Type 2 Remington Rand 1911A1 found!

[trashman]

I have been half-heartedly looking for a WWII-era 1911 for most of my gun-acquiring life - couple of decades or so. Way too much competition and climbing prices for me to feel comfortable (and there was always other stuff to buy). Recently stumbled into one that appears to be a correct Remington Rand from 1943. I took a chance since the shop owners would not let me take it down to inspect it. The seller apparently traded in "grandpa's gun" for a Kimber. It does not have a re-arsenal mark, and I can't quite decide if the slide or frame has been re-parked or not.

Grips are Keyes fibre without the reinforcing ring. The magazine is, I believe, just a modern 1911 mag, nothing special.

So here she is: # 953617, dating to 1943.



"P" proof marks on slide and frame:


Second-style address:


High Standard barrel:


Crossed-cannons stamp, faint but very crisp:



No re-arsenal mark; first "No." abbreviation:
[/QUOTE]

[trashman]

Mainspring house, safety, and slide stop:


Hammer:


Grip safety, sear, firing pin/spring, firing pin stop, recoil spring guide:


Recoil spring plug, barrel bushing:


Mystery mark/stamp near slide stop - any ideas?



Partial FJA stamp; checked out the stamp with a loupe and I can't really divine what was under the slide stop scratch:

[rkt88edmo]

Hopefully all or most correct (I wouldn't know) and a great find for you.

[Capybara]

Could you tell us how much you paid? I think Calgunner Beetle is pretty knowledgeable about if a 1911 is period correct and condition. Perhaps he will chime in here or you can PM him to take a look? I know with vintage 1911s, there are a LOT of gotchas that can wildly swing values, Beetle has gone so far as to hire an expert when he was buying vintage 1911s at the RIA. Best of luck, it looks nice, but I have no idea if you made a good deal or not.

[trashman]

$1200. I sent a heads-up to Beetle to see if he could pop in the thread and take a look.

--Neill

[beetle]

nice find! Type two slide markings are pretty rare, only being produced in 1943. Yours has the O in "NO." underlined, which means that was made prior to the production line being shut down for quality issues. After production resumed they omitted the underline in O.

Early Rands were not parkerized but actually had a Du-Lite finish over a sandblasted frame. The finishes look similar but small differences can be made out -- especially in color. I'd have to see the gun in person to be sure, but from your pics the color looks correct for a Du-Lite finish. Typically Parkerizing will be more green (mid war) or light grey (late war). Du-Lite tends to be darker, kind of like a slate color.

From the sharpness of the half moon cutouts as well as the tooling marks I'm fairly confident that the frame has not been refinished. I'm a little less sure about the slide especially because the Remington Rand slide logo seems to be a little on the light side. But since they seem to match pretty well I'm inclined to say the gun has not been refinished (would need to see it in person to be sure).

The small parts look correct from what I can see. HS barrel is correct. Keyes fiber grips without screw rings are correct for this gun.

A few small things to check -- any markings on the receiver by the disconnector hole? How does the feed ramp look?

From what I can tell in the pics so far I think you got a good one.

Cheers!

[TMB 1]

I'd rather have that than the best Kimber made especially if it was Grandpa's.
Lucky for you seller didn't care about history & Grandpa.

[trashman]

A few small things to check -- any markings on the receiver by the disconnector hole? How does the feed ramp look?

From what I can tell in the pics so far I think you got a good one.

Nice - thank you very much for the input ... I will go home and photograph the feed ramp and disconnector!

--Neill

[beerman]

you scored..this ones going nowhere but up. I wouldn't sell my original 1944 for that price.

[Capybara]

Told you Beetle was the man! He knows and understands the finer points of vintage 1911s because they are his passion. It is a good looking pistol that reeks of real history. Sounds like you made a good buy, congratulations. Are you going to shoot it? Might as well, it's not like it hasn't been shot in the past.

[Heatseeker]

What a beauty!

[Tonymin]

I love my '44. I paid $1500 for it last year. I think you did well.
Heavy on the trigger but fun to shoot. I always change the recoil and magazine springs.

[Enfield47]

Congrats, looks like you did quite well. The 1911 pistols are one of my all time favorites. Some day I'll have my war time variant but until then, I'll keep enjoying my P14/45 1911.

[trashman]

OK, as promised, a couple extra pictures...

Thanks for all the feedback -- reminds me what a great group of folks still hang out here!

cheers,
--Neill

"G" stamp near disconnector hole in frame:



Left-hand side of barrel showing "P" proof stamp:



Picture of feed ramp showing "in the white":



Detail of rear of slide, showing sight:



...and a wider-angle shot giving a better idea of the overall finish:

[beetle]

Perfect! everything is as it should be.

"G" by disconnector hole
feed ramp in the white

that last shot really gives a good idea of the color -- it looks like Du-Lite to me!

congrats -- a really nice pickup.