Remington's Model 1911 Carry Commander Part 1

The Remington R1 Carry Commander is a recent addition to the company’s R1 line up. Remington has taken its full size Carry model and reduced its barrel length to 4.25″ while retaining all of the Carry’s nifty features. Yes, “nifty”. The original  Colt 1911 Commander of 1948 was a 4.25″ barrel, aluminum alloy frame pistol; compact and just about 10 oz lighter than a steel full size 1911. The modern Carry Commander is all steel, with just an ounce separating it from a full size, however, it’s shortened length makes it faster handling and easier to conceal. The upside to the use of steel is greater durability.

Compared to the base model Remington R1, pictured below, the Carry model has Novak sights, Tritium front and no snag plain rear. Aftermarket Novak sights listed as Colt compatible in Tritium and fiber optic listed for Colt will fit the 0.495”x65° 0.130”  height dovetail. The Carry has diagonal slide serrations, rather than fine vertical. The original has a narrow spur hammer, the Carry has a Commander type hammer and a beavertail style grip safety with pressure pad.

In further comparisons, the Remington R1 Carry Commander has an extended ambidextrous thumb safety and a long, lightened trigger with overtravel adjustment. Where the basic R1 has a smooth front strap and vertical serrations on the mainspring housing, the Carry has 30 lpi checkering on both surfaces. The basic R1 has double diamond walnut grips secured with cross slot screws. The Carry grips are Cocobolo wood, secured with socket head fasteners. Remington lists all R1 models as 230 grain ball ammo compatible and cautions against use of other types of ammunition, which is interesting as I almost never shoot this type of ammo and I’ve never had a problem feeding an R1 any type of quality hollow and flat tip ammunition.

No longer made by serfs in the fiefdom of Cuomo – Bloomberg New York

Remington R1 manufacturing is transitioning from Ilion, NY to the new super size Remington manufacturing job friendly Alabama facility. How royal of New York state’s  government have to drive a historical company from its 200 plus year old home, costing New Yorkers thousands of skilled jobs and losing huge amounts of tax revenue in the process? Perhaps because government now represents non-accountable, life time employment with benefits private sector could never afford, and because there is an unlimited supply of tax payers dollars, they just don’t see the problem? For New Yorkers who think this loss is good, get ready, government will not get smaller or spend less. When it finishes feeding on one carcass, like all scavengers, they will move on to the next. For Remington, sorry for your loss but congratulations finding a place to call home.

                                                                           Inside out…

What we have here is a match grade stainless steel barrel and barrel bushing in the middle of a bunch of very nicely finished, blued, alloy parts… No Miami Vice contrasting frames and slides, no vapor deposition or Cerakote finishes to attempt to recreate to cover external metal work, just clean up and reblue or touch up. The finish is not gloss or matte, it is more of a satin finish.

Inside, the R1 is a very traditional 1911. The R1 does have the 1911 standard thumb and grip safeties, disconnector (Remington vernacular), and inertial firing pin. It also has a notch in the barrel hood that allows chamber checking, a firing pin blocking mechanism to prevent accidental discharge in the event the pistol is dropped or struck in some manner, and a hammer that will drop to quarter cock if the trigger is not depressed and the hammer by some means moves out of full cock. Keep all of this in mind the next time you hear one of the striker or double action guys reference the 1911 as not having safety devices.

Aftermarket compatibility… You betcha

The R1 Carry Commander ships from the factory with low profile Novak sights. Confirmed with Remington, this is the only sight that was ever installed on this specific model by the factory. It is a standard 0.495″x65º 0.130″ high dovetail and listed as Colt 1911 compatible. The sights I’d like to install would be Brownells # 662-000-036WB Novak’s Fiber Optic Front Sight, Red, .175″ high and Brownells # 662-000-038WB Fiber Optic Lo-Mount Rear Sight, Red. The cost is about $100 a set and front and rear are also available in green. The front is available in a variety of heights to suit individual applications.

Other personalization – The R1 is a 1911 spec gun and is compatible with 1911 spec aftermarket parts and there are tons of them out there. That said, the R1 Carry Commander is a very current gun, complete with the most popular 1911 accessories included… which suggests a lot more time can be spent shooting the R1 than working on it, which is where I am at this time.

Two of my favorites…

The 45 Auto is an incredibly flexible and versatile cartridge. I can’t imagine anyone who has put in real time behind the trigger of a 1911 chambered for this cartridge who wouldn’t say the same, especially if they have worked through standard pressure, +P and Super versions. Remington specifies the use of standard pressure ammo in the R1, which cuts the possibilities down to only several thousand possible combinations of components.

Above are two if my favorite 185 grain bullets that address extreme opposites in applications. On the left, a Hornady 45 Caliber 0.451″ 185 Grain SWC Target bullet utilizing Hornady’s Advanced Manufacturing Process perfectly concentric and uniform thickness jacket. On right is the Remington Golden Saber Bullet 45 Caliber 0.451″ 185 Grain Jacketed Hollow Point for defensive ammo. The former will see approximately 850 fps, the latter approximately 1,050 fps. So we’re going to take a break and handload some target and defensive handloads for the Remington R1 Carry Commander and see how the pistol performs with handloads and an assortment of factory ammo. Be back shortly…