Rock Island Armory Baby Rock 1911
Rock Island isn’t the first company to build a 1911 downsized to fit the .380 ACP cartridge. I remember being a kid in the 1980s swooning over Colt’s glossy catalog and its then brand-new Mustang. However, a design that was considered little better than a toy 30 years ago is now accepted as a serious self-defense option due to improvements in ammunition.
It was in 2014 when I first saw the prototype of the Rock Island Armory .380 ACP 1911, and the Rock Island people were already calling it the Baby Rock. That nickname stuck. There are several models in what Rock Island Armory (whose parent company, Armscor, is a Filipino firm that produces a lot of 1911s, including some that have other brand names on their slides) now calls the BBR series. I secured a sample of the original full-size model to test.
The Baby Rock doesn’t look small until you put it side to side with a Government model .45 ACP 1911. But small it is, making it a great concealed-carry option.
Without anything to indicate scale, a glance at the full-size Baby Rock will make you think you’re looking at a five-inch Government model .45 ACP 1911. In fact, the Baby Rock is a seven-shot .380 ACP with a 3.75-inch barrel and is quite a bit smaller than the original 1911.
The proportions are a little off from a GI 1911, and this is done deliberately. The Baby Rock’s frame is just a tiny bit larger, so most people will still be able to get all their fingers on the grip. The rear corner of the frame has also been rounded slightly for comfort in the palm. The grip has a slightly more vertical angle
