Brief range report: WWII 1911 and Winchester 1873

[kilopaparomeo]

Original post here about some new toys

http://www.downrange.tv/forum/index.php?topic=13721.0

I needed some propane for the grill this evening so I ran out at lunch.  Took the opportunity to swing by the range to test out a couple of the new toys

1944 manufactured Remington Rand, .45 ACP



First the 1911.  Shot it at 7 yards only against steel plates and bowling pins.  The pistol is surprisingly tight but has all original parts (or at least correct parts for a Remington Rand).  The finish is pretty thin and the edges have a lot of holster wear...carried a lot but shot little?  Trigger is crisp and a tiny bit heavy at about 5-6 lbs.  No hammer bite for me (thanks goodness).  Fed, cycled and fired perfectly all the 230 gr ball I could feed it.  Once I figured out where it was printing (about 4" low even with no flinch) I could ring steel and knock over bowling pins with authority.  Used Colt manufactured 7 round mags in it.  Sights of course are abysmal but that's what our soldiers dealt with.  The pistol did exactly what it was designed to...reliably digest and fling very large chunks of lead and copper at targets.  And that's what it did...simply and elegantly.

Chaparral-manufactured Winchester 1873, .45 Colt



As I mentioned before, I bought this gun with some trepidation.  Chap doesn't have a great reputation compared to Ubertis.  Chaps are known to have stiff actions, heavy triggers and poor wood / metal fit.  While the wood is nothing to write home about, the workmanship is good.  Metal is adequately polished, case colors are vibrant if a bit "blue" (I prefer more gold).  The action cycles smoothly...no hint of stiffness.  The trigger is probably around 4 lbs and has a crisp let off.  The rifle feeds and ejects .45 Colts perfectly.  The first shots on paper were exactly centered at 7 yards.  I started shooting steel and very quickly (ting-ting-ting-ting-ting) knocked them down.  Backed up to 25 yards and had no trouble knocking over 6" steel targets pretty rapidly.  I have no qualms recommending these Chaparral's from CDNN...it's an 1873 at 50% of the price of an Uberti.