CMP Service Grade Remington Rand 1911A1 .45 ACP Semi-Auto Pistol, 1945 C&R
SOLD FOR: $1,355.00
LSB#: LSB250717RY022
Make: Remington Rand
Model: M1911A1, CMP Service Grade
Serial Number: 2186561
Year of Manufacture: 1945
Caliber: .45 ACP
Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto fed by Removable Magazine
Barrel Length: 5”
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a short blade with a ramped rear face fixed to the slide. The rear sight is a square notch dovetailed into the slide. There is an impact mark on the top of the rear sight.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are two-piece checkered brown Keyes Fibre panels with reinforcement rings around the screws and reinforcement ribs on the inside. The grips have fairly even handling wear, more notable in the right panel, with scattered nicks and scuffing. There are tool marks in the rings around the screws. The checkering is generally well defined with the most notable wear at the bottom of the right panel. There are no chips or cracks. Overall, the grips are in about Very Good condition.
Type of Finish: Parkerized
Finish Originality: Arsenal Refurbished, the slide and barrel are post-war replacements.
Bore Condition: The post-war replacement barrel’s chrome-lined bore is bright with sharp rifling. There is no erosion in the bore. In this writer’s opinion, the bore rates 10/10.
Overall Condition: This pistol retains about 96% of its current metal finish. The finish is lightly thinning at some edges. There are a few scattered minor marks. There are some small nicks under the finish. There is scattered erosion under the finish, most notable on the frame. The action shows light operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to tool marked with strong slots. The markings range from clear to worn and incomplete. Overall, this pistol is in Very Good-plus condition as Arsenal Refurbished (CMP rated the pistol Service Grade).
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this pistol. As with all used firearms, a thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes in a tan plastic CMP branded case with a CMP Certificate of Authenticity, Army Technical Manual and single 7-round magazine (post-war).
Our Assessment: The 1911 and 1911-A1 pistols served the military of the United States from 1911 to 1985, through two World Wars and the Korean and Vietnam wars. They gained a reputation as a reliable handgun with plenty of stopping power, and are held in high regard by those who have used them. The design was the end-result of a series of developments by famous gun designer John Browning, starting with the Model 1900. The advances made by Browning were revolutionary at the time, and were so successful that they are considered commonplace today. Browning not only developed first a pivoting and then a tilting barrel to allow for a locked system, he developed the concept of “the slide”, which is now synonymous with semi-automatic handguns.
During the inter-war years, the design was further refined with an arched mainspring housing, relief-cuts behind the shortened trigger and some minor changes to other small parts, resulting in the 1911A1. This new model would be the US sidearm during WWII, and saw production by a few different companies. As in the previous World War, Colt and American Arsenals were not able to produce everything that would be required for this war, and production would be contracted to a typewriter company, Remington Rand, a company which made switches and signals for railroads, Union Switch & Signal, and one firearms manufacturer, Ithaca Gun Co. This example has a frame made by Remington Rand in 1945, a post-war replacement slide from DSE Inc., and a post-war replacement chrome-lined barrel.
It stayed in US inventory for some time, eventually being sold to the public by the Civilian Marksmanship Program in October of 2019 as a Service Grade. There are no markings to tell us where or when it was refurbished, but the chrome-lined bore and DSE replacement slide would indicate it was well after the end of WWII. The pistol is in Very Good-plus condition, and with its good bore and strong mechanics, would be well worth adding to a collection, especially for those who missed out on the CMP’s release of these pistols. Please see our photos and good luck!
Please forgive any typos, I was educated in California. -Bud
