Who’s Rost Martin?

Rost Martin is the brainchild of Chris and Stefany Toomer, both of whom have long histories with firearms. Chris’ background includes time with the Marines, while Stefany’s is due to familial ties with Springfield Armory (no, the two companies aren’t linked in any way). Thanks to Chris’ deployment, he’s intimately familiar with what it takes for a pistol to function as a life-saving tool, and that combined with Stefany’s life-long immersion in gun culture has resulted in a fantastic firearms business venture. The manufacturer is based in Dallas, Texas. Chris explains the name as a combination of his great grandmother’s maiden name — Martin — and Stefany’s grandfather’s middle name, Rost. It’s a nice tip of the hat to the generational importance of the Second Amendment and the spirit of their own families.

What’s the Rost Martin RM1C?

The RM1C is the company’s flagship model designed specifically for the concealed carry market. To hear Chris and Stefany tell it, the impetus behind this pistol was to create a feature-rich gun that catered to self-defense at a reasonable price point. That’s quite a task to take on, but they seem to have done it. The Rost Martin RM1C is a 9mm striker-fired handgun with a compact size to make it concealable while still readily functional, even for shooters with larger hands.

RM1C Specs

This is a pistol that’s ideally sized to fit the hands of most customers walking in your door. It’s not so small that it’s hard to run for large-handed shooters and not so large it’s impossible for those with smaller hands. It has a barrel length of 4.0 inches, an overall length of 7.1 inches, and a width of 1.1 inches. Total height depends on which magazine is inserted, with the flush fit mag giving the gun a height of 5.0 inches and the extended mag changing it to 5.5 inches (meaning a little more pinkie space on the grip). The gun’s empty weight with the flush-fit magazine is 21.1 ounces.

For defense-minded customers, the features of the Rost Martin RM1C are ideal thanks to their functionality. The grip of the gun is textured to help the shooter’s hands maintain a sure hold during use, but it isn’t so aggressive that it’s cutting — that’s a great selling point for a lot of people. A high grip is facilitated with an undercut trigger guard and extended beavertail. Deep, angled serrations at the front and back of the slide make manipulations smoother as well. The edges of the gun — slide, trigger guard, and so on — are blunted to minimize risk of snagging. Both magazines — flush fit and extended — have base plates that extended beyond the flared mag well, meaning they can be grasped for removal if need be. The gun doesn’t have an external thumb safety, but it does have numerous internal safety mechanisms. One safety feature is the safety blade trigger, which has a flat face rather than a curved blade, allowing for improved finger contact.

Perhaps the greatest feature to point out to interested customers is the fact that the RM1C is optics-ready. A pair of screws with a Torx head hold an optics plate in place, and the necessary screwdriver is included, along with extra screws and an RMR plate. Red-dot sights have become standard in today’s gun world, and that means having an optics-ready gun is a must. This also opens the door for you to discuss adding a dot sight to your customer’s purchase. If they prefer iron sights, the RM1C does ship with a white dot front sight and blacked out rear sight installed.

Additional useful details include an accessory rail for a weapon-mounted light, smooth thumb rest grooves at the top of the frame, and ridged controls. In addition, the Tenifer-coated slide has lengthwise serrations to reduce glare. Overall, it’s clear a great deal of attention to detail went into the RM1C. It’s also aesthetically pleasing and highly functional — all for a price point under $500. This is the gun for your budget-conscious shoppers who still demand a solid handgun for self-defense use.

How It Shoots

To fully evaluate the ways in which you can recommend the RM1C to self-defense minded customers, I ran it not only on the range but in a tactical class. The Tactical Anatomy Summit in Fort Worth, Texas, was led by a fantastic cadre of instructors and gave me the opportunity to run the gun for more than just punching holes in paper. Live-fire instructional blocks were taught by different instructors, including Steve Moses and Dr. Andy Anderson, and each drill required specific shot placement. Taking the RM1C beyond simply “shooting the X” was the perfect way to find out what it can do.

Customers looking for a carry gun require a pistol that’s accurate, reliable and concealable. Thanks to the Tactical Anatomy drills — some of which involved firing at black T-shirt wearing mannequins and other blacked-out targets — I was able to find out just how good the RM1C would perform in a self-defense incident. The Rost Martin RM1C proved itself to be accurate, even using only the factory sights with their white front dot. At a variety of distances, the pistol consistently delivered nice groups on the intended location. You can feel comfortable telling customers this pistol is accurate and will perform well for defensive purposes.

As for reliability, the RM1C has cycled everything it’s been fed. This includes hundreds of rounds of Winchester 9mm 115-grain FMJs and Winchester USA Ready Defense 9mm +P 124-grain Hex-Vent JHPs. The gun also consistently cycles Hornady Critical Defense 9mm 115-grain FTX, Federal Personal Defense Punch 9mm 124-grain JHP, and Remington Golden Saber Bonded 9mm 147-grain JHP. That gives customers an assortment of well-made target and defensive ammunition as well as the assurance the pistol handles various bullet weights and types. Before the first time firing the gun, I went ahead and lubed it lightly with SEAL 1 CLP and haven’t cleaned or lubed again. The gun hasn’t had a single failure in its first 500 rounds. That is a great fact to relay to customers, because reliable cycling is a must in a defensive gun.

Checking off the box for concealability means matching the RM1C to holsters for customers. Only a few companies — Crossbreed and DeSantis being two of them — are offering RM1C holsters. However, many of Galco’s holsters that are made for the Glock 19 fit the RM1C. In Tactical Anatomy, I ran the gun all weekend from the Galco Corvus Speed Cut — that’s an OWB model — and for concealment, I’m using the Galco Paragon 2.0 IWB holster (the Corvus can also be used IWB if the user turns the belt loops around). After trying numerous holsters, I found it isn’t every Glock 19 design that fits the RM1C, but Galco’s do. The RM1C is compact enough to be concealable while remaining large enough for a good firing grip.

The gun delivers its best groups within 10 yards but remains accurate at 15 yards. Running it in Tactical Anatomy made it clear this is a pistol that can be recommended for carry, and that means it’s one worth stocking in your store. All this comes at a sub-$500 price point, which is truly impressive — and it’s made in Texas, not overseas.

Is It Glock-Compatible?

No, the RM1C isn’t designed for compatibility with Glock parts. The magazines are compatible with the CZ P10, although the base plate differs. Iron sights are compatible with the XD/XDM, so if your customer wants to swap out the white dot, they can. 

Some shooters compare the RM1C to the Glock 19, and while some dimensions are similar, the gun’s overall size is more like the Glock 48. It isn’t the same gun, though — not even close. Details like the shape of the trigger guard, grip angle and beavertail design give the RM1C its own unique feel. The RM1C isn’t a Glock clone, and that’s an important detail to relay to customers.

If you want to keep up with new trends in firearms, the Rost Martin RM1C is the pistol to stock. It’s affordable, reliable and accurate. Whether you’re selling to first-time gun buyers or seasoned shooters, the RM1C is a good choice.