The Civilian Marksmanship Program (CMP) has announced it will begin receiving orders for purchasing CMP 1911 Type Pistols at the beginning of the new year – from January 4 to March 4, 2021.
In 2018, the National Defense Authorization Act granted the first transfer of 1911s to the CMP for sale and distribution. Arguably one of the most iconic handguns ever produced, the M1911 served as the standard issue handgun for the U.S. Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985. The single-action, semi-automatic pistol uses .45 ACP rounds and is comprised of a comfortable, basic design.
New orders for the CMP 1911s will not be accepted before January 4, 2021, or after March 4, 2021 – any packets received or postmarked outside of those dates will be shredded and discarded. Only one CMP 1911 order form per customer per envelope may be submitted. Those who have already purchased a 1911 through the RGN system or the Auction site will not be eligible at this time.
PLEASE NOTE: If you have already been assigned a RGN # and have sent in a complete and correct 1911 packet, you do not have to send in another packet. You will be contacted by our 1911 staff when your RGN # is ready to be processed.
Since these firearms are in high demand, a Random Number Generator will be utilized to provide a list of names in sequential order. Customers will be contacted in the sequence provided by the Random Number Generator.
Once chosen, CMP 1911 customers will select their grade of pistol (Service, Field or Rack). Customers with higher generated numbers may have fewer grades from which to choose. When the allotment of 1911s is exhausted, the remaining orders will be held in the existing sequence for all future allotments of 1911s. At present time, CMP is unaware of when future allotments may be received.
All 1911 requests must be made through mail – no 1911s will be available in CMP stores and no in-store or drop-off orders will be accepted.
Each pistol is inspected and test fired by the CMP before it is shipped. Prices for the 1911s are marked at fair market value, in accordance with CMP’s enabling legislation, at the following levels (shipping cost included):
- Service Grade, $1050: Pistol may exhibit minor pitting and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition. Pistols may contain commercial parts.
- Field Grade, $950: Pistol may exhibit minor rust, pitting and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips are complete with no cracks. Pistol is in issuable condition. Pistols may contain commercial parts.
- Rack Grade, $850: Pistol will exhibit rust, pitting and wear on exterior surfaces and friction surfaces. Grips may be incomplete and exhibit cracks. Pistols may require minor work to return to issuable condition but is functional. Pistols may contain commercial parts.
- Auction Grade (Sales will to be determined by auctioning the pistol.): The condition of the auction pistol will be described when posted for auction.
As part of the CMP’s enabling legislation to supply these firearms, all customers will be subject to and must be approved by the National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS), conducted through the FBI, to assure eligibility to purchase prior to shipment to a required Federal Firearms License (FFL) dealer.
Order forms and additional information for the CMP 1911 Pistols are available on the CMP website at https://thecmp.org/sales-and-service/1911-information/.
For questions, call the CMP 1911 customer service number at 256-770-4744 or reach the department by email at cmp1911@thecmp.org.
— Ashley Brugnone, CMP Staff Writer
The Civilian Marksmanship Program is a federally chartered 501 (c) (3) non-profit corporation. It is dedicated to firearm safety and marksmanship training and to the promotion of marksmanship competition for citizens of the United States. For more information about the CMP and its programs, log onto www.TheCMP.org.
