1. Guns.com
  2. News
  3. Reviews
  4. Review: Rost Martin RM1C 9mm Compact Pistol After 18 Months & 1,500 Rounds

We've been kicking around Texas-based Rost-Martin's first pistol since SHOT Show '24 and have the full review on the RM1C.
 

Table of Contents

Overview
The Specs
Features
Trigger
Reliability
Accuracy
Pros & Cons
Conclusion
 

Overview


Rost-Martin, a veteran-owned company in the Dallas area, popped on the scene in late 2023 on the eve of SHOT Show 2024. Its inaugural project, the RM1C pistol, is an optics-ready compact-sized (think Glock 19) 9mm polymer-framed striker-fired handgun that uses a double-stack magazine.

Working in collaboration with AREX, the pistol is remarkably similar to that company's Defense Delta Gen.2 M, which has almost identical specifications. Clearing the air on the Delta comparison, the American-made RM1C has a different grip texture, trigger, and magazine release than the AREX. 
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
Compact-sized, the RM1C has a 4-inch hammer-forged barrel with a target crown that gives it a 7.1-inch overall length. We reviewed a standard black model, but the pistol is also available in FDE, stone gray, and green. (All photos: Chris Eger/Guns.com)
Rost-Martin RM1C
Width is a very narrow 1.1 inches over the grip, while height, with the standard flush-fit magazine, is 5 inches. Note the ambi slide release, which is the widest point on the RM1C at 1.22 inches.
Of note, the slide is Tenifer-treated. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
The RM1C stacks up nicely against the Glock 19, S&W M&P9 Compact M2.0, SIG P365 XMacro Comp, and Springfield Armory Hellcat Pro. 


For full disclosure, Rost-Martin sent Guns.com this handgun for review purposes. All testing was done on this one pistol, which has been under evaluation since January 2024.
 

The Specs
 

  • Overall length: 7.1 inches
  • Barrel length: 4 inches 
  • Sight radius: 5.9 inches
  • Overall width: 1.22 inches at the widest point over controls, slide is 1.02 inches.
  • Overall height: 5 inches to top of slide with flush mag, 5.5 with extended mag (no optic)
  • Magazine capacity: Ships with one 15+1 (flush) and one 17+1 (extended) double-stack steel-bodied mag
  • Trigger pull: 5.3 pounds (10-pull average) double-action striker with a safety tab
  • Optic footprint: Steel two-screw RMR optics plate shipped with the gun, Docter, Leupold DPP, and Shield patterns offered
  • Weight, with empty OEM flush fit magazine: 21.1 ounces
  • Weight, loaded/equipped: 37.4 ounces "heavy" with 17+1 rounds of Federal 9mm 147-grain HST JHP, Trijicon RCR enclosed red dot, Surefire X300T high candela white light.
     

Features
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
The RM1C ships in a foam-lined cardboard box with two magazines, a 15-shot flush fit, and a 17-round extended mag. Extra factory mags from Rost Martin are about $25. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
They are steel mags made by Mec-Gar and branded with the RM logo, but the company advises that the RM1C accepts CZ P10 mags. For reference, the weight is 21.1 ounces, unloaded, with the 15-round magazine inserted.
Rost-Martin RM1C
Speaking of CZ P10 mags, check out the RM mag to the left and one from a factory CZ P10C to the right. Note that while it fits (and works) in the RM1C, the floorplate is different and doesn't fit flush. Incidentally, the RM mags will not lock into a P10C. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
The RM1C features the company's understated Responsive Grip Texturing, or RGT, which is a proprietary graduated laser stippling and is included on the front, back, and sides of the grip as well as two memory points above the trigger guard. For folks who complain when confronted with seriously aggressive texture, the RGT should hit just right.
Rost-Martin RM1C
The RM1C ships with two easily interchangeable rear inserts to allow the user to semi-customize the grip.
Rost-Martin RM1C
Surface controls on the left side of the pistol include a slide catch and push-button magazine release, and we found both to work well.
Rost-Martin RM1C
The controls are mirrored on the right side of the RM1C, making the gun ambidextrous. That's nice, as most pistols on the market will only offer a reversible mag release (that is a PITA to swap around) rather than go the full ambi route. This is good news for southpaws – at least one in 10 gun owners – as well as anyone who trains to use their carry/defense pistol with their "off" hand, should they need to, which should be the other nine out of 10.
Rost-Martin RM1C
The RM1C also accepts most popular pistol lights due to its full three-slot Picatinny accessory rail. Note the forward slide serrations as well.
Rost-Martin RM1C
We found the biggest light in our pile, the Surefire X300T, to fit. Something more like a Streamlight TLR-7 would have a better profile. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
In addition to a loaded chamber indicator on the top of the slide, there is a cocked striker indicator in the end plate to the rear of the slide.
Rost-Martin RM1C
Looking under the hood, the RM1C is simple and field strips without tools in the same way that any Glock owner would find familiar – with the significant difference that you don't have to pull the trigger to release the striker to take the slide from the frame. Note that the guide rod is steel.
Rost-Martin RM1C
The sights are steel – not plastic – and are dovetailed into the slide. They include a front white dot and a serrated, blacked-out rear. If you don't like them, they use a common pattern, that of the Springfield XD. Note the non-glare top slide serrations, like what you see on old S&W "Wonder Nines." Also note the loaded chamber indicator on the barrel hood. The sad thing about that LCI is that it smokes the lens of an optic over time. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
Optics ready, the RM1C ships with an RMR plate, while others are available for about $25, which is better than some makers (looking at you, Springfield) that charge up to $129 for extra plates. Not a bad choice as that single plate opens it up not only to the Trijicon RMR/SRO/RCR but also Holosun's 407C, 507C, 508T, 509T, and EPS; as well as the Swampfox Kingslayer and Justice series.
Rost-Martin RM1C
We added a Trijicon RCR mailbox-style closed emitter 3.5-MOA red dot with a big 22x16mm sight window. With its distinctive capstan mounting bolts, it fits the same footprint as the RMR. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
Built from 7075-T6 aluminum and hard-coat anodized, the RCR is designed to survive in any condition, with an advertised six years of battery life on a single CR2032.
Rost-Martin RM1C
The Trijicon RCR bumps the height up another inch, while keeping the same deck height as the open-emitter RMR. 


