Who can fill me in on this early 1911?

EEC is the inspector's stamp. They are his initials. Usually an ordnance officer assigned to each factory. Not sure who EEC is. Someone else will be able to tell you from their reference material.

It is a Remington UMC M1911 made in 1919. The EEC initials are for Major Edmund E. Chapman, whose inspector intials went on Remington UMC pistols. The RIA stands for Rock Island Arsenal. The parkerized finish tells me your gun was a post-WW2 arsenal rebuild. The grips are plain checkered wood, which probably was added later by a civilian owner. Most rebuilds ended up with WW2-vintage plastic grips. You're lucky that the rest of the parts appear correct, and not grossly mismatched. Check the barrel. An original Remington UMC barrel should be marked only with a P on either the top of the chamber hood or on the lower lug.

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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://usgi1911.tripod.com

[This message has been edited by dsk (edited 11-17-2001).]

Thanks. Looks like I did OK. The only marking on the barrel is indeed a "P" on one of the lugs.

dsk...you are the Mr. 1911 historian...

I'm not nearly as "up" on the WW1 guns as the WW2, but Remington UMC guns are fairly rare in original shape. Even one such as this that is refinished may be worth collector's prices eventually, since it sounds like it has all its original parts except for the grips.

I'm moving this topic to USGI, where it really belongs. Maybe there Ben or Scott will have something to say about it.

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D. Kamm
USGI M1911/M1911A1 Pistols Website
http://usgi1911.tripod.com