[jdittamo]

A friend is trying to sell a Federal Ordnance 1911. I can find very little data on this manufacturer. Can somebody tell me where to find data on these guns and what one of these might be worth in good shape?

Thanks

 

[mdcalvert]

Jdittamo:

Federal Ordnance was a company located in South El Monte, CA. They went out of business a few years back. I visited the company sveral times and bought a couple of Springfield rifles from them. They were a curious company -- on one hand they sold surplus military rifles -- rifles that were obviously used -- but they also built rifles from surplus parts and called them new and unissued. In practical practice, the rifles they built from parts were as good or better than the rifles built in military arsenals. The built a copy of the M14 on their own receiver and it was a so-so peformer. Having said all this, I didn't know that had made copies of 1911 pistol. The history of the company goes back to right after WW2 when the predecessor company, National Ordnance, made up parts rifles from 1903's, and 1917's. That company was located a couple of miles south of El Monte and when it closed, the toolings and assembly machines were held up in a lawsuit. The people who eventually formed FedOrd bought the materials and all the remaining parts from National Ordnance and moved into the warehouse=like building on South Portrero on South El Monte. They were a nice bunch and had a good local rputation for taking care of walkin customers.

Good luck with your pistol. For safety's sake, you might want to have a competent pistolsmith take a look at it and check the fit of parts and safety features.



------------------
MDCalvert
Oak Ridge, TN

 

[ociebell]

They also made retro parts for mauser broom handles.

 

[timg953]

Originally posted by jdittamo:
A friend is trying to sell a Federal Ordnance 1911. I can find very little data on this manufacturer. Can somebody tell me where to find data on these guns and what one of these might be worth in good shape?

Thanks

The Fed Ord 1911 was called the Ranger and was a full sized gun with all the extended parts they made and an alloy frame. They looked good but I don't know how they hold up and you'd want to strip off some of the crap like the exteneded slide stop.