I was at my local Dunham's sports a few weeks ago getting Ammo, when I noticed they had a sale on some guns.
While browsing, one caught my eye, in both looks and price.
The Remington Mil Spec 1911 R1 in stainless steel.
I've always liked 1911s, and have owned, traded and sold a number of them over the years, and I really missed having one.
I went home and read some reviews on it. It seemed to be the usual 'It's not a Colt...' comments over and over. I am not, nor have I even been a Kimber person, as I've seen a number of angry owners who had just bought a $2,000 Kimber, returning it to a dealer, slide hopelessly frozen in place.
I didn't want anything 'fancy' just a good shooter and simple.
I'd read a number of reviews on the Remington where the owner complained of ammo feed issues, burrs, jams, etc.
Despite this, I took the plunge and purchased one.
I got it home, and it's packed nicely in a cardboard box with foam insert. 2 7 round stainless magazines, a bushing wrench, a small packet of Rem Oil, and lots of papers.
The first thing I did was tear it apart (thank goodness for the barrel bushing, as it's a tight fitting gun!).
I went over each piece with my eyes and hands, looking for anything that didn't belong. (burrs, rough spots, imperfections, etc)
I could not find a single issue! (WHEW!)
The Remington 1911 R1 is made in the USA, machined from quality steel, hand fitted, range tested, and then packaged (if a problem is found during testing, it's sent back down the line for work).
I could see the gun has been fired from the trace residue on the bolt face.
I cleaned it, just out of habit, lubed it up with a little BreakFree CLP (I'm old school) and reassembled it.
Off to the range I went!
I brought 100 rounds of Fiocche 230gr FMJs with me, as well as some professionally handloaded LSWCs for experimentation.
I had the two factory mags, 1 chip macCormick stainless mag, an unbranded stainless mag and 3 blued milspec mags. (I had some old mags from previous guns laying around)
Shooting at 25 feet, I got some decent groupings, with a few fliers. Groups were consistently low and to the left. (I haven't shot in a few years) It was me, and not the gun!
Occasionally a round would not go all the way into battery, and I'd have to nudge the slide forward lightly. (Maybe 6 times in 10 mags of ammo)
After about 10 mags, the incidence lessened.
After, I put 2 mags of the LSWC together, and they all shot with no issues! (I'd read of a couple users saying nothing but ball ammo could be shot through theirs)
The initial result:
1) I needed more range time and needed to concentrate on my grip and flinch reflex!
2) A few rounds didn't load all the way, but a tap on the back of the slide completed the motion.
3) Gun shot decent groupings, should get better with more practice.
4) The unbranded stainless magazine I had did not like to feed the pistol, so I tossed it back in the range bag. The rest were all good.
I took it home, and again tore it down, cleaned it, examined it for burrs, or any other issue. Found no problems. Lubed and reassembled it.
I took it out again yesterday.
This time, I shot the remaining Fiocche, some CCI Blazer Brass AND some Herter's Aluminum cased Nylon Jacketed ammo I have laying around.
NOT ONE SINGLE FEED ISSUE! No stovepipes, nothing! VERY HAPPY!
Better yet, was my groups were better and closer to the bullseye.
Conclusion:
I really love the look, feel and performance of this gun!
A USA-made, machined, hand built 1911 for about what many of the imported, cast models sell for!
The retail on the Stainless model is $799. The Sale price at Dunham's was $629 AND there is a $50 rebate from Remington! $579!!!
****I'll pause while you check the Dunham's weekly ad to see if it's on sale again...****
If you've stuck with me this far, I thank you for reading this review. Happy Shooting!!
While browsing, one caught my eye, in both looks and price.
The Remington Mil Spec 1911 R1 in stainless steel.
I've always liked 1911s, and have owned, traded and sold a number of them over the years, and I really missed having one.
I went home and read some reviews on it. It seemed to be the usual 'It's not a Colt...' comments over and over. I am not, nor have I even been a Kimber person, as I've seen a number of angry owners who had just bought a $2,000 Kimber, returning it to a dealer, slide hopelessly frozen in place.
I didn't want anything 'fancy' just a good shooter and simple.
I'd read a number of reviews on the Remington where the owner complained of ammo feed issues, burrs, jams, etc.
Despite this, I took the plunge and purchased one.
I got it home, and it's packed nicely in a cardboard box with foam insert. 2 7 round stainless magazines, a bushing wrench, a small packet of Rem Oil, and lots of papers.
The first thing I did was tear it apart (thank goodness for the barrel bushing, as it's a tight fitting gun!).
I went over each piece with my eyes and hands, looking for anything that didn't belong. (burrs, rough spots, imperfections, etc)
I could not find a single issue! (WHEW!)
The Remington 1911 R1 is made in the USA, machined from quality steel, hand fitted, range tested, and then packaged (if a problem is found during testing, it's sent back down the line for work).
I could see the gun has been fired from the trace residue on the bolt face.
I cleaned it, just out of habit, lubed it up with a little BreakFree CLP (I'm old school) and reassembled it.
Off to the range I went!
I brought 100 rounds of Fiocche 230gr FMJs with me, as well as some professionally handloaded LSWCs for experimentation.
I had the two factory mags, 1 chip macCormick stainless mag, an unbranded stainless mag and 3 blued milspec mags. (I had some old mags from previous guns laying around)
Shooting at 25 feet, I got some decent groupings, with a few fliers. Groups were consistently low and to the left. (I haven't shot in a few years) It was me, and not the gun!
Occasionally a round would not go all the way into battery, and I'd have to nudge the slide forward lightly. (Maybe 6 times in 10 mags of ammo)
After about 10 mags, the incidence lessened.
After, I put 2 mags of the LSWC together, and they all shot with no issues! (I'd read of a couple users saying nothing but ball ammo could be shot through theirs)
The initial result:
1) I needed more range time and needed to concentrate on my grip and flinch reflex!
2) A few rounds didn't load all the way, but a tap on the back of the slide completed the motion.
3) Gun shot decent groupings, should get better with more practice.
4) The unbranded stainless magazine I had did not like to feed the pistol, so I tossed it back in the range bag. The rest were all good.
I took it home, and again tore it down, cleaned it, examined it for burrs, or any other issue. Found no problems. Lubed and reassembled it.
I took it out again yesterday.
This time, I shot the remaining Fiocche, some CCI Blazer Brass AND some Herter's Aluminum cased Nylon Jacketed ammo I have laying around.
NOT ONE SINGLE FEED ISSUE! No stovepipes, nothing! VERY HAPPY!
Better yet, was my groups were better and closer to the bullseye.
Conclusion:
I really love the look, feel and performance of this gun!
A USA-made, machined, hand built 1911 for about what many of the imported, cast models sell for!
The retail on the Stainless model is $799. The Sale price at Dunham's was $629 AND there is a $50 rebate from Remington! $579!!!
****I'll pause while you check the Dunham's weekly ad to see if it's on sale again...****
If you've stuck with me this far, I thank you for reading this review. Happy Shooting!!
