Remington 1911 R!

[Gene Perryman]

I was seriously considering buying a R1 until I learned they are built with a series 80 firing pen block !!!

Has anyone fired several hundred rds thru one ???

Thanks,
Gene

[bhn22]

I have run several thou through a Series 80 Colt without incident. Is that close enough?

[eljefe]

Most of the 1911 pistols currently being produced have a drop safety installed.
Nearly all Kimbers have one. My Colt 38 super has one, it is a gun that I would not sell or trade for anything.

I have shot and sold many of these, and have not
found them particularly bothersome.

The Remington version is not approved for sale in my state, yet, so I haven't seen
one.

[Char-Gar]

The series 80 internal safety has received a bad rap. When they first came out, folks said they prevented putting a decent trigger pull on the pistols. Well we have quite a few years experience with the design, and it can be said with some authority, that the original bad rap is just pure bunk.

Nostalga is a very strong emotion and it doesn't always work in our favor.

[Angus]

I won't buy one because once again the Remington name has been cheapened. The parts are manufactured in Korea and assembled here in Ilion. Remington needs to cut the **** and start MANUFACTURING a good product, and not charge $150 more for an inferior product to the rest of the market.

[MtGun44]

The problem with the early Series 80 Colts was slop in the firing pin stop fit to the slide. This
permitted the extractor to move a tiny bit and the very small ledge on the extractor which
retains the firing pin lock could move out far enough for the lock to drop down, totally tying up
the gun until you really knew what was going on and had a pin to correct it. Once you knew,
you could 'fix' it temporarily with a pin and about 15 seconds. Still NOT good in a
gunfight!!

Once Colt started selectively fitting the firing pin stops (if it has a stamped number it is selectively
fitted, look just above the firing pin on the rear of the slide) the problem went away. The
Series 80 parts will cost about 1 lb trigger pull weight, but I can reliably make a 3 lb pull which
is lighter than most people should use for a self defense gun anyway. No problem at all
doing a 4 lb pull if you know what you are doing.

If the Remington is the same as the Colt, the issue is tightly fitting the firing pin stop so
that the extractor cannot move fore and aft.

Bill

[ReloaderFred]

I have it on very good authority (really, really good) that EMF is going to produce an original 1911 that is totally made in the U.S., with absolutely no foreign made parts, whatsoever. The frame and slide are made in Arizona. It will also have a Kart barrel, and the price point will be under $600.00. Look for it to be announced sometime this next year. I've had the prototype in my hand, and it's an excellent reproduction of the 1911. It will be called The Hartford 1911.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Gene Perryman]

Further on the R1.......

Talked to Leonard Baity (Baity's Custom Gunworks) and he said that customers have brought several to his shop and they appear to be good guns to shoot as is or to use to build a racegun. He said they are the best going for the price right now.......

He further added that the series 80 firing pin block is no longer an issue......

MtGun44, please advise further on fixing the firing pin block

Thanks,
Gene

[MtGun44]

I presume by 'fixing' you mean 'removing'. If so, then understand that you may be
exposing yourself to liability if the gun ever is involved in ANY accidental discharge
where someone is hurt or killed, even if the firing pin lock would not have affected the
actual accident.

"Well, yes, I did remove one of the safeties on that gun, but it had nothing to do
with the actual accident .... . . " will not be something that 99.9% of the folks out there,
including prosecutors, tort lawyers and judges, will ever be able to relate to at all.

Your gun, do what you want to. The block is easily removed, but ENTIRELY unnecessary
to remove if it follows the Colt pattern. REALLY.

If you get one, take it apart and make some really good pix of the extractor rear portion
with a good macro capable camera and I can tell you if it is "Colt style". You want zero
perceptible slop in the firing pin stop in the slide, and also zero slop between the slot in the
extractor that engages the firing pin stop. If Colt type system and these parts are properly
fitted (Colt uses size numbered firing pin stops that are selectively fitted to eliminate slop)
you will not have a reliability problem and the trigger wt will be right at 1 lb higher than with
the parts out. A good gunsmith can give you a absolutely reliable 3 lb pull trigger with the
parts in place. Most folks should not have lighter on most semi-autos.

Bill

[Tater]

I have a R1 and have put over 1000 rounds through her so far with no problems at all. It is very tight and I have 4 other 1911's, a Taurus, 2 Springfield's and a Colt new model series 70. My R1 is the most accurate of all of them with standard mil-spec ammo. My manual says to use ammo that shoots 230 gr. FMJ loads at 830 fps so that's what I load or load close to that. The best load I have found is 6.4grs of WSF using a Montana Gold fmj bullet. Very accurate. Also 4.5-4.7 grs of WST is a very good load with the same bullet in all my 45's, but the WSF load is a real stand out in the R1. I found this load in the new issue of "Handloader" magazine. I like the R1 and it appears to be well made from what I see. But I'm not an expert on the subject by any means. I only know what works for me. I really like the sights, they are very easy to see and pick up a target with. I can't say anything bad about the R1.

[BD]

All of the 1911 drop safeties I've seen can be fitted so they work reliably without much negative effect on the trigger pull. It's just a few more parts that need fitting. IMHO the need to fit 1911 parts is responsible for 100% of the "reliability issues" with new factory pistols. There is a limit to how much hand fitting can be done to a gun selling under $800 while still making a profit.

BD