Old Bullseye Gun Refinishing

Hello All

I have a 1911-A1 Remington Rand that was built by R.L. Shockey as a hardball gun.  Prior to me owning it, it was dropped and has a few dings on the bushing and the rear sight.  I have a old donor Bomar Rib that I can get the parts I need to fix the rear sight and I am hoping Norwood can find me a particular front sight.  It looks, finish wise, like the 73 year old gun that it is.  From a collectors standpoint, it doesn't have the value of a regular WWII R-R, due to the changes made by Shockey, so I have no problem with having it reparkerized.  What I was wondering is would I be better off going with another finish for this gun.  I plan to shoot it, a lot, and then pass it on to further generations, so again I am not worried about a collector asking "why did you do that to that gun"  Also, since the contact areas will rub off whatever finish ends up there, does finish type really make a difference accuracy wise, one finish compared to another. 

Any thoughts on what you would do if it were yours?  If you were to repark, who would you have do it?

Also, I have seen Shockey Guns with the extended Bomar Rib, did he ever do them with the regular Bomar Rib?

Final question, I have another brand new Bomar Rib with the tuner cutout, but no tuner.  Where can a get the tuner part?

Thanks in advance for any advice.

In the Gil Hebard's catalog number 17 from 1965, he lists a Shockey Custom Heavy Slide .45 which looks exactly like a Clark Heavy Slide with the full length Bo-Mar rib.  The cost was $179.50 for the complete gun.

If it bothers you, have the gun refinished. I don't think old bullseye pistols have or will have much collector value, but I could be wrong. If you want a finish that will outlast every owner, go with brushed hard chrome. It looks like stainless, but is more durable. These folks have a great reputation: http://www.apwcogan.com/finishes-metal-finishes

Thanks for the info.

Hello mprince,

I have been collecting M1911s for decades and I have seen many like yours.  Post-war, everyone wanted a target sighted M1911 and thousands were modified.  My advice....don't plan on shooting it "a lot".  None of the manufacturers during that time (Colt, Remington Rand, etcetera) heat treated their slides and they won't take much shooting.  If it doesn't eventually crack, the metal will peen to a point that accuracy will greatly suffer.  If you want a shooter, I would look for something else.  Parkerize it and shoot it very very sparingly.

Jim

I doubt if the slide or frame will crack unless there's a material flaw in the metal.  While not hardened like a Colt commercial, the slides on a WW2 RR will stand up to a lot of shooting.  Since they're not hardened they will batter loose if shot a lot, like 5000 rounds a year lot.  But if shot a normal amount they'll do fine for a long time.  Hardball would be another story tho.  To each their own.

Old bullseye guns aren't a collector item except for a few makers.  Shockey isn't one of them because he never got much exposure outside of bullseye.

As for choice of finishes, parkerizing is ok but you could also bead blast and blue.  Looks like old time rust bluing if done right.

Hello mprince,

Differing opinions is what make life a horse race.

My Dad had a nice original Ithaca that Bob Chow worked on decades ago.  Bob wanted to use a commercial slide but my ol' man wanted to save money and insisted on using the original slide.  It lasted around one hundred rounds before it cracked right underneath the ejection port.

I had a mix-master that Ollie Smith put a rib on for me.  After a year, or so, the mounting holes in the slide were ovals and would not hold a screw anymore.

Good luck to you either way.  Post some pictures of what you have.

Jim

Last year I did a trigger job on an old Clark longslide 45 built on GI 1911. I didn't catch until I was finished that the slide lugs were half worn off the slide. It was an accuracy tuner pistol which unfortunately minimizes upper barrel lug engagement which lead to minimal slide support of the barrel lugs. So I imagine hardchroming could prolong the life of a softer pistol.
Jon

I had a Remington  rand from the war my dad bought for $15. He sent it to the Springfield armory and had it converted to a NM gun.

When I started BE back in the seventies we added a Bomar rib and my wife shot it for years.  Yeah they will shoot loose but are pretty easy to tighten back up. Today it's back to its original configuration. Gave it to my brother last year. The old colt NM barrels shot pretty well.  

Have your gun re parkerized and shoot it

Thanks for all the additional information.  The heat treating issue never occurred to me.  I think I am just going to shoot it "as is" with a different front sight until it loosens up and stops grouping at 50yds.  Then I will put a set of fixed sights on it and have it hard chromed.  The heaviest load going through it will likely be 4.5 of 310 with a 185 Nosler.

Thanks Again