Won the Lottery

[hlee]

No, not that lottery. THE LOTTERY. Yeah, I got a call from the CMP on Monday that my number was drawn for the 1911 lottery. Round 2. All that were available were rack grade. It's a bit depressing listening to the lady read the description "Rack grade firearms will (her emphasis) exhibit rusting, pitting, have broken parts, and show signs of excessive wear. Firearms may require gunsmithing to return to service... All firearms are test fired for functionality- so it will go bang."

Colt 1945 vintage frame and a "type 3" Remington Rand slide. The finish is as even as I would expect. No visible rust or pitting. There are some handling marks, and dings from use. But, the grips are not broken. No obvious broken parts. Other than finish wear at the spots one would expect wear- rails, barrel finish, barrel bushing, etc, the pistol is remarkably clean. It does have a "rack number" on the obverse handle scale (23). I can't really decipher what dropped this pistol out of one of the higher grades. Not that I'm complaining. That said, I haven't to looked down the bore with my bore scope- maybe it does poorly with erosion gauges. Maybe it can't keep 5 shots on paper at 7 yards. I haven't shot it yet. Either way, I'm pretty happy with the purchase. And, the CMP is not messing around with their shipping box...

 

[Jgunner]

Depending on price, id have bought one! Nice!!!

 

[hlee]

Depending on price, id have bought one! Nice!!!

To be fair, you are totally buying a 'pig in a poke.' They don't even send you a picture of the little surplus orphan you are adopting. Just an email and a phone call. "Sooooo, we have this pistol with your name on it. It could be a total schizophrenic dumpster fire POS. You want it? Answer now, cuz the offer expires when the line goes dead..."

 

[half]

To be fair!



Sorry I couldn’t resist!

 

[Sean the Nailer]

Well done. You're far richer today!

 

[TheGerman]

 

[Crush]

Very cool. How much was it?

 

[Cardboard55]

I always marvel at the beauty of machined stuff from the pre-CNC days. We had so many highly-skilled machinists across the country. No slight to today's guys, but all that work from 75 years ago still looks great. If I hit the real lottery, I'd track down a Singer, but you've every right to be proud of your new acquisition.

 

[PDXGS]

Stealthy Letterkenny reference and surplus 1911s in the same thread.....I'm buying a lotto ticket

 

[hlee]

Very cool. How much was it?

$850 for rack grade. I have no idea what the prices were for service or field grade. The CMP did say that they were pricing them in concordance with the collector market. Not a direct quote, but they were supposed to be neither grossly above or below market price.

 

[Jgunner]

$850 for rack grade. I have no idea what the prices were for service or field grade. The CMP did say that they were pricing them in concordance with the collector market. Not a direct quote, but they were supposed to be neither grossly above or below market price.

Thats a but it price. I am not even into 1911s but love guns with history and such.

 

[seanh]

How's the barrel fit in battery? I've seen a bunch of these come through the shop, years ago, most had pretty good barrel fit but slide deframe was crap…. still shot remarkably well for what it is.

 

[hlee]

How's the barrel fit in battery? I've seen a bunch of these come through the shop, years ago, most had pretty good barrel fit but slide deframe was crap…. still shot remarkably well for what it is.

I couldn’t say one way or the other. This is my first 1911.

Just finished at the range. Not a definitive review by any means- just a few mags. It fits my hand better than a Glock 22. The trigger is not as nice as on my canik elite combat. Groups at 7 and 15 yards are better with 76 year old 1911a1 than with new canik elite combat- trigger and all. No failures to feed, fire, or extract. Locked back on empty every time. Action is smooooth. Sights are tiny.

 

[JoshPutman]

Congratulations! Beautiful old pistol.

 

[GONE BAD]

You did good!
I fell in love with the 1911 in boot camp in 1970 . Only got to shoot 7 rounds for familiarization at the rifle range and thought ii was amazing!

Never got to own one but have had many clones .

Maybe you got the one I shot!

 

[JMGlasgow]

 

[Bonjourjr]

What was your number? My parents put in for one but their rgn is 28000ish

 

[hlee]

What was your number? My parents put in for one but their rgn is 28000ish

If you got a number, it doesn’t matter. All of the numbers go into the ‘pot’ and are drawn at random.

 

[Shooter McGavin]

$850 for rack grade.

Shit, that isn cheap. I purchased a 1945 Remington Rand in Hunting Beach years ago for less than $400. It’s in really good condition. I have never shot it. Looks like my investment may have doubled.

I do like how CMP ships through USPS to your door and you don’t have to go through a FFL.

 

[hlee]

Shit, that isn cheap. I purchased a 1945 Remington Rand in Hunting Beach years ago for less than $400. It’s in really good condition. I have never shot it. Looks like my investment may have doubled.

I do like how CMP ships through USPS to your door and you don’t have to go through a FFL.

Unfortunately, pistols have to go through an ffl...

 

[hlee]

Shit, that isn cheap. I purchased a 1945 Remington Rand in Hunting Beach years ago for less than $400. It’s in really good condition. I have never shot it. Looks like my investment may have doubled.

I do like how CMP ships through USPS to your door and you don’t have to go through a FFL.

$400 in 1990 was equivalent to $850 today (according to the first inflation calculator that came up on google), so if “years ago“ was earlier than 1990 then it is just keeping up with inflation...

 

[Shooter McGavin]

$400 in 1990 was equivalent to $850 today (according to the first inflation calculator that came up on google), so if “years ago“ was earlier than 1990 then it is just keeping up with inflation...

It was 2009 when I got it, so I did well