Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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During the 1980s, it became very clear that Colt was no longer the only maker of 1911 pistols. By 1981, the ODI (Omega Defensive Industries) Viking pistol, a 1911 fitted with the Seecamp double-action trigger system, was introduced. That same year, Auto-Ordnance, owned then by Numrich Arms, brought out the GI-style Thompson 1911A1 pistol. A number of guns from different companies appeared, based on modified 1911 designs. Representatives of this category were the Coonan, Arminex and Grizzly pistols.

Randall, a company first involved in making replacement stainless magazines for 1911s, in 1983 introduced a line of stainless-steel 1911 pistols. Early stainless autoloaders had developed problems with galling, developed as the stainless slide rubbed across the stainless frame. Randall believed they had solved those problems, and advertised the Randall as “the only stainless steel fit for duty.” The most striking Randalls were the left-hand versions, which were completely left-handed—even the rifling turned the opposite way! About 7% of Randall’s pistols were left-handed. The Randall Curtis E. LeMay pistol, honoring Air Force General LeMay, was a 4-1/4-inch barrel and a 6-shot finger-rest magazine. After making about 10,000 guns, Randall became overextended and the company failed in 1985.