Identify this 1911A1

[Larry Ashcraft]

My wife gave me this for Christmas:

The slide is a Colt, but the serial number is 2,408,xxx, so apparently the frame is Remington Rand? The sights have been replaced and the front strap is stippled.

Under the slide stop is stamped "FJA" and under the mag release there's a "P". On the left front side of the trigger guard there's a "4", and on the right side there's a "D". Underneath the serial number are the letters "RIA".

The gun is very tight and seems to work nicely. I haven't shot it yet, but I plan to later today.

 

[AndyC]

FJA would indicate a Remington Rand or Ithaca frame - FJA = Lt. Col Frank J. Atwood

RIA would indicate that it's a Rock Island Arsenal rebuild.

2,408,xxx would seem to be a 1945 manufacture.

 

[VHinch]

AndyC is dead on. The only other comment I would make is that the gun and the wife are both definite keepers! Nice looking 1911.

 

[Eyesac]

That's some wife you got there!

 

[bannockburn]

Larry Ashcraft

Is that a Micro rear sight on the slide? The reason I ask is that you mentioned the gun is very tight and works fine; when I first saw it, the first think I thought of was, is this an Army National Match pistol? The reason I say this is that normally a "parts" gun such as yours might be a question mark when it comes to accuracy. Yet the front and rear sights remind me of some I've seen on both Army and Air Force marksmanship school pistols. Same thing with the stippling on the grip. And Colt slides were preferred over most others for their hardness, thus enabling them to retain their tight fit on the frame, over an extended period of time.
At any rate, it's a very nice pistol, and I hope it shoots as good as it looks.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Bannock, yes it is a Micro. And the stippling looks professional but you can tell is wasn't done for "pretty", but for function. The gun doesn't even rattle, and the slide works like butter.

My Series 80 and even my 70 Series Gold Cup rattle, but this one doesn't. The trigger is very nice, I would guess around a 3.5 pound pull, but I haven't weighed it.

I haven't shot it yet, but tomorrow I hope to. I hope you're right about the NM thing.

Oh, and the wife. She's been around for 37 years. I suppose I'll keep her.

 

[bannockburn]

Larry Ashcraft

I think the later Army National Match pistols were assembled from the mid '50s to the late '60s. Most of the work was done at Springfield Armory. I believe the Army pistols had "NM" stamped at various places on the frame, barrel, and bushing. The Air Force had the letters "AF" on similiar places on their pistols. Of course, yours could have been assembled before that, or possibly it could have been built by a commercial gunsmith for competition.

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Well, I finally shot it today (dang weather). It's a sweetheart! THR member Superpsy came over and we shot in the backyard for a while.

No great groups to report (I don't suppose shooting offhand in 15* weather helped), but they seemed to go right where they were pointed.

I shot my Series 80 carry gun for comparison, and the A1 has a much nicer trigger. The Series 80 has an aftermarket trigger with a 4.5# pull.

I used a stock Colt seven round mag and there were no malfunctions of any kind.

 

[bannockburn]

I guess someone knew what they doing, all those years ago, when they put that gun together for bullseye shooting. I'm glad to hear that it functions just fine, and that the trigger pull is better than a modified Series 80 trigger. I've got a Combat Commander that was fitted with a Gold Cup trigger (among other things), by the Colt Custom Shop. They definitely knew what they doing with this trigger as well, as it is simply the best I have ever found on a 1911 pistol.

 

[Lonestar49]

Marriage can work.. lol

Quote: That's some wife you got there!
------------

+1

And a picture is worth a 1000 words..

~ JOY ~


Ls

 

[WJR]

That looks like a nice one.

Did you ever find any more markings, such as NM or AF as bannockburn mentioned?

WJR

 

[Geno]

Larry:

Can your wife give our wives some lessons?

Doc2005

 

[Larry Ashcraft]

Did you ever find any more markings, such as NM or AF as bannockburn mentioned?

No more markings. I think it is just what Bannockburn suggested, an old time gunsmith who knew what he was doing, building a bullseye gun for someone.

It is the sweetest shooting 1911 I own. The other two are my carry gun, which has had a lot of smithing done on it (I have used it for IPSC), and my 70 Series Gold Cup I bought new in 1983.

Can your wife give our wives some lessons?

Send them around. We'll teach them how to make salsa while we're at it.

 

[bannockburn]

Larry Ashcraft

It's kind of amazing when you think about it; here's this vintage 1911 parts gun with a real mixed pedigree, sporting target sights, with a nice stippling job on the front grip, and all done up in a rather dull and slightly ordinary parkerized finish. And yet, it has the nicest trigger pull of any 1911 you've encountered, and once you've got it dialed in with a particular load, will probably outshoot about 90% of the latest techno polymer wonder weapons out there right now. To me, that is definitely amazing. Thanks for sharing.