WW2 Remington 1911s?

[AZ]

I was reading A History of the Colt Revolver, which is really more of a history of all Colt handguns up until 1940, and came across some description of the
1911's production. Apparently during the war Colt licensed Remington and North American Arms to make 1911-style pistols for the military but are, according to the book, "extremely rare". Have any of you heard of one of these, especially a Remington, showing up anywhere?

 

[bender01]

Sure. Even Singer sewing machines made them! All hands on deck BITD!

 

[HDCamel]

As far as I know, Remington only produced 1911s during WWI and didn't make a 1911 agaian until the R1 series.

Remington Rand on the other hand...

 

[AlexanderA]

That's right. Remington-UMC made 1911's only during WWI. The WWII production was by Remington-Rand (the typewriter company) and those aren't at all rare. The moderately rare WWII guns are by Union Switch & Signal, and the really rare ones are by Singer Sewing Machine (only 500 made). North American Arms guns are even rarer (maybe 100 toolroom samples made), but those are WWI guns.

 

[AZ]

You're all correct. They referred to 'the World War' in the book and as it was written in 1940 they didn't suffix it with a number, got a bit confused

Anyway, how many WW1 Remington 1911s were made, how difficult would it be to find one?

 

[Baba Louie]

...how many WW1 Remington 1911s were made...

21676
from http://proofhouse.com/colt/index.html

Rem UMC mfg 1911s
1918 1 - 13381
1919 13382 - 21676

...how difficult would it be to find one?

I've kept my eyes open since the 60's and have never seen one, but with gunbroker etc you could always put out a wanted to buy ad and see what turns up and for how much moola... so I'd say fair to middlin degree of difficulty. Advanced collectors or lucky finds.

I've read on 1911forums of people finding them from $750 up to $5k+ (one auction had a UMC 90% go for $17k!), so try to be in the right place at the right time with the right amount of money and... Hey good luck happens every once in a while to some (not me tho)

 

[Skylerbone]

Some people find them: http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=354659. If I were looking, especially being a stone's throw away, I'd watch auctions here: http://rockislandauction.com/. You'll have an expert's opinion on authenticity and expected sale price.

 

[AZ]

Just wanted to thank both of you for the info. Not finding one in 50 years doesn't fill me with confidence, but I got at least half a century to look.

 

[Skylerbone]

If you follow that link RIAC just sold one. They also had a Singer that realized nearly $70,000. A Rem. will come up from time to time if you're really interested.

 

[Jim Watson]

Review of 1911 - 1911A1 manufacturers:

WW I: Colt, Springfield Armory, Remington UMC.
North American Arms of Canada made a hundred but none were accepted by US Army Ordnance so they are not really USGI.
A.J. Savage (Of Cal., not Savage Arms of Mass.) had a contract but completed no guns. They delivered some slides which were used as replacements. A "Savage slide" gun is a recognized variation.
Winchester was an authorized contractor but built no guns.

WW II: Colt, Remington Rand, Ithaca, Union Switch & Signal.
Singer Sewing Machine built an "educational order" of 500 guns in 1941.
Harrington & Richardson had a block of serial numbers assigned but did not make the guns.

Authorized copies were made in Norway and Argentina. The Germans got the Norwegian production, I have read that the British used some Argentine 1927s and Ballister Molina non-1911s.