Numerous holster makers have fits for the Rost Martin RM1C, and we're 99 percent sure AREX Delta 2M holsters will work as well. Its "Goldilocks" specs also mean there are likely lots of holsters already floating around that can clock in.
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
We found a near-perfect fit in a beautiful Galco Avenger made for the G19/CZ P10C, as shown, even with the RCR mounted. You aren't going to have a tough time finding holsters for this one. 


When it comes to drop-in upgrades, Rost Martin sells $40 suppressor-height sights, $120 threaded barrels, and a $90 performance trigger for the pistol. The company also has a sub-compact version (the RM1S) and a comped version (RM1C-COMP) of the gun.
 

Trigger


The trigger in our initial testing is smooth for a factory striker-fired pistol. While billed at 5 pounds, when evaluated right out of the box, we found it to break closer to 6 across an average of 10 pulls. This later dropped to 5.3 after about 1,000 rounds. Meanwhile, the trigger pull, which only travels 0.375 inches to break on a stiff wall with a short reset, feels clean.

It includes a safety tab in the trigger shoe, but note that the tab does not run to the end of the bow, and those who barely put a fingertip on the bottom of the shoe are going to experience a "locked" trigger. 
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
Shown at its break. It is better than a factory Glock trigger for sure. 


Observe the break and reset in the video below: 

 

 

Reliability


We tested the RM1C to (and beyond) the 1,500 rounds mark over the course of at least a dozen range trips in the past 18 months. The gun was cleaned roughly after every 500 rounds. 
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
The bulk of the ammo used was two 500-round bulk packs of Remington Range. Using 115-grain FMJ bullets and brass cases, it has a velocity of 1,145 fps. Most of the shooting was done with the RCR mounted, which retained its zero without shift, albeit with lots of Loctite. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
The rest of the ammo included a variety of loads supplied by Federal, including 124-grain Syntech Training Match (purple box), 115-grain Syntech Range (red box), 115-grain Blazer Brass FMJ, 147-grain Syntech Training Match, and 147-grain Gold Medal FMJ. 
Rost-Martin RM1C
We also added some 124-grain Winchester NATO FMJ, 147-grain HST JHPs, 147-grain Syntech Training Match, and 115-grain Wolf steel case for balance. 


In all, we noted just two malfunctions that could not be attributed to user errors. Notably, both were failures to feed with 147-grain ammo nose-diving near the end of a string. 

In testing across different demographics, my wife ran about half of the loads and never experienced a jam. The recoil impulse is on par with a Glock 19 or P10C. The only issue she reported was a problem with racking the slide on a full mag, due to hand strength issues. She had to reload from a locked-back slide or not at all. 
 

 

Accuracy


The decent sight radius, good sights, and trigger make the RM1C a shooter. Add a red dot (we ran the Trijicon for about 1,000 out of 1,500 rounds), and hits at distance were a snap. However, as the RCR had a 3.5 MOA red dot, we typically had fist-sized groups or larger. Switching to irons only, we, um, still had fist-sized groups at 15 yards.

That is practical accuracy. 
 

Rost-Martin RM1C
Iron sights at 15 yards, using Federal 147-grain HST from an unsupported position.


Pros & Cons


Pros

  • Affordable at around $450
  • Reliable
  • Lots of support
  • Steel sights
  • Ambi controls
  • Good ergos
  • "Goldilocks" zone specs

Cons

  • Trigger safety tab can present a training issue
  • Hard to rack (wife couldn't do it) 
     

Conclusion


Rost Martin has done an excellent job with the RM1C. 

We weren't sure what to expect when it was first announced. Was it going to be a made-in-Turkey import with someone else's name on it? A "game-changing" G19 Gen 3 clone but without its muse's reliability? A vaporware gun that ever left the drawing board? No, it's a solid American-made (from the land of Whataburger and Buc-ee's, no less) double-stack 9 with lots of backend support and a lineage drawn from a proven design. Affordable, we found it dependable, accurate, and intuitive in use. Plus, it is optics-ready. 

About the only rocks we could toss its way were in the safety tab in the trigger shoe, which we have talked about and is easily overcome with a bit of training, and the very stout recoil spring, which is common in a lot of striker-fired pistols of its size.

In its price range, the Rost-Martin RM1C comes in less than the red-dot ready S&W M&P M2.0 Compact OR, or even the CZ P-10C OR. Plus, when offered in packages such as what we currently have, you can get one with basically a free Viridian RFX-11 red dot, five mags, and a range case. 
 

Rost-Martin RM1C package
Yup, tough to beat for $449. 

 

Read More On:
revolver barrel loading graphic

Loading