I have a USGI 5 digit 1913 date issued to the USS Texas, never fired.

1943 Remington-Rand.

One of the CMP 1911A1's, Ithaca slide on a RR from 1943.

I always checked out the one Singer 1911 we had at my first station. They were only signed out for our duty day and weren’t permanently issued.

Wish I could have kept it somehow. When you shook it, it sounded like a rock in a 55gallon drum, but I shot expert with it every time. We had a Bunch other brands, colt, Remington, and maybe one Ithaca. Don’t remember any other makers....one of them was a real 1911 not an A1, and was stamped with a USMC on it. No one ever checked it out.

My first 1911 was a colt commander in stainless, wish I’d have never sold thAt gun.

Now I only have a STI2011. It’s not the same though.

original made in 1918

Highly Modded Springfield GI with WWII Wide Ring Grips, stub thumb safety and Wide Spur Hammer.
A shooter, not a safe queen.

No. 236783 made in 1918 according to Colt’s website. I picked it up for $525 a few years ago. It has been refinished but I couldn’t afford an unmolested one.

My "oldest" is a GSG in .22lr that I bought in 2016

We have a 1911 that was passed on from one family member to another. Thus WW1-WW2-Korea-VietNam (Twice) and finally Iraq. My nephew is the present recipient.

No pic but it's a 1943, Remington-Rand with all original parts...probably 95% condition and most likely a DCM purchase by its original owner. It'll feed anything my Colts and Rugers well eat, and is every bit as accurate. I have found that I really like its short trigger vs. the modern longer reach models on most commercial 1911's. Rod

My oldest 1911 is the first one I ever shot. In the 1970s a friend of my Dad gave us a Remington Rand that his brother had brought back from WWII. It is still a great shooter.

Got the picture this afternoon. Colt early 1943 born on date...but records show was shipped between Oct 22 1942 and November 10th 1942 for serial number range

This message has been edited. Last edited by: FlyingScot,

A Remington 1945. These are great.

1934 1911C that my Grandfather carried in WWII. They were allowed to carry their personal sidearms in WWII.

He bought it while on leave in Chicago (with an Army calvary buddy) from Fort Bliss in El Paso ... bought it from a hardware store in Chicago. I've got the receipts for the purchase and some of the original surplus ammo he still had with it.

As he was leaving the hardware store, his buddy had a street vendor take a picture of him in a fedora and double breasted suit, smoking a cigarette. That picture is framed in my home.

As the story goes, as he told it to me ... he left the pistol at the hardware store and was supposed-to pick it up the next day because they were headed to a speak easy run by Paul Ricci an associate of Frank Nitti's. His buddy (from Chicago) advised that he not carry the pistol that night knowing they would get drunk and fearing that the pistol would incite problems. He was thankful for that advice years later in retrospect as he did get drunk and a ruckus broke out at the speak easy. He spent two nights in jail and they barely made it back to the train station in time on Sunday to head back to Bliss. The owner of the hardware store lived upstairs and they managed to get him to come down and give him the pistol after he got out of jail and just in time to get to the station. The owner of the store was a WWI vet and gave him some extra ammo that Sunday morning. He always considered it his lucky ammo and he saved it for an emergency.

It was during the 18 Months of Mayhem in the U.S. when Bonnie and Clyde, John Dillinger, et al, were on the loose.

It is my prized possession.




I paid Colt to do the background (Letter of Provenance) on the pistol and they confirmed that it was sold to a hardware store in Chicago that matches the receipt for $24.11 that is in my possession. My Grandmother also confirmed the story in a letter to me in 2001. She married my Grandfather two months after his return.

It was the first pistol I ever shot as a ten year old boy while visiting them in Florida in the mid 60s.

Wow, what a great story. Thanks for sharing & I hope you’re able to pass down that 1911 to a future generation in your family.

GP: What a cool story and photos! Thanks for sharing!

My oldest 1911 is a 1973 Colt Gold Cup National Match which I spent many months working to buy, and used in local NRA matches and shooting with the ROTC at a College nearby. In the same lineage, but considerably older, is my great grandfather's 1903 Colt Officer's .32 acp, which he carried periodically while he was Governor of Wisconsin in the late 1920's.

quote:

Originally posted by Dakor:
Wow, what a great story. Thanks for sharing & I hope you’re able to pass down that 1911 to a future generation in your family.

quote:

Originally posted by Mr.9mm:
GP: What a cool story and photos! Thanks for sharing!

Sure guys, my pleasure. Helps to keep the memory of Popbill alive. He was a helluva guy. Taught me about woodsmanship, hunting, fishing, shooting, farming and horses in particular. That 1911 was his pride and joy though. It was on his nightstand when he was home and in his glove box when he was in his truck ... went with him everywhere. It was literally part of him.

I used to shoot it quite a bit but quit doing-so some years ago. This thread made me pull it out of the safe and wipe it down real good this morning. I'm always grateful for the chance to share the story with fellow 1911 fans. I have several, but this one remains my most cherished of all my firearms.

I will definitely be handing it off to my Son one day as my Dad did to me. It went from my Grandfather to my Dad and now to me, well into my 60s and actually older now than my Grandfather was when he passed.

My wife used to work for Union Switch and Signal and, by pure luck thanks to someone she worked with, I have a WWII Union Switch and Signal made 1911 as well that I will leave to my youngest daughter's husband. The other two son-in-laws will get a couple of newer models to hand down to my other grandkids if they hurry up and get busy making more grandkids.

Kinda funny how all of that works. How we chose what to hand down to whom. Popbill was my mother's father ... he left the pistol to my Dad (via my Grandmother actually) who handed it down to me.

I dunno, anyways, I ramble. This has all brought back a lot of good old memories. Thanks guys.

quote:

Originally posted by hjs157:
1944 Colt 1911A1 w/ Western (Boulder, CO) "blue blade" pilot's survival knife.

I love that Western, I have never seen one before. Is it an original?

quote:

Originally posted by Gallo Pazzesco:
1934 1911C that my Grandfather carried in WWII.

Fantastic story! Thanks.