cxm
Active Fanatic
- Joined
- Mar 11, 2020
- Messages
- 28
A while back I got one of the 1911 pistols being sold by the DCM. The purchase process is complex... even convoluted and you have to jump through hoops... but given the 1911 Colt from 1942 I got I thought I got a good deal. The pistol a twice refurbished early WWII Colt. It looks really nice with a light gray parkerized finish.
After seeing that Colt Mrs. CXM decided she would like a GI 1911 as well (her 1911s are all various flavors of modern 1911 type pistols. So with that in mind she gathered up the voluminous amount of paperwork required to actually apply to buy one of the DCM guns. Finally, with all the papers in hand Mrs. CXM sent in her application for the second round of the DCM's 1911 drawing some months ago and heard absolutely nothing in the interim. Then about three months ago she got an email saying she had a number drawn. Again nothing heard until early last week when she got an email that her number had come up and she could buy a 1911 and to please call them. This was a pleasant surprise to be sure.
So bright and early on Monday of last week she called and asked for one from the highest condition group. She was dismayed to learn only the lowest grade was available (I don't know if that meant all the higher guns were gone, or if it meant that was all of the guns currently inspected on hand at that time.) Anyway she said ok, and crossed her fingers.
The gun arrived at our LGS on Thursday and she picked it up.
She came home with a very nice high quality plastic carry case and a well used Remington-Rand 1911A1.
At first glance the old Remington looked pretty tired.
The finish is well worn, BUT it seems to be mostly holster wear. Clearly the gun has seen a lot of use since in was built in 1945.
Upon further examination, there is no rust and no damage to the gun... all the parts are in good condition and everything works.
The grips are original GI plastic. The left panel has a chip around the lower mounting screw hole but it is minor. I have several sets of GI plastic grips I can install, but with the gun being a working gun I think new ones would be somewhat out of place. For the moment I have just put a set of new grips in the box so they will be handy if needed.
Upon further examination I was surprised to find the slide and frame are both Remington-Rand. On a Rack Grade DCM gun I just expected a mix master gun... a nice surprise in fact. At first I didn't notice but behind the top edge of the right grip panel is a very lightly struck Ordnance Corps crest, the light strike not being unusual on WWII produced guns.
The gun arrived with an unmarked new production seven round magazine. I have a few WWII production magazines around and after digging around in the box of 1911 mags I found a S (for Scovil made) marked magazine with wear about like that of the gun so them made a good match which also went into the box.
Next, I stripped the gun down and cleaned it thoroughly. In fact the gun really didn't need cleaning much at all. Someone cleaned the gun well before turning it in. I then greased the moving parts well and oiled the rest of the gun. You can see grease in the photos where it has leaked out of the gun... the brown stuff is grease... not rust.
In the end she got a nice surprise from the DCM. I think this gun is more desirable than my re parkerized and mutiple rebuilt Colt... but I'm sure lots of people would not agree with that.
FWIW
Chuck
After seeing that Colt Mrs. CXM decided she would like a GI 1911 as well (her 1911s are all various flavors of modern 1911 type pistols. So with that in mind she gathered up the voluminous amount of paperwork required to actually apply to buy one of the DCM guns. Finally, with all the papers in hand Mrs. CXM sent in her application for the second round of the DCM's 1911 drawing some months ago and heard absolutely nothing in the interim. Then about three months ago she got an email saying she had a number drawn. Again nothing heard until early last week when she got an email that her number had come up and she could buy a 1911 and to please call them. This was a pleasant surprise to be sure.
So bright and early on Monday of last week she called and asked for one from the highest condition group. She was dismayed to learn only the lowest grade was available (I don't know if that meant all the higher guns were gone, or if it meant that was all of the guns currently inspected on hand at that time.) Anyway she said ok, and crossed her fingers.
The gun arrived at our LGS on Thursday and she picked it up.
She came home with a very nice high quality plastic carry case and a well used Remington-Rand 1911A1.
At first glance the old Remington looked pretty tired.
The finish is well worn, BUT it seems to be mostly holster wear. Clearly the gun has seen a lot of use since in was built in 1945.
Upon further examination, there is no rust and no damage to the gun... all the parts are in good condition and everything works.
The grips are original GI plastic. The left panel has a chip around the lower mounting screw hole but it is minor. I have several sets of GI plastic grips I can install, but with the gun being a working gun I think new ones would be somewhat out of place. For the moment I have just put a set of new grips in the box so they will be handy if needed.
Upon further examination I was surprised to find the slide and frame are both Remington-Rand. On a Rack Grade DCM gun I just expected a mix master gun... a nice surprise in fact. At first I didn't notice but behind the top edge of the right grip panel is a very lightly struck Ordnance Corps crest, the light strike not being unusual on WWII produced guns.
The gun arrived with an unmarked new production seven round magazine. I have a few WWII production magazines around and after digging around in the box of 1911 mags I found a S (for Scovil made) marked magazine with wear about like that of the gun so them made a good match which also went into the box.
Next, I stripped the gun down and cleaned it thoroughly. In fact the gun really didn't need cleaning much at all. Someone cleaned the gun well before turning it in. I then greased the moving parts well and oiled the rest of the gun. You can see grease in the photos where it has leaked out of the gun... the brown stuff is grease... not rust.
In the end she got a nice surprise from the DCM. I think this gun is more desirable than my re parkerized and mutiple rebuilt Colt... but I'm sure lots of people would not agree with that.
FWIW
Chuck