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Rand's, Singer's, and other stuff

1335 Views 13 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Ben Reyes
I admit it, I am quite fond of my time spent in the military. Some of my most memorable experiences occurred at the range. I remember when we had 7,000 extra 45 acp rds. that had to be shot up. Twenty of us went to the range that day with 9 Gi issue 45's. There were Colts, 2 Remington Rands and a Singer. First off these pistols had been well shot prior to our range visit. When you held the antique pieces in your hand there was a sense of pride and thoughts of past heroes who may have been issued the pistol previously (I have never had that feeling about an M-16). When you shook the pistol, thoughts of concern entered your head... will this pistol actually sustain another 700 rds. If one of these were carried into battle today, the enemy would most certainly hear you coming.
Anyway, we took turns with the pistols until we had each fired all 9. Most weren't very accurate but a couple would hold 4-5 inch groups at 25 yds. Not bad for a pre-WWII firearm and GI ball ammo. I can remember asking one of my buddies on the firing line about the Singer. What in the heck is a sewing machine company making pistols for?
Then one of the range cadre proceeded to supply me with yet another history lesson. Too bad the Army ditched the 45. I sir am one of your biggest fans.
John

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Cool story as most have never even seen a Singer in gun(person). I guess the Army still has a few huh? Or was it a long time ago? You did'nt put the era of your experience. As far as semi auto pistols go we all are with you 100% on the 1911s.
Redzone,
I left the Army in 1995 after 11 yrs of service. I don't know what happened to the remaining 1911's the military had. Perhaps someone here could enlighten us. I shot the 45's in question back in 1988 while at Ft. Bragg, N.C.. Have loved the 1911 ever since.
John

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Well, let's hope that the Singer was offered for sale to a member of the military at some point, like some of the depots did when the M1911A1 was stricken from the list in 1992. Otherwise it would've been scrapped like all the rest.


The other hope is that it was just a mixmaster anyway, with somebody else's frame.

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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://www.geocities.com/M1911_M1911A1

[This message has been edited by dsk (edited 08-01-2001).]
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Does the military really scrap anything? I mean as small as a gun is. And they have planes, tanks, Jeeps, ships from many wars from long ago. Sitting in harbors, museums, deserts, etc etc. Please don't tell me the singer oldcolt shot could be a belt buckle or something. Or does the thought of a crying man not make you change your mind?
The military wouldn't care. However, I'm sure at least a few of the remaining Singers got smuggled out of military arms rooms since they've been considered valuable for quite some time.

The biggest problem regarding Singers right now is that there are probably ten times as many fakes out there as genuine examples. These days, if you tell somebody you have a Singer they're either not going to believe you or else think you've got one of the fakes. It would really be a service to the collector's community if all the surviving examples could somehow be located and documented, so that all the faux Singers could be weeded out.

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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://www.geocities.com/M1911_M1911A1
Speaking of Singer's, #58 is listed on Gunsamerica...

Wish there was some pic's, may have to contact the seller, but at $26k, i seriously soubt I'd be buying...
The guy from Huntington Beach, right? He's the biggest faker of all! He actually advertised a "matched, consecutively numbered pair" of Singers recently!


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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://www.geocities.com/M1911_M1911A1

[This message has been edited by dsk (edited 08-21-2001).]
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Kind of like the 98% 1905 Colt he has with
a poor condition bore.
I have my suspicions that the Singer departed our unit when the armorer did. He always kept a keen eye on that weapon. He also made a point of revealing the value of that piece over the others. I dont know how he could have pulled it off as the Army keeps good accountability of its weapons (especially during peacetime).

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Originally posted by oldcolt:
I have my suspicions that the Singer departed our unit when the armorer did. He always kept a keen eye on that weapon. He also made a point of revealing the value of that piece over the others. I dont know how he could have pulled it off as the Army keeps good accountability of its weapons (especially during peacetime).

Issues of theft aside, if that is true then it's good that Capt. Crunch didn't get it instead.



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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://www.geocities.com/M1911_M1911A1

[This message has been edited by dsk (edited 08-21-2001).]
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Ben... You live down by the guy in Huntington Beach... You ought to try and make a date to see it, and see if you can get some pics, and report back...

I'd be interested in learning if it's the real deal... I'm betting it's not, but one never knows...
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