Remington 1911 R1 - Who is right

Here's a copy of the email I sent Remington & the response I just got today. And as an aside, I said the article was in Shooting Times, it was actually in Shooting Illustrated. Anyway, here's my email & Their reply - I think I should maybe have been more specific...

Hi,

I bought a 1911 R1 and it is flawless! It’s early still but with 250 rounds fired it functions perfectly. I really like this gun!

I read in the June 2010 Shooting Times article that Carlos Martinez said both slides & frames are made in-house, and the article also said that barrels and most other parts would be soon.

I’m seeing on various forums where some people are posting the slides & frames are outsourced.

Two questions:


1) Are the frames & slides made in-house at Ilion, or are they procured from outside sources?

2) Is there a way for me to tell if my gun has a Remington made barrel based on serial number?

Thanks,

Jerry

...

Response (Danny) 04/20/2011 01:52 PM
The frames, slides, and barrels are all manufactured by Remington under contract to ERPC. Some of the small internal parts like springs and pins are outsourced as they are by most any manufacturing company.

Remington® Arms Company, Inc,. has been contracted by E-RPC™, LLC to manufacture products and answer inquires pertaining to the Model 1911 R1 on behalf of E-RPC™, LLC. Remington® is a trademark of R.A. Brands and used under license.
 
Well if the R1 is made from outsourced parts. They may want to come down on their prices. Why? Because from the Buzz the Ruger 100% USA made, from USA made parts will be selling a few hundred dollars less thatn any of the recent competitors. RUGER 1911 100% Made in the USA!
 
My brother-in-law was over Monday night & I had him watch the Down Range vid of the Ruger 1911. He works in at the LGS, and the next day he called me on my cell and told me he started a waiting list for the SR1911 and my name was on the top! He said "You can be the guinea pig" He didn't mention money though?!?!?
 
Lucky:eek: I have a good feeling it's not going to have too many quirks with as much pre production testing as Ruger did. They put thousands of rounds through at least 25 1911s with no failures.
 
Well so far it's made zero difference, in terms of how it functions. I'm new to 1911's (I've shot 'em before but this is the 1st I've owned) but to me it seems pretty awesome.

The only thing is that on the one hand you have a company saying one thing, and then on the other hand there are gun guys with years of knowledge who eat, sleep, and drink 1911 Intel that seem to know quite a bit about how the whole mfg process works, and some of them on various forums have made it sound as if maybe the company was being less than forthright.

But again, it doesn't really matter all that much it's just that old "inquiring minds want to know" kinda thing.

And in the end I got to learn a fair amount of how things can be called "Made in America" etc.

It's all good...
 
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Go with the information

you got from the magazine.....having worked in a gunshop for a number of years I can tell you that few "sales" people are privy to information about the manufacturing and Out sourcing of the products they sell.
And like many salespersons when asked a question, rather than being honest and saying I don't know they will make up some bs....
The R1's that I have seen have all been good shooting functional guns...
 
Remington R1 barrels

have been told by several knowledgeable people that Remington R1 barrels are made in Korea by the same factory that makes barrels for some Sigs
 
I sure hope the purists who won't ever touch anything not made in the USA don't try to figure out where their "American" cars and car parts come from.

Jim
 
It is always possible a lot has change including sourcing in the 6+ years between the last post in the original thread and the revival.

Companies often make changes to supply for many reasons.
 
The previously cast frames are now, along with the slide, forged. I believe at this time all major components are made by Remington in Charolette NC.

Lamar W. I thought the Alabama plant was for ammo only? What do I know I live 2500 miles from there.:D
 
Hey thanks, could not check my R1’s as they are in my safe in Texas, had to go across the street and look at my RM 380 the neighbor borrowed a year ago for a “ church gun”. You are correct. Drove through Alabama a year ago, nice country:)
 
lamarw said:
Ibmikey, This link adds a little more information:
http://www.al.com/news/huntsville/in...ctured_in.html
Click to expand...
Actually, the article tells us virtually nothing. We still don't know the origins of the R1 frames and slides. They are supposedly forged. Does Remington even own a 1911 forge? Or do they outsource the raw forgings to another company (either in the U.S. or, more likely, to Daewoo in South Korea), then do the machining in the U.S.?

You can't tell by what's marked on the side. The way our laws are set up, as long as 51% or more of the "work" is performed in the U.S., a company can mark its products "Made in USA." Springfield Armory did that with their 1911s for decades. Lower tier models were 100% made in Brazil by Imbel. The higher models were also made in Brazil by Imbel, but they were shipped to the U.S. as parts and final assembly and fitting were performed here, so those could be marked "Made in USA."

I'm betting that Remington doesn't "make" their own slides and barrels. The only question in my mind is whether they receive them as raw forgings, or partially finished.
 
Aguila, It seems we all are simply guessing where the raw forgings are fabricated but I would then ask “who Cares” the final product, my two R1’s, RM 380 and R 51 are all well made neat shooting pistols that I am having a lot of fun shooting.
My GMC was made in Wentzville Mo. it has a US engine and transmission probably a jillion parts from elsewhere. It runs just fine and I enjoy having the truck even if not entirely USA.
 
We are indeed guessing. For many people, it doesn't matter -- for others, it does matter. Why else did Springfield Armory work so hard at concealing the fact that even their upper tier 191s were basically manufactured and Brazil and only final assembled here in the U.S.?
 
I linked the article not to prove anything other than where a few of the pistols are assembled. The article does say manufacturted, but I am not sure, like most others, what that means.

The interesting point of the article to me is how the City of Huntsville enticed Remington to come there and then are holding their feet to the fire as far as hiring and continuning to producing in the donated facility. Sounded like a pretty savvy contract drawn up by Huntsville.
 
The Springfield Armory 1911 that I had stated quite clearly on the right side of the frame “ made in Brazil”. The pistol shot just fine, and still does years after giving it to Bro in law. I would much rather it were not necessary to stamp all that meaningless crap on the pistol, I have one of the most beautiful Browning HP “Captain” pistols on which some high up decided to stamp “ assembled in Portugal”. Information that I can find if interested but defacing one side of the slide with innocuous information is a crime. I have never concerned myself with where FN gets their frames forged ( oops now cast) as they work today as they did in 1935.....just fine. :)
 
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