1944 Remington Rand

[Retired W4]

This is another one of mine, a 1944 Ithaca. During the war 39,592 of these were sent to England as Lend-Lease guns. This one is from of a shipment of 1500 that went to Longue Pointe Ordnance Depot, Montreal, Canada on 8/16/44. It was released from British service in 1952

Yep, by that time the Brits were replacing them with FN High Powers, and those Ithicas were U.S. property (Lend Lease).

 

[VaTom]

According to my hero, Mr. Charles W. Clawson, Remington Rand made the best 1911A1's in WW II. I have a 1943 and a 1945 that have not gone back to arsenal rebuild. Determining that condition requires knowing when, in serial number sequence, certain stampings were applied (before or after finish) and looking for burnishing inside the numbers/letters.

I have another RR that was redone by Springfield Armory (SA) that was one of the duplicate serial numbers from Colts encroachment into RR's SN block. Colt customer service would, and did tell me the gun was made by Colt. The dead give away, among other things: Frank Atwood (FJA) never inspected Colts.

The other intriguing item about Remington Rand is their subsidiary, General Shaver, who made magazines for their parent company's pistols. They are very distinctive and every self respecting RR pistol should have at least one.

This is the 1945 version. Remington Rand's last pistol was 2465139, so this is one of their last, and likely was never issued due to VE Day.

Great information^^^^ If I am correct at the initial start up Remington Rand had a problem with compatibility of parts with the other manufacturers 1911A1, but after they got rolling on the production, they made the best one. The General Shaver magazines have a seam down the back as seen in your photo. G stenciled on the top of the toe. I have one for my Ithaca

 

[jscheck]

Poorly done pictures added!

 

[Retired W4]

Great information^^^^ If I am correct at the initial start up Remington Rand had a problem with compatibility of parts with the other manufacturers 1911A1, but after they got rolling on the production, they made the best one. The General Shaver magazines have a seam down the back as seen in your photo. G stenciled on the top of the toe. I have one for my Ithaca

Not so much compatibility but internal management problems and the lack of parts which had to come from other sub-contractors.
They had never made pistols before, like other makers, and they had to build a new facility, etc. They were very aggressive and innovative in their production techniques and quickly became the #1 producer of 1911A1's. New management got the rejection rate way down. This was also when they started to use the new "NO" serial number prefix. Most every industrial company was all in on supporting the war effort. I even have a bomber signaling flare gun made by Eurika Vacuum Cleaner Company. General Shaver made razor blades before the war.