Rem 1911R1

[PJ Hardtack]

Just got home from a trip to southern Alberta, visiting all the historic sites in 1860s Royal Engineer uniform, my wife in period dress. Good time and we saw a lot of great guns.
My new Rem 1911R1 was waiting for me when we arrived back home. I've been trying to find something about it I don't like and I can't ..... ;>)  I like the matte blue finish. Not quite military, but not glossy blue either.
I wish it wasn't a Series '80 type with the trigger gizmo, but I've found that if I make a point of pressing the short trigger with just the pad of my finger, I get a clean break, a little on the hard side. I can live with it for now.

The mags were impressive; a different type of follower than any other mag I own. The spring was also different, the coils getting smaller near the top. All my other mags fit and drop free. The feed ramp is smooth and the barrel throat looks like the one in my Gold Cup, so I expect reliable feeding.

It's got all the mods I'd put on a 1911 - straight mainspring housing, sights, lowered and flared ejection port, double diamond checkered grips, long tang. Looks more 'martial' than my Series '70 Gold Cup with all it's bells, gongs and whistles.

I could live without the 'loaded chamber' indicator, but it's not a bad idea. The mag well bevelling is good, but it didn't include the rear of the mag well. I could do it, but then the gun would contravene SASS rules for 'factory only' mods.

Really looking forward to shooting it!

[Old Doc]

I have had mine for about a month now and am very taken with it. I've shot about 150 rounds of hardball w/o any problems at all. I plan to test it with hollowpoints just as soon as I can find a liquor store to rob to finance it. I too was impressed by the quality of the mags. Unlike you ,I have not torn them down but I notice they are very smooth when loading rounds. Mine are the 8 round factory mags with bumper pads but I have on order two standard 7 round mags.

[PJ Hardtack]

Old Doc

I like the fact that the Rem mags have numbered 'witness holes', something long over due on pistol mags. These make a round count dead simple for ROs and loading table supervision.
I have a plethora of mags from my IPSC days when I was feeding two Colt 1911s; some weighted (SASS illegal) and many others stashed NIB. All insert and drop from the Rem R1 just fine.
Gonna shoot it tonight hopefully - 215 SWCs and 230 RN, both lead.

[PJ Hardtack]

Shot the Rem 1911R1 last night .....

The accuracy was superb, no problem to group 5 rds into a 2" group offhand at 20 yds with both loads I took. But ....
I had a couple of failures to return to battery.
I attribute these to the mags, one of which came apart in the gun on the last round, ejecting the follower into the ejection port - TWICE!
The other mag will not lock back the slide. I disassembled and reassembled the mags at home a number of times, and even substituted followers from other mags - no dice.
I didn't have any other mags with me at the time, but all my other mags function perfectly with dummy rds and lock back the slide.
The dealer will replace the mags no problem. Not a good start with a new gun .... ;>)

[Old Doc]

Shot the Rem 1911R1 last night .....

The accuracy was superb, no problem to group 5 rds into a 2" group offhand at 20 yds with both loads I took. But ....
I had a couple of failures to return to battery.
I attribute these to the mags, one of which came apart in the gun on the last round, ejecting the follower into the ejection port - TWICE!
The other mag will not lock back the slide. I disassembled and reassembled the mags at home a number of times, and even substituted followers from other mags - no dice.
I didn't have any other mags with me at the time, but all my other mags function perfectly with dummy rds and lock back the slide.
The dealer will replace the mags no problem. Not a good start with a new gun .... ;>)

So much for the two of us being impressed by the mags ! I have shot about two hundred rounds of hardball through mine, evenly divided between the factory mags, a brand new Novak mag and a Wilson mag. I had no malfunctions and the slide locked back every time.

[royal barnes]

I put about 250 rounds through mine when I first got it with no malfunctions but I was using Colt mags because the Remington mags "just didn't feel right on lockup or extraction". I switched to the factory mags today and had several failures, mostly not going completely into battery. The factory mags will go into my range bag but will not be used in competition.

[PJ Hardtack]

It cost $14.50 to ship the two factory mags back to the dealer. If the replacement mags don't work, I'll be contacting Remington directly re: replacement - and I won't be shipping the bad mags at my expense! Now I wish I had asked for another brand of magazine.

The gun itself has been a joy to shoot so far (with non-Rem mags) ......

Yesterday I put a young lady thru' familiarization with the 1911. She did well, quickly losing her fear of the awesome .45 ACP.
A fellow on the range was shooting his ported .44 Mag S&W off hand at a 24"x18" gong at 100 yds, not hitting, but very close with all rds. The young lady asked if the 1911 .45 could hit that far away.
A couple of days earlier, I had been plinking a SASS 'Cowboy' sil at 100 yds, so I knew the answer ..... the 'Clang!' of the bullet was most gratifying. This gun can shoot!