One of the former chiefs (and this 2-3 man dept) has a lot of "former's" since they go on to better paying gigs) had found a surplus program from Uncle Sam. He received 2 1911's on a permanent loan for shipping costs of $35.
This one and the other were kept as squad backups for years. This one was essentially abandoned, forgotten in the trunk of one of the cars by an officer. It was eventually found, and then stored without any attention in the gun locker for a couple more years, til I came across it. It was dirty from firing, pitted and in somewhat sorry shape. With the current chief's permission I recently took it to a local smith, who cleaned and refurbed it.
I finally got a chance to take it out for a test-drive. On the third round, the extractor tore through the rim of the case and the empty wouldn't eject. It was like a ring of brass along the edge of the rim separated. That was the ONLY failure of about 175 rounds.
The slide is Remington-Rand:
The frame appears to be Springfield Armory and has as 1978 stamp on it that I assume was the last time it was serviced...
The trigger was surprisingly good. The fit of the slide is a little loose, but I'm not complaining.
There IS this ding on the rear sight, which is annoying, but only cosmetic. The rear notch is centered (the line on the slide matches up with the line on the rear sight).
Other than the POA/POI problem, I am bitten by this war relic. I like to imagine that it saw service in WWII and again in Korea and Viet Nam, but who knows. If anyone can tell from the markings on the frame of this Frankenstein a little of its history, I'm all ears.
Yes, I'd like to figure out a way keep it, but NO I can't. Uncle Sam keeps records and has a guy who calls regularly to check up on the two pistols, along with a mil-surp M-14 (converted to semi-auto only) and an M-16-A1 (currently still in use by the dept).
Enjoy the pics! and thanks for letting me share
