The Civilian Marksmanship Program has released the much anticipated instructions for purchasing U.S. Army surplus 1911 .45 automatic pistols.
After reading the instructions on the CMP's 1911 webpage, it quickly becomes clear that it will not be easy to buy one of the 8,000 surplus .45s scheduled to go on sale in September.
The transfer of the Army 1911/1911A1 pistols to the CMP was announced in the fiscal 2018 National Defense Authorization Act.
Order form packets will be posted on the CMP website June 4. The CMP makes it quite clear that it does not want to be contacted with questions before June 4, nor will it take any orders before Sept. 4.
"PLEASE DO NOT CALL, LEAVE MESSAGES OR EMAIL THE CMP 1911 CUSTOMER SERVICE/SALES DEPARTMENT (which will be functional 4 June 2018)," the site states.
"The information contained in the packet should answer ALL QUESTIONS regarding the ordering process. ORDERS WILL NOT BE ACCEPTED BEFORE 4 SEPTEMBER 2018. ORDERS RECEIVED BEFORE THAT DATE WILL BE DESTROYED."
The CMP site also lists the prices for the 1911s based on their condition.
- Service Grade pistols will cost $1,050. These pistols "may exhibit minor pitting and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition."
- Field Grade pistols will cost $950. These pistols "may exhibit minor rust, pitting, and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition."
- Rack Grade pistols will cost $850. These pistols "will exhibit rust, pitting, and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips may be incomplete and exhibit cracks. Pistol requires minor work to return to issuable condition."
There is also an Auction Grade, the price of which will be driven by the auction, and the pistol's condition will be described when posted for sale, the CMP site states. It was not clear when the auction will be held.
Customers will be allowed to submit only one order form packet for one 1911, the site states. The packets must be mailed to:
CMP
1911 1800 Roberts Drive
Anniston, AL 36207
Customer names from complete order form packets will be fed into a computerized random number generator on Oct. 5. It will provide a list of names in sequential order through the random selection process, the site states. Customers will be contacted in the sequence provided by number generator.
Customers will have the opportunity to select their grade of pistol -- Service, Field or Rack -- from available inventory at the time of order notification, the site states.
The CMP will perform a NICS background check to ensure the customer is eligible to purchase prior to shipment to a "storefront" federal firearms licensed dealer, according to the website. The customer must receive a "proceed" from NICS prior to shipment of the pistol to the dealer.
For more information, please go to CMP's 1911 Information webpage.
-- Matthew Cox can be reached at matthew.cox@military.com.
