I love the 1911 handgun in .45 ACP. Always have. I do believe for practical usage it's been surpassed by more modern designs, but that doesn't mean it's not still a great design. I've had several examples of 1911's, all very good guns, but one major problem, for me at least. None of them were made in the USA, much less truly USGI guns.
Years ago I vowed I would have a USGI, WWII era M1911A1 before the 100th anniversary of the adoption of the 1911 as the standard, so... Well... 2011's nearly over. I'd seen a very nice Remington Rand USGI in a small local pawn shop. By the serial number, it was made in 1943. It appeared to be in very good condition (Not refinished as far as I could tell) but the price, while fair, was a little higher than I was willing to pay. Over the last 2-3 months I'd been dropping in every week or two and seeing how much further they were willing to budge on the price.
Well, today I finally got them to move within striking distance, so I rode to a gun store 50 miles out of town to clear my mind, think things over and come to a decision. The gun store out in the country didn't have anything that interested me, so I came home, broke open my piggy bank, and headed back to the pawn shop.
I came in, they recognized me and were pulling the 1911 out of the counter for me yet again. The person behind the counter was also helping another customer at the same time. During a lull in their conversation, I made a cash offer, and it was accepted. Then the paperwork began, I mentioned something about, with 4 month old triplets at home, I'd be a dead man if my wife knew what I was spending on "another" gun... Clerk kind of chuckled...
Minute or so later, I hear a "DADDDDYYYYYYYYYYYY!" squee'ing from behind me.
Uhoh.
Seems the spousal unit was driving by with some of the kids, and saw my bike, recognized it, and decided to pop in and say hi to daddy.
Luckily, she didn't seem TOO mad. She asked how much it was, I told her she didn't want to know, and she left it at that.
I did find it kind of funny, the clerk printed up a receipt for me with a MUCH lower number than what I'd actually paid, just to use if I needed it... Told me to come back later if I wanted an accurate receipt. (I mentioned that on a 68 year old firearm, I'm not that worried about a receipt, I doubt the warranty's still in effect.)
So anyway, now that I've made a veritable wall of text above, let me introduce my new toy. I must say, I've seen modern 1911's in far worse shape being sold for more, so I'm very happy so far. That I've been able to verify, the receiver and the slide are both Remington Rand (Based on markings and SN# range), the barrel is the kind Remington Rand used, and I took the grips off, they appear to be original too based on markings.
