checked out a "Remington" 1911 R1 at the gunshop today

[Don Glock]

it's price was $619, and they just got it in yesterday.

i didn't shoot it, but this was what i noticed.


1. the fit was much less than impressive.

2. the beavertail safety wasn't blended to the frame properly, and also had VERY sharp edges at the tang. it was VERY uncomfortable simply to hold it, i can only imagine what shooting it would be like.

3. the slide/frame fit was not bad, although it did have vertical play.

4. the barrel to slide fit was awful. when locked up, the barrel had play in it. when the slide was closed, i pressed down on the barrel through the ejection port only to see movement-not good at all.

5. the barrel is hardly throated at all, and the frame feed ramp seemed rough.

6. it had an overall cheap feel to it. made in american does not mean much if it's not assembled properly (by someone you've heard of).

7. the barrel bushing had a lot of space between it and the barrel-also not good.

8. the trigger was loosely fit and rattling. it also had about an 8lb pull.

9. the wood checkered grips were the nicest thing on the gun.



just wanted to pass along my initial impressions. it falls way short of springfield armory's mil spec.

[DefensiveCarry.com]

[knuckledragr]

did it happen to say "Essex" on the frame?

[Don Glock]

did it happen to say "Essex" on the frame?

no, it was some abbreviation.

[OD*]

1. it's not made by remington. it's made by some other company (EACPT or something i never heard of), and it simply has the remington rollmark on the slide.

It is made by Remington, in their Ilion, NY plant.
E-RPC is the name of the company that contracted Remington to make the pistols.

http://www.1911r1.com/pages/FAQs.aspx

[Don Glock]

It is made by Remington, in their Ilion, NY plant.
E-RPC is the name of the company that contracted Remington to make the pistols.

http://www.1911r1.com/pages/FAQs.aspx

good catch, my friend. just changed my OP lol

however, this is still an awful example of a 1911.

[OD*]

good catch, my friend. just changed my OP lol

however, this is still an awful example of a 1911.

Lets hope the one you looked at was a fluke, Walt Kuleck (author of, The M1911 Complete Owner's Guide, The M14 and M1 Garand Complete Assembly Guides and The AR-15 Complete Assembly and Owner's Guides) said of the one he handled,

My dealer just received one today. It is a very nice-looking piece with impressive packaging. Fit seemed tight, trigger was good, everything worked. The price promises to be a good value.

[Ronny]

Regarding the rattle, 1911's are supposed to rattle. I remember a quote someone posted a long time ago on 1911 forum by John Moses Browning complaining that some of the new production 1911s don't rattle. Having some play makes them reliable. I 1911 that doesn't rattle will be less reliable than one that does. Just take it from me, a man that loves AK-47s, a rattle is a good thing. Just take one of those tricked out 1911 target pistols and throw it in the mud and see how reliable it is after that.

it's price was $619, and they just got it in yesterday.

i didn't shoot it, but this was what i noticed.


1. the fit was much less than impressive.

2. the beavertail safety wasn't blended to the frame properly, and also had VERY sharp edges at the tang. it was uncomfortable simply to hold it, i can only imagine what shooting it would be like.

3. the slide/frame fit was not bad, although it did have vertical play.

4. the barrel to slide fit was awful. when locked up, the barrel had play in it. when the slide was closed, i pressed down on the barrel through the ejection port only to see movement-not good at all.

5. the barrel is hardly throated at all, and the frame feed ramp seemed rough.

6. it had an overall cheap feel to it. made in american does not mean much if it's not assembled properly (by someone you've heard of).

7. the barrel bushing had a lot of space between it and the barrel-also not good.

8. the trigger was loosely fit and rattling. it also had about an 8lb pull.

9. the wood checkered grips were the nicest thing on the gun.



just wanted to pass along my initial impressions. it falls way short of springfield armory's mil spec.

