School me on this M1911A1

[chrisco]

Here it is folks. A little slice of sunshine on an otherwise cloudy day.
Picked this up as a package deal along with another pistol(S&W 586 Nickel)
Hoping the experts can tell me all about it.

It is currently stripped down as it requires extensive cleaning
The Grips are put on just for my own handling purposes. The originals which appear to be a brown colored bakelite are still intact and in very good condition

Stamped United States Property No.1678419 -- M1911A1 U.S. ARMY
There is also the letters "S A" stamped on this side of the gun
Not sure what the stamped symbol is to the left of the top grip screw??

She went to the range yesterday and functioned without issues even though the sear and disconnect pin was installed from the wrong side and kept walking out while shooting

The slide is stamped "Remington Rand Inc. Syracuse N.Y. U.S.A
Also on the frame on this side of the gun are the letters G H D. And there is a letter P stamped just below the mag release.

CGN experts - tell me all about it please.

 

[AdamP]

I'm no expert, but looks like an arsenal refurb M1911A1 to me. That's a Remington Rand slide, type 2 I believe, and it looks (to me) like a Colt frame, but someone who knows for sure will chime in, no doubt.

Do you have pictures of the small parts (safety, trigger, slide stop, hammer, beavertail, barrel, grips, etc) ?

Adam

 

[NAA]

What you have there is a 1944 mfg Colt 1911A1 frame [as indicated by the serial number and "GHD" (Gen. Guy Drewry) inspector's initials] with a period correct [third type] Remington-Rand 1911A1 slide. The "SA" [for Springfield Arsenal] means that your pistol went into a military arsenal for a rework at some point in it's service history. That is likely when the slide/frame mismatch occurred. The brown plastic grips you describe are period correct. If the checkering is coarse on the outside they are likely Colt mfg. If the checkering is finer, with stars on the inside, then they are "Keyes" mfg. Either type would be correct for a "SA" refurbed pistol.

The stamped symbol on the right side frame, rear, behind the top of the grips is commonly called the "ordance department inspection stamp" - found on mid 1942 mfg and later mfg USGI 1911A1 pistols [except Union Switch & Signal mfg] - crossed canons in a circular motif - it us usually lightly struck on most examples. It is good that it is intact on your pistol.

It would be interesting to see what the small parts [missing in the photos] look like.

Congratulations on your acquisition. Even as a mismatch it has some collector value.


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NAA.