The real question is: how much can I get when I resell it? If I’m lucky enough to buy one...
That's exactly the reason for the 1 per year limit and pricing. Don't think you'll make much with 8000 hitting the market this year and who knows how many in the future.
At those prices other than to have a historical firearm what is gained over getting a cheaper reliable one like a Rock Island 1911 that is brand new and won't have rust pitting and worn out parts.
And special historically significants to open auction.
Looks like they can’t be shipped to c&r license.
No telling how many more will be available in the future or if you get lucky those times.
Let's not be too mean to the little Rock Islands. I bought one (second from the bottom of the line), fired 50 rounds to make sure it ran OK, then ran it through Gunsite's 250 course for > 1,200 rounds with no cleaning other than 3 drops of lube each morning. It ran fine - the only malfunctions I had were on reloads with magazines that didn't have butt-pads on them.First of all, hard to believe you used the words "reliable" and "Rock Island" in the same sentence.
I am a little puzzled over the allure of CMP 1911s. My father was a 20 year Navy officer - I think most of what he did was with a 1911 was hand it to the next watch. But he didn’t think very much of his service weapon. He found it pretty inaccurate to say the least. He was of the opinion that throwing the pistol at the enemy was the best use of a 1911.
He really enjoyed reloading shooting - but his weapon of choice was a S&W Highway Patrolman .357 magnum, which he loved shooting at 100 yards. He thought the Highway Patrolman to be a wonderful wespon, head and shoulders above his service pistol.
After he retired, he had an opportunity to shoot a more modern civilian 1911 - not sure which brand - and he said it was more accurate than any 1911 he had encountered in the Navy.
If the service weapons were as inaccurate as he reported, I don’t quite understand the attraction of paying $1000 for a used service weapon. Are people attracted because of the history? Did the servjce 1911s get more accurate with age? He was in from 1951-1971, and I think he was only a line officer on a ship for the first couple of years, and I don’t think that handled a weapon much after that. Maybe he was issued a worn out WWII 1911, and they improved much later?
Mike, there are TONS of stories by probably thousands of men like your dad, and they all seem to come from that same time frame. The thing to understand is that, at least to my knowledge, all of the military's 1911s were made from WWI to the end of WW II, and none were made since WW II. Most had seen some pretty serious, abusive service. I've heard of guns so loose, they rattled like a spray paint can. By the time of Vietnam, those guns had been in service as much as 50 years. They were basically shot out.
The allure of the CMP 1911 is, as I stated earlier, purely one of historical significance. I don't foresee these guns being someone's first gun. I doubt anyone is buying them for self defense or even competition. I want one as a companion to my WW II Garand. I will probably shoot it once in a while in 2-gun, along with the Garand. (I honestly don't even like the 1911 design. Stage one carry cares the heck out of me. I much prefer the M9-actually, I much prefer a revolver.)
I suspect they were not "shot out". My guess is much of the wear was from being disassembled and reassembled tens of thousands of times.They were basically shot out.
the paperwork part of it does not sound horribly offensive to me if you want the gun.Honestly though I'd like one of these - their high price is a turn off, and the absolute nightmare of paperwork is the nail in the coffin.
Someday, people will marvel at the price these are sold at...and that the government allowed them to be sold at all.
Honestly though I'd like one of these - their high price is a turn off, and the absolute nightmare of paperwork is the nail in the coffin.
I'm going to try to grab a Garand before the run out, but the 1911's I'll leave for people with more patience than I.