[Don Glock]

Regarding the rattle, 1911's are supposed to rattle. I remember a quote someone posted a long time ago on 1911 forum by John Moses Browning complaining that some of the new production 1911s don't rattle. Having some play makes them reliable. I 1911 that doesn't rattle will be less reliable than one that does. Just take it from me, a man that loves AK-47s, a rattle is a good thing. Just take one of those tricked out 1911 target pistols and throw it in the mud and see how reliable it is after that.

i described the slide/frame fit as "not bad" in my OP. also, i described the trigger as rattling, not the slide/frame fit



here's from the shooting times review:

At the range, friends Beau Johnston and Kevin Speer assisted me in breaking in the 1911 R1. We started off with 500 rounds of Black Hills 230-grain FMJ. The prototype pistol performed well, though there were a few failures to eject. We later fired a few rounds of lighter handloads loaded with 200-grain LSWC bullets. The pistol loved this ammunition and shot it flawlessly. It produced a tight five-shot group at 15 yards that was a single ragged hole.

A thousand rounds more were run through the Remington with help from my son Jake and friend Will Schmitz. Black Hills 230-grain JHPs and Remington 230-grain JHPs were used for this shooting. Again, the preproduction R1 performed well, though some failures to eject and stovepipes were experienced. Accuracy remained good.

[OD*]

Regarding the rattle, 1911's are supposed to rattle. I remember a quote someone posted a long time ago on 1911 forum by John Moses Browning complaining that some of the new production 1911s don't rattle. Having some play makes them reliable. I 1911 that doesn't rattle will be less reliable than one that does. Just take it from me, a man that loves AK-47s, a rattle is a good thing. Just take one of those tricked out 1911 target pistols and throw it in the mud and see how reliable it is after that.

Hate to break it to you, but apparently you've never handled a Colt M1911/M1911A1/Government Model made prior to November 1943 (that has not been shot to pieces), when the Ordnance Department relaxed the tolerance specifications on the M1911A1. Prior to that, the pistols did not "rattle" as many of them do today, and the specs weren't loosened to aid reliability, they were/are very reliable, the specs were loosened to improve parts interchangeability between the several manufacturers of the war time M1911A1s.

[Don Glock]

Hate to break it to you, but apparently you've never handled a Colt M1911/M1911A1/Government Model made prior to November 1943 (that has not been shot to pieces), when the Ordnance Department relaxed the tolerance specifications on the M1911A1. Prior to that, the pistols did not "rattle" as many of them do today, and the specs weren't loosened to aid reliability, they were/are very reliable, the specs were loosened to improve parts interchangeability between the several manufacturers of the war time M1911A1s.

good call, again

[Don Glock]

[OD*]

Let's hope they have some of these bugs worked out.

The prototype pistol performed well, though there were a few failures to eject.

It's the bottom edge of the grip safety I have trouble with, it hangs down way too far below the frame tangs for me.

[Don Glock]

Let's hope they have some of these bugs worked out.


It's the bottom edge of the grip safety I have trouble with, it hangs down way too far below the frame tangs for me.

yep, you're right.

that's exactly what i meant when i said the grip safety wasn't blended to the frame properly. that's where it very sharp!

even when fully depressed, it protrudes from the back of the frame--a lot!

[OD*]

Let's hope they listen to their potential customers, Don.

[1911PKR]

Hate to break it to you, but apparently you've never handled a Colt M1911/M1911A1/Government Model made prior to November 1943 (that has not been shot to pieces), when the Ordnance Department relaxed the tolerance specifications on the M1911A1. Prior to that, the pistols did not "rattle" as many of them do today, and the specs weren't loosened to aid reliability, they were/are very reliable, the specs were loosened to improve parts interchangeability between the several manufacturers of the war time M1911A1s.

Those guns were built very loose by todays standards. They were consistently re armoured and by the time VietNam soilders had them, they were nothing short of rattle traps. Very poor weapons at that point.