(2003)"Marines New SOCOM Pistol", Marine expeditionary unit (special operations capable), "Some MEU's Still Carry Proven M1911 .45's", "10--Parts for M-45, MEUSOC Pistol - Federal Business Opportunities: Opportunities", "Strong Men Armed: The Marine Corps 1st Force Reconnaissance Company Part III Section 2", "MEU 1911 .45: the Legend Lives in the Hands of Today's Marines", "SNOTE - 10 - MEU(SOC) 45 caliber pistols - 17-Feb-05 - FBO#1179", "SRCSGT - 10 - MEUSOC .45 PISTOL - 09-Nov-08 - FBO#2540", "Corps considers 2 guns for new MARSOC .45", "Colt Defense LLC Announces Award of Marine Corps M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistol (CQBP) Contract", Why the Marines adopted the M45 Colt 1911, "Reconnaissance Marines train with Close-Quarters Battle Pistol", M45A1: A New Colt .45 for the 21st Century, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=MEU(SOC)_pistol&oldid=1136083215, Trained Weapons Training Battalion armorers, This page was last edited on 28 January 2023, at 17:30. Six months later, I was home on leave and my gun was back from Colt. [8], A Marine operator may shoot as many as 80,000 rounds from this pistol during a training-cycle and subsequent deployment. described as decommissioned USMC 1911 M45A1s. I know what you are thinking, why carry a gun that holds twice as many rounds, weighs less, is more compact, more reliable and costs a third as much- I must be nuts? Here are the features to watch out for. $ 1,649.00. The one with the intact usmc is a custom is not the same gun as the the decoms. I've been looking for holsters for mine. Models mustered out of the Marine Corps are scarce today and fetch lofty prices, but factory-fresh models with nearly identical features are still available from Colt. In the mid 1990s he was the go-to 1911 gunsmith and made the best combat style sights around. By far, the most common of the USMC rollmarks is the Custom Shop Pelican cased version, and is very likely to be the one anyone encounters. He somehow managed to convince me to shoot one of his reloads. It would be hard to improve on this trigger with any kind of upgrade. Change). For the pure sake of being worth more money down the line, no question about it. I'll be content with mine in Ion Bond marked M45A1 in the blue box. all 1911 type pistols still used by its special operation units would be replaced by the Glock 19, eyeing the Glock 19 as the next standard service pistol, Extrema Ratio 25 years: Misericordia Desert, IWA OutdoorClassics 2023: highlights on a revolutionary edition, Chiappa Firearms M6 X-Caliber: the survival rifle coming from the sky, Safety recall for Smith & Wesson M&P-9 and M&P-380 Shield EZ pistols, Kel-Tec KSG410, the small-caliber bull-pup pump shotgun. Should you buy one? Copyright 2023 National Rifle Association, Women On Target Instructional Shooting Clinics, Volunteer At The Great American Outdoor Show, Marion P. 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Buy 2013 Colt Government CQBP .45 ACP Desert Sand *ULTRA RARE USMC ROLLMARK* : GunBroker is the largest seller of Semi Auto Pistols Pistols Guns & Firearms All: 967208438. . When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission, which supports our community. Add to cart. M45A1 - Colt custom shop vs Production versionwhich should I buy? The decommissioned pistols and the custom shop pistols all appear to be in the hands of collectors. Colt also offers a custom shop civilian model to achieve higher accuracy; but the Marine issue model is the production grade pistol. Builders of 1911s like Rock Island, Springfield, Kimber and Colt use MIM parts extensively in order to produce a competitively priced product. Similar to the Custom Shop CQB pistol, this is a production line version of the pistol that the Marines bought for the MARSOC units. We are fortunate that they found their way onto the public market.. The Custom Shop price list indicates theyll checker the front strap at either 20 or 25 lpi for $260. When I sat down to write this story, I did my best to research the quantities of each type of pistol made and to get an idea of what might be available. Edit to add: there are some NRA guns in that serial range, see if anything is laser engraved on the gun itself. [16] The Marine Corps issued the M45A1 to Force Reconnaissance companies, MARSOC and Special Reaction Teams from the Provost Marshals Office. We use cookies on this website, our and third parties, to enhance your user experience. Colt's Manufacturing LLC This particular sample disproved decades worth of gun magazine lore about a combat-grade .45 needing to be loose for reliability and thus incompatible with custom-level accuracy. We are fortunate that they found their way onto the public market. The .45 maintains a traditional military lanyard loop in the flat, serrated mainspring housing. And if you are looking for a 1911 derivative that can reasonably be called "the best 1911 on the market" at least when it comes to non-luxury, field-ready variants then look no further. In recent months, the auction houses have listed a few with the prices for the pristine unissued handguns estimated around $7,000. Glocks uses MIM parts and a polymer frame yet are widely considered to be among the most reliable and durable firearms ever created. He told me the extractor and ammunition were bad. Which do you guys would think would be more desirable down the line.. Just four short years after the M45A1s were initially issued to the Marines, on September 30th, 2016, the USMC announced that all 1911 type pistols still used by its special operation units would be replaced by the Glock 19. What should the discerning collector look for in a potential buy? A variant of the M1911, it has been the standard-issue side arm for the Force Recon Element of the United States Marine Corps' Marine Expeditionary Units since 1985. The M45A1 CQBP pistol is issued