Quote:
Originally Posted by
Jersey Jailer 
| New Jersey destroys them. We have a reminton-rand 1911a1 in or evidence locker I can't bring myself to send to the shredder. I knew the legal owner, had the gun stolen by a nephew. Nephew shoots somebody, gun gets confiscated. Our laws require confiscation of firearms owned by anyone who is gven a temorary restraining order for domestic violence. There are so many great guns in the locker, they will get shredded even if you get found not guilty of domestic violence. You may be able to turn them over to a relative or gun shop for sale but the majority get thrown in the hopper. NJ sucks the big one |
A Remington-Rand M1911A1, eh? I agree, I carried one of these babies while a young MP. Here is the Remington-Rand M1911A1 story below...
*No Copyright is Implied. The story of the Remington Rand 1911A1
(Produced from 1942 to 1945)
(Click on Images for larger version)
Remington Rand was awarded its first order on March 16th, 1942, for a total of 125,000 1911A1 pistols. The company had no experience building pistols at the time it was awarded the contract. Remington Rand formed a new division (Remington Rand "C" Division) to take charge of building the pistols. Remington Rand "C" Division converted a vacant plant into a modern pistol manufacturing facility. The plant was located on Dickerson street in Syracuse, N.Y and was once used for building typewriters.
Initially some manufacturing equipment was not available. This caused Remington Rand to acquire parts from other sources to complete the early pistols. They purchased barrels from High Standard, Colt, and Springfield Armory; Disconnectors from US&S; Grips safeties from Colt; and Slide stops from Colt and Springfield Armory (2,865 left over from WWI). Remington Rand "C" Division inherited much of the documentation, tooling, and machinery that originally was used by The Singer Manufacturing Co. in their Educational Order. Consequently some of the parts of the early pistols were made using Singer supplied tooling and fixtures. Careful examination of Early Remington Rand pistols will reveal striking similarities in some of the parts to Singer made parts such as the triggers and mainspring housings. The first 255 production pistols where accepted by ordinance inspectors in November of 1942. 
Initial shipments appeared to perform satisfactorily, but subsequent tests performed by Ordnance Inspectors revealed serious problems with parts interchangeability. In March 1943 James Rand Jr., stopped production due to a high rate of Parts Interchangeability Test failures. Only after a change in management and a thorough review of the inspection and manufacturing operations was production finally resumed in May of 1943. When Remington Rand did resume production the line from under the "O" in "NO" in front of the serial number was removed (see IMAGE at LEFT), this transition started at approximately 955000 and either prefix can be seen as late as serial number 1016000. Throughout production Remington Rand aggressively attempted to innovate 
and improve the production of 1911A1 pistols. According to Charles Clawson books the ERRS (Experimental Remington Rand Series) pistols were created by Remington Rand for conducting experiments to improve their product. They were later presented to officials and employees of the company.
By March of 1945 they where building the lowest price pistol in the war effort and quality was considered second to none. By the end of the war Remington Rand had produced over 875,000 pistols, almost as many as Colt (628,808) and Ithaca (335,467) combined. Reference Charles Clawsons “Colt .45 Service pistols”.
Note: Since Remington Rand manufactured more 1911A1s then any other military contractor and the fact that the quality was considered second to none, it is not uncommon to find many Remington Rand receivers as the foundation to the National Match pistols used at the Camp Perry National Matches. Seen pictured at left is a 1964 National Match .45 pistol with a Drake slide.
Remington Rand Slide Variations
There are three slide variations in the Remington Rand series. Type 1 is the rarest and only found on 1942 and very early 1943 production, followed by the type 2 which was only used in 1943, and then the Type 3 used in 1943, 1944, and 1945. Only the type 1 slide stamp has "New York" spelled out, Type 2 & 3 is abbreviated to "N.Y.". Click on images for larger version.
Type 1 slide marking
(AKA - New York slide as it is spelled out). Observed from 916405 to approximately 955000. Type 2 slide marking
(Notice how print runs the length of the slide stop). Observed from approximately 927000 to about 1015000. Type 3 slide marking
(smaller markings are shorter then the slide stop, unlike type 2). Observed from approximately 980000 to end of production.
Common stamps found on a Remington Rand
These are the markings you will find on a USGI Remington Rand. There could be other markings applied from arsenals, other inspectors or even field units, the three below are the required markings for the pistol to enter service. Arsenal and barrel marking details can be found in the "ID Pages" section of the site.
Proof mark, sizes may vary. But if more then one on a pistol they will be the same size. Slide and frame P marks will match. Ordnance Inspectors mark of Col. Frank J. Atwood. Some pistols will have numbers or letters on the trigger guard, these are marks of factory inspectors. Ordnance department inspectors stamp.
Remington Rand Shipment Dates Serial Number Range
Year Serial Number Range Quantity
(Total Production 877,751)
1942 916405-921699(1)
1943 921700-1041404(1) 125,000
1943 1279699-1363699(2)
1944 1363700-1441430(2) 161,732
1944 1471431-1609528 138,098
1944 1743847-1816641 72,795
1944 1890504-2031599(3)
1945 2031600-2075103(3) 184,600
1945 2134404-2244803 110,400
1945 2380014-2465139 85,126
