Surplus 1911s at the Civilian Marksmanship Program?
Awr Hawkins at Breitbart is reporting the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act contains an amendment approving the sales of military surplus 1911 pistols through the Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP).
The move will defray storage costs of some 100,000 pistols, and perhaps recoup a profit by selling the firearms via the CMP, a program that has sold surplus firearms to the public for over 100 years.
The 1911 is one of the most popular handguns ever developed, was used as a military and law enforcement sidearm, and is found in the civilian world as a personal and home defense weapon. These are available to the public from several manufacturers and range from basic 1911s to custom firearms costing serious money for competitive shooting.
Sales have yet to be announced, but if the CMP follows past practices, pistols will be priced according to condition and availability. Latest from the CMP:
“Because of the limited number and the exceedingly high demand for the pistol, and the great level of Congressional scrutiny, the Board of Directors will make a decision regarding how sales will be handled. We have no further information at this time. – Mrs. Judith Legerski, Chairman, CMP Board of Directors”
I have room in my safe for a piece of American history, and I’m sure I’m not alone.
Category: Guns
This could get … spendy.
This could also put “Black Friday” to shame for shopping frenzy.
Plus, prog-tard heads will be exploding like as seen in the final attack on the villain segment of “Kingsman”.
let’s hope they are on sale when i make my way south this march. i have to swing by Aniston anyway for more greek Ball for the M1 Garand…
The one problem with an M1 is making sure you feed it ammo loaded to vintage MILSPEC. I’ve considered getting an after-market op rod for each of my M1s so as to shoot whatever’s handy, but haven’t gotten around to it yet.
Before I retired in 2007, A few of the guys at the gun range I was a member obtained their Garands through the CMP. Had a co worker who rebuilt them offered to give me one for free but I shot them while on active and Reserve duty. Only thing I got out of it was an M-1 thumb. I thought of buying one after all this time but where I live there are no outdoor ranges, and if there are ones but at a distance from where I live, it would not be worth it. Am getting used to my new Springfield XDE .09MM single stack/exposed hammer.
Yeah, but has that XDE gotten you laid? My M1 has. Priorities must be kept straight!
Oldie but goody saying. No wonder I’ve heard that numerous times over the years. Don’t you mean laid, relayed and parlayed?
There is a replacement gas plug with an adjustable vent. This allows “tuning” pressure to prevent damage to the M-1 operating rod.
Basically, open it fully, then close it a bit on each shot until it just cycles.
You might only need a good current production stainless steel recoil spring. They really make a difference in the smoothness and reliability of the rifle’s operation.
It would help if you guys just quite drooling. I’m sure there will be plenty to go around.
Au contraire! A gentleman (I use the term loosely here) may never have too much whiskey, too many books, or too many guns.
Or too much ammo, too many fishing poles, too much fishing tackle,..
Any Man being told by a Woman that he has too many guns can just simply turn around and tell her she has WAY too many shoes!
MARSOC probably has among the newest 1911s in inventory. They made a substantial order from Colt Firearms within the last 10 yrs or so, and reversed course a couple yrs ago going to Glock 19 as the primary sidearm like the rest of USSOCOM.
The pistols will most likely end up on the CMP auction site and will be untouchable. An example of this is when M1 carbines were selling from $2000-$4000 at auction. My Remington/Rand U.S marked 1911 was found in pawn shop for less.
Just bought the wife $800 worth of jewelry, I think she’ll let me get a pistol…might make me get her one first.
I bought a Remington Rand 1911 from a Korean War vet. Shoots as straight as the Remington Rand I shot at Bragg. Buying from CMP might be a cheap way to own a Colt.
Jonn; When I was in the ANGUS out of Huntington Station, Huntington LI NY, 1975-1977,we had Remington 1911″s and when you shook it, it sounded like a bunch of loose junk in a garbage can. I think the bushings were loose. Long time ago.
Remington Rand made nearly a million 1911s in Syracuse from 1942 – 1945 where they had made business machines (typewriters and adding machines) before the war.
The one I used at Bragg was accurate enough to help me win the XVIIIth Airborne Corps pistol competition, but the secret was to let carbon buildup in the barrel bushing to tighten it up.
*Adding to Christmas wish list*
Yes, yes, yes!
A guy can never have enough 1911s
Why shoot a .45 1911 ?
Because shooting anything else is just… Silly…
Because tupperware never killed a nazi!
OR a Commie!
Might want to paint with a narrower brush there, API.
When the M16 came out, it was roundly criticized for it’s “plastic” stock (among other things) because “real rifles have wooden stocks”. I seem to recall that Mattel actually made some of the stock components (and put their corporate logo on same). That didn’t help, either.
Nonetheless, I seem to remember that the M16 may have taken out a VC/NVA or two during the Vietnam War. And probably a few NK infiltrators over the years, too.
The materials used to make a weapon are important. But the overall design – and the accuracy that can be achieved by the average shooter under real-world conditions – is far more important. If using composite materials in a design can help the average shooter shoot better without unduly compromising longevity, well, what’s not to like?
Because they didn’t make a .46 1911.
The Colt Gold Cup 1970 series cost me $273.00 tax included back in 1974. I wonder if these CMP’s will sell at a low price.
Will they come with the takedown scratch?
OK, so if one had a choice, would one want a newer one or an older one? Would a Colt be better than another maker? If one got more than one, is it better to have duplicates or a nice selection of different ages/makers?
Asking for a friend.
There are a ton of options. I have two S&W 1911 pistols and they are excellent, never given me a issue. The Colts coming out now are better than the ones from the late 70’s and 80’s. Also look at Springfield Armory, Kimber, Remington (which are Para Ordanance) and for a basic one Rock Island or Thompson. Anyone know some more, chime in, those are the ones that come to mind.
I have two older Colts, a Commander Series 70 and a Government Model Series 80. They are good but the current versions blow them away. The only model I have reservations about are SIGs. They are either Excellent or junk. Several people at my club have them and either rave about them or complain that they bought them.
It is nice to have a lot of options, back in the 70’s when I started shooting you either had a Colt or military surplus. The ones that are coming from CMP should be interesting. I am sure there will be grades like the M1, ranging from excellent to a good starting point for a custom gun. Just my 2 cents.
I have two SIGs (a Scorpion Carry and a Spartan full size) and I have no problems with them. My Colt Defender, however, jams a lot. My Colt Double Eagle (in 10mm) is flawless.
Every manufacturer seems to have good and bad batches. My Kimber runs flawlessly, but I’ve heard people bitch about them. Both of my Springfield Armory 1911s (a GI model and a MILSPEC model) are good guns about which I have no complaints, but they both had a 100-150 round break-in period during which they ran like ass. Once broke in, however, they were great. I know Colt had a period of shit quality for a while that they have yet to fully live down. Heard good and bad (though mostly good) about Armscor and Rock Island guns. SIGs and S&Ws seem to be “Love ‘em or hate ‘em” (personally, not sure I’d call anything with an external extractor a 1911). GI surplus guns are most likely beat to absolute shit, given how old and high-mileage most of them are—probably still cycle ball ammo just fine, though.
Jonn, one of my shooting friends has one and he swears by it. My other buddy has one and it has been a jamamatic. A number of people at my club have had to send them back to SIG, luckily they are only up the road from us. Maybe it is the Monday/Friday syndrome.
You have a true Unicorn, Double Eagle in 10mm! I didn’t think they made one in 10mm.
I have a couple different kimber models that I love, one of which is the desert warrior, and the other is a custom II that I like to call my “frankenkimber” because only the slide and frame are still kimber. They both run flawlessly though. My favorite, though many purists would disagree with me, is my STI 2011 in .38 super. Either way, all three of them beat the living hell out of the beretta.
STI guns are not 1911s. Not saying they’re bad guns, but they ain’t 1911s. 1911s don’t have bushingless bull barrels and reverse guide rods and all that crap.
Thanks, all. Will pass that along.
One more question – am fairly certain this individual would only be interested in something much older than it sounds like any of these might be – is it fair to assume that these for sale are likely to have all been manufactured in the past few decades?
You can get older Colts. Most gun shops have them. The ones in the CMP were all made before 1946. They haven’t made military ones since that time.
There were NO M1911A1 pistols manufactured after the end of WW2. In the 1960’s some parts guns made out of left over parts were assembled to send to South Vietnam. Of note, the steel in the old WW2 guns was somewhat softer than in modern firearms. Some of them were supposedly melted down to make manhole covers.
Generally speaking almost any 1911 design is probably going to be more accurate than you are, and unless you have a really off example they are easily fixed till they are. Admittedly my experience with arms rooms .45s terminated in the mid ’80s, but even then we found that the folks who complained loudest about how crappy and unrelible their .45s were, generally were also lousy shots with anything they laid their hands on. Used to carry a Combat Commander which had been tightened up a bit, was throated and polished, and had competition trigger and bushing installed – lent it more than once to sneering 2LTs who KNEW they were the reincarnation of Deadeye Dick, and watched them shoot two-foot patterns.
I know it is heresy, however being the heretic that I am, I like the older (2010) SigSaur P220 in .45ACP, single stack.
It eats everything I’ve ever fed it. I have to use dummy rounds to practice misfires and haven’t had a failure to feed yet. (I’m sure one is coming, but to date no F2F.)
::taking cover::
Graybeard, BURN THE WITCH!!!! Just kidding, my winter carry gun is a Glock 21. Always liked the P220, keep saying I am going to get one. In all the years I have been shooting, I have never owned a SIG. I need to rectify that!
I got lucky enough to get the CFO to let me drop the bucks on this one. It is engraved with the coat of arms of our son’s unit when he was in Iraq, what I think got me the pass, although she was not happy.
I got no complaints.
I have one of the Ruger .45 Commanders, and I think it is superior to the Colt product. The only thing Colt really made well in about the last 20 years was their M1911 reproduction, and that happened when General Keyes was in charge of Colt.
Um…………I need a smoke, now. I’ll be back later. Much later.
Bought an M1 back in the DCM days. Turned out to be a Frankenrifle, but tight and accurate. Put 100 rounds through to check zero and 500m accuracy, greased it well….and parked it in the safe since 1979.
With only 100,000 pistols to be available, this is gonna look like a Chicago Wal-Mart on black Friday.
Will they do this with the M9 (Beretta 92FS), I wonder?
Who knows…. makes a good paperweight… we used to call them “chow guns” in Iraq, because you were required to carry your weapon and at least one full magazine with you when you went to the chow hall, so those of us lucky enough to be issued pistols were always envied by those poor bastards lugging their SAWs and boat-paddle m-16s to the DFAC. I kept mine as clean as possible, wiped the sand out of it religiously, and even took the rounds out of at least two magazines and wiped them down, each round and each magazine, before every patrol, and it STILL refused to feed properly most of the time. Even bought aftermarket magazines for it and still had the same issue. Total crap gun if you ask me, especially in a sandy environment. And the damn safety/hammer decock lever is stupidly counterintuitive to anyone who grew up shooting 1911s!