I mentioned they will check fit of your slide, so being that you may be new to 1911's, it may not be a bad thing for you to have done. The upper lug engagement is very critical to the longevity of the platform, and should at least be checked.
If this needs to go to PM's or the phone, let me know. Anything I can do to help.
Craig
