I have a chance to buy this from a friend.

Its marked Raider but no number 000034xxC serial. No box but a few papers.

What do you guys think of these. They seem to be more a collectible than a shooter.

fine, well made guns. the raider is the same as the colt combat commander. i've had a few back in the late 80s, early 90s. wish i had kept them now. they have gone up in price but i wouldn't be afraid to shoot it. that's what they were made for. lee

Totally agree with Lee. That M 1911 is a shooter. Like most production M 1911s it probably could use some TLC in various areas that any pistolsmith familiar with the M 1911 could do in under an hour. You might want to change the stocks to better suit your hand size. I would want to change the sights, but that's just me. Shoot the heck out of it and enjoy every shot. Use a light application of a gun grease on the rails and the barrel and a light oil like Rem Oil on the trigger works. You will be good to go. ........

I still have one of those like new in box. For an early stainless auto, they were well made.

Well made, yes. I had one and lost track of how many rounds I went through before I could get it to shoot. Must of been a couple cases. Now this was mostly through My Ransom Rest. Getting it on target was another chore. Just my experience.

You may want to google "The History of the Randall Firearms Company" for more insight on your pistol. In addition forum.m1911.org has a forum dedicated to Randall.

My Randall bought new in 1983 hangs in a holster on
the bed post next to my head for the last 25 years.

It's a Combat model, and was shot competitively way back
in the day, never any issues, very well built.

A very early one that came with the government hammer instead of
the rounded one. Goodyear grips are original.

Way back, put an extended grip safety and an extended
slide release in it ( still have the original parts ) just to make
it a bit more operator friendly.

There was some concern back in the day about the first
stainless autos galling ( spelling ? ), in the slide rail and barrel area.

I run a grease called Rig + Stainless, still have enough,
that I bought 30+ years ago. The slide rail area and barrel show no
signs of damage.

Randall had the claim back in the day of being the first
100% stainless steel auto, and they did a fine job of it.

Attached Images

	002.JPG (86.5 KB, 47 views)
	003.JPG (87.4 KB, 49 views)

They claimed to be the first full stainless 1911, but even that wasn't true. The AMT Hardballer was the first, starting in 1977. However, Randall was much better in terms of quality.

I remember seeing these when they came out and thinking it was the first gun I saw made by a new unknown firm that I might buy.

I think they forced Colt to make stainless .45's.

My understanding of the Randall claim of 100% stainless was based on every internal part was stainless, and AMT was not.

And yeah, I knew people that bought into the AMT and they were junk.

Anyone remember the left handed version?

The Randall 1911's are excellent guns. The "first" stainless 1911, they are well made, robust, and have attained collector status over the years. They made a few different models, with a left handed version, the Commander size Raider, an Officer style "Curtis LeMay" and several variations of the standard Government Model. You'll pay dearly for one now, but they are still reasonably priced compared to a comparable Colt and with limited production numbers will only continue to increase in value.

Randall marked mags are still readily available on the secondary market in the $30-35 range.

Buy it. You won't regret it.

I have had a few Randall"s and have found them to be a fine 1911 style handgun. I was fortunate a few years ago to find and trade for a Randall in 9 mm. After I did some research i discovered that there was only 232 made in 9 mm and 231 were exported to Europe. My serial number is prior to the manufacturing run of the 9 mm and is a pre-production gun. I will post some pictures as soon as I make some.

Randall had a great reputation back then ~ congrats!

__________________
John
S&WCA Life Member

You answered my next question...

I swore I remembered them having a LH version of the 1911. Maybe early 80s or so?

__________________
Because of the metric system?

After Randall closed their doors, the son re-started production of the Portsider. Unfortunately, it did not survive for long either.

Nice pistola, there.

My neighbor has one in Govt. model size.

I've never shot it but it's a nicely put together pistol.

Might have to talk him into a trip to the range!

I have collected Randalls since I bought a new one in 1983. I have 8 of them including 2 9mm's. I have Curtis E LeMay, Raiders and Combat models. They only made about 10,000 guns total, with 24 models and 12 different variations. Finding one in a Gun Show these days is pretty rare and prices start at $1000 for the most basic combat fixed sight model and go up from there. Left hand models show up on GB once in a while usually starting at $5K.