WWII pistols- victory and M1911

[Don the savage]

So i was in Arizona this weekend and gave the c&r a little work. Found a lend lease s&w victory .38. I dont think the gun has been refinished but it definitely was polished removing most of the crown BNP marks and it has been rebarreled since the barrel does not match in color and is not serial numbered like the rest of the gun. I wanted a shooter and the price was low so i said what the heck and pulled out the credit card. By the way .38 s&w out of a k frame feels like a .22. It shoots point of aim 4 inches high using PPU 145 gr lrn. I ordered some 200 gr lrn from western bullet to feed this beast. See if the heavier bullet will take care of that elevation issue.

[Don the savage]

Now for the big boy. I've been looking for a m1911a1 that was us property marked for a while that was a shooter. I previously posted when i drosed but never made a proper range report with new pictures. This 1911 was purchased in 1967 from the NRA program for $17! I payed a little more. The gun came with the original NRA paperwork which i though was nice. The frame is a colt with a remington rand slide. Grips are mismatched, one colt one remington and the mainspring housing is an ithaca i believe. High standard barrel. Typical post war RIA mixmaster. As for shooting it loves wilson 47d mags, not so much with shooting stars which lock the slide prematurely. I have had no issues with ftf or fte pistol related and it shoots like a dream, probably better than my springer loaded. Any other info on my purchase would be nice (beetle? I know it isnt high end but you seem to be the man when it comes to m1911s)

[ih8ca]

Awesome guns

[ColdDeadHands1]

What are those lines that look like cracks all over the frame?

[Don the savage]

Just scratches from being 60 years old. Im only forty and have a few of those myself.

[gun toting monkeyboy]

The 200 grain bullets should do the trick. I had the same problem with my Victory model. Just remember to seat them pretty far out of the case. If you try to get them to the standard OAL of a .38 S&W cartridge, you can spike the pressure up significantly. I have also found that (assuming you want to spend the money) the bullet molds out there for .35 Remington work very well with this round. I have one I picked up from midway last year for around $65 that is supposed to cast 200gr RNFP gas check bullets. With the lead mixture I am using, they come out at about 214 grains with the gas check on them. I wouldn't use them in anything other than a military .38 S&W or a solid frame revolver. But moving at 620-650 fps, they do pack a whallop. The recoil is basically nothing. You may also want to slug your bore. Not that it matters much with low-pressure rounds like this. But most of the US made guns seem to have a standard .357-.358" bore. That means better accuracy with standard bullets. Many of the British made .38 made ones can run as large as .363". Those ones can require larger diameter bullets if you want to hit anything past about 7 yards.

-Mb

[t0kie]

Nice Remington Rand!

[Rangem4]

The 1911 needs a check-up in my humble opinion.
A qualified gunsmith may have another opinion about the cracks.
My goal in life is to own more 1911's.

[Don the savage]

The frame is not cracked. Cellphone pictures on the park scratches just look weird.

[VegasND]

Very nice acquisitions indeed!

I almost always find cool C&R purchases in AZ.