SOLD - Minty Randall Service Model A111 - Rare Variation, Matching Box

Description

9/21/26 - This is a scarce sub-variation, in near-mint condition, of the iconic Randall Firearms Service Model A111, chambered in .45 ACP, and produced between 1983-1984. It comes with its serialized and matching factory box, further bolstering the legitimacy and collectibility of this rare variation. The pistol is in fantastic condition, retaining virtually all of its beautiful satin stainless finish. There are just some faint scattered surface scuffs here and there along the slide flats on the top of the slide, a few marks on the underside of the frame in front of the trigger guard, and a small runner mark on the left lower slide, likely from racking or takedown. This has not been fired much, featuring a near-mint bore. Full checkered walnut grips are also mint, showing no chips or cracks. Of the roughly 3,431 A111s produced, all but about 200 have an RF prefix, due to an ATF edict requiring the company initials as an identifier. The vast majority of A111s also have a C suffix. This frame also carries a B suffix, meaning the frame was crafted at the Bellmore-Johnson custom shop of Hamden, Connecticut, a building with its own storied and unique legacy, known for building experimental guns for Colt, Winchester, and many others. One of the two owners, Howard Johnson, and the shop's chief engineer Robert Hillberg, were responsible for several notably divergent designs, including the COP .357 four-barrel pistol, the Wildey .45, and the Browning BPS. The two eventