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Old 01-17-2016, 02:09 AM
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Stranglehold Stranglehold is offline
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Join Date: Mar 2007
Location: Michigan
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Originally Posted by WATCHDOG View Post
This is my favorite. What a priceless heirloom. Fantastic photograph. I can't imagine having something like that. I'm almost speechless. I would love to see more detailed photographs of this pistol. Please?
It's been quite a few years since I took staged photos of this gun and quite a few were lost when a computer crashed, but I'll post what I have, along with a bit of it's story.



My father was never interested in hunting and although he could not be termed a “gun guy”, he made sure I had a BB or pellet gun when I was young and always encouraged my hunting and shooting endeavors as I grew. Years later I did my best to return the favor and nudge him into hunting with me. Although we would shoot together on occasion, I was never fully successful and he was content to limit his hunting to eliminating the sparrows and starlings that tried to nest under the eaves of his house with an old Crosman air rifle I gave him one Christmas.

Most of the firearms I inherited upon his death were those I gave him as gifts over the years, the glaring exception being this Remington Rand 1911A1 that he carried in WWII while he served as a sergeant with the 114th, 44th Infantry Division, and saw action in France, Germany and Austria. A few other guns came back with him from the war, including a German drilling, but the .45 was the only one he kept, a clear testament to its importance to him.



He, like many WWII vets, disliked reliving his memories of the war and would seldom go into any details of his service, even when, as a kid, I would beg for stories. He did explain this 1911 was not issued to him but was recovered from the body of a fallen friend, carried the rest of the war, then returned to the States with him on the Queen Elizabeth, upon the end of hostilities. Much of what I know of the history of the "Fighting 44th" I have researched since his death. 44th Infantry Division - United States is a great resource for anyone interested.



The Remington Rand spent many years in his nightstand drawer, where I would often sneak it out when I got home from school. I could field strip and reassemble that pistol faster than any GI by the time I was 10, long before he actually let me shoot it. Looking back, I realized long ago my fascination with firearms, handguns in particular, began with this pistol. I shot this gun in IPSC competition one season while waiting for a custom 1911 to be built, and took great pleasure when I was able to beat those with fancy $2000 race guns. Years later, when the time came to put down a canine companion, out of many choices available, it's the gun I reached for.

I consider the pistol mostly retired now, but every Memorial weekend I slip it out of the safe and myself, my wife, and my twin daughters run a few magazines of hardball through the old warhorse in remembrance. They are all well aware of it's heirloom status, all else I own are just...guns.



Roe

Last edited by Stranglehold; 01-17-2016 at 03:03 PM.
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