with Wilson black metal single-stack magazines, holding 7+1 rounds. The rear sight we ordered [], Weve been using Parabellum Armaments AKARS for 9 months. Genuine Marine Corps M45A1 Coltsused by Marine Raiders and Force Reconnaissancewere decommissioned and became available on the civilian market complete with their original packaging and. This pistol utilizes the Series 80 fire control system which means it has an internal firing pin safety. Depends on what version of the USMC rollmark. A slight bevel at the magazine well enhances reload speed and the thumb safety is ambidextrous. Hello - I am looking at 2 Colts - one is the Colt M45A1 (custom shop w/ green pelican case) and the other is the Colt M45A1 with the USMC roll marks. The USMC-marked pistol is from one of the early runs when Colt was using the same rollmark that they applied to the actual USMC guns. Quick view Out of stock. Pelican Storm Case. ), the grip of the M45A1 CQBP is akin to that of a double-stack magazine pistol, and is definitely not made for small hands. I was able to lay my hands on one of the decommissioned M45A1s to examine and evaluate it. There is slight movement and a feel of roll through the break, but I wouldnt necessarily call it creep in a negative sense. Colt offered a modified version of their O1980RG (Rail Gun) pistol, which is derived from their existing XSE line of 1911-style pistols with a desert sand-colored surface treatment and Novak night sights. And despite the price, the M45A1 CQB is definitely going to become a must-have for dedicated collectors and die-hard aficionados of John Moses Browning's quintessential workhorse on this side of the Big Pond. By the time my gun came back from Wayne, years had passed since the original purchase date. I have a DECOMM and an unfired NIB Pelican case Custom Shop USMC. 2013 Colt Government CQBP .45 ACP Desert Sand *ULTRA RARE USMC ROLLMARK News, Handguns, Semi-Auto Handguns. This particular sample earned every bit of the National Match stamping on the barrel hood. Unlike the CQB pistol, this one does not have USMC roll marked on the slide, but it does have EGA (Eagle Globe and Anchor- the Marines symbol) as a serial number suffix. It . Since he edits this website, Ill pretend that I was there when one of them worked flawlessly. Brand new IonBond blue box can be had for less than $1500. [14] In 2010, requirements were once more issued for an off-the-shelf system to replace the custom-built pistols. Apparently it wasnt staked right at the factory. The only other USMC-marked pistols on the market are the real ones that had been returned to Colt and then re-sold to the civilian market. Related Products. The pistols with no front strap checkering are production line guns. Cycling the pistols revealed the fit to be smooth but clearly tighter than a typical commercial M1911. THESE PISTOLS WERE BUILT FOR THE USMC BY NOVAK FOR COLT, AND THERE WERE NOT MANY MADE. Allrightsreserved. The company made its humble start in 1963in Gussago, Italywhen Giuseppe Pietta made a commitment to produce guns as authentic and true-to-original as possible. was not the question, rather, it was how tightly I could group the splatter marks. I scored a 92-20X. The Colt incorporates the dual recoil spring assembly of the firms recent commercial models, which seemed to dampen recoil somewhat. It will still feed from any type of 1911-compatible single stack magazine, as demonstrated by our test through the use of aftermarket MEC-GAR magazines. Colt M45A1 Marine Government Full FDE 5 - Omaha Outdoors You must enable JavaScript to remove this banner. I was at my local gun shop when a Marine was picking up two that he had won. Even more so considering these guns were largely expected to be the last government-issue M1911s and, further, models specific to Marine Raiders and Force Reconnaissance. This is important in a gun meant to endure nearly as many rounds in the weeks-long Marine Raider training regimen as the original M1911 was intended to see throughout its entire service life. A huge proponent of the system, he has been lecturing me about the benefits of the 1911 platform for nearly two decades. Colt M45A1 Custom Shop (O1070CQB) - Clyde Armory Inc. Quantico began exhaustive testing on other finishes to specify a modification to the contract. We ended the session shooting the old FBI pistol qualification course on a counter shaded QIT-99 (you can see the course of fire here). I overlooked that the fit for a gun, that cost me $1,600 plus tax ($1,748 total), was similar to a $800 gun. View all posts by David Freeman. The pistol wears bilateral thumb safeties, which have somewhat oversize, though low-profile, ledges designed to be easily disengaged while not interfering with the non-firing hands grasp. If youre interested in a unique, firearm with a military history at around $1600, go for it. I have it in quotes for a reason, it kinda looked like a 45 ACP cartridge, only it was bent and weird looking. You may have read our first reviewhere, or our second here. The first version is one that went to the military, stamped USMC on the slide and delivered in a cardboard box with two Wilson 7-round magazines. Unique and very rare COLT 1911 USMC ROLLMARK COLT 1911 USMC ROLLMARK U.S. MARINES M45A1 SEMPER FI FDE, Colt M45A1 USMC Close Quarter Battle Pistol, Smith & Wesson .44 Magnum Model 29 S&W CLASSICS 6 1/2 Blue Revolver, Colt AR-15 A2 HBAR Gov Model in .223 Z-COTE Limited Edition of 250 Pre-ban. The used Glock 19 I bought in 1994, still shoots well. The silence was deafening, though, when they became available and Colt continued to produce a civilian variant. The revised parts list included barrels, bushings, link pins, sear springs, ejectors, firing pin stops, mainspring housings and mainsprings, all from Nowlin Manufacturing. I believe there was also a run of grey M45s with front strap checkering that were not CS guns.