Posted: 12/14/2012 10:55:49 AM EDT
| I have a Remington Rand 1911a1 that has a 6 digit serial number that's not listed for Remington Rand, my google fu skills are weak and all I can find my number in is 1918 or 1919 Colt. Can any of the experts shed any light on this? I know a pic is always helpful and sometimes required but I don't have the ability to load any. It does have the wood checked grips that show alot of age. Any help is appreciated. Thanks. |
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check here:
http://www.coolgunsite.com/ ID pages Serial Numbers The only 6 digit RR frames would be 1942-43 916405-1041404 Are you sure you don't have a 1918/1919 Colt frame with a RR slide? 216987-717386 Does the frame have the finger grooves cutout 
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The only things I see besides the property mark and the serial number is a 34 on the trigger guard and a 517 or s17 with some symbol over it that I can't make out. I do know the previous owner had someone block the road and approched his car with apparent ill will and Jack had the pistol on the door edge covered by his arm, he asked the guy "have you ever looked down the barrel of a cannon before" the guy said no, Jack said "look" then the guy hollered at his buddy that it wasn't the car they was looking for.
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I suspect you have a mix master that so happens to have a remington rand slide, which has zip to do with your frame- many 1911's and A1's were rebuilt many times by the military and by civilians thereafter.
does the frame have the small finger cuts behind the trigger or is it flat there? My guess is you have an old 1911 frame with an A1 slide. does it have the letters AA on the frame on the left side near the slide stop- that is the most typical example of a rebuild mark. to summarize you probably have a Colt pistol (the frame is what is considered the gun legally and by most collectors- contains the serial number) with a later rand slide |
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These were assembled frequently by the government during rebuilds in WWII and was still going on when the 1911-style US pistol was replaced with the M9. Complete M1911s were also issued during WWII and likewise in use until the end. On the other hand, it also could have been assembled by good ole Bubba! Does it have any initials on the frame around the trigger guard like RIA, AA, ANAD or SA, for example? Those are some of the rebuild facilities. If it has a rebuild mark, it is at least a partially-documented rebuild and as such has some interest. It still could be G.I. even if not marked, but there is no proof.
BTW, your frame is Colt, 1918. Rebuilds like this were always Parkerized. |
| I didn't see any other marks on it other than what's mentioned but I haven't removed the grips, finish is close to nonexistent, it has tall sights and the front is sharp on the backside, I would upload pics but I don't have an account with photobucket and I'm still learning on the computer. |
| I have no idea about it which is why I'm here, being the dumbass I am, I've been shooting it, same with my Colt, I had them willed to me and collector value means nothing to me as I won't ever sell either. Maybe one of these days I'll get a pic on here to share. Thanks for the help. |
| Might as well shoot it. The WWII Remington Rand slide has spot hardening in the expected trouble spots, but is still not 'bullet-proof'. Avoid +P ammo and make sure it has a new 16# recoil spring and a new extra-power firing pin spring. Sometimes a buffer is good in these cases but check for spring bind if you install one. The springs are sold in sets by Wolff Springs. I wouldn't waste any money changing anything else, but I might send it off to be Parkerized or blued. Actually if I had it I would do a bake-on job, either dark Parkerizing or black. It's fun to have a Colt M1911 to take shooting when you don't have to worry about losing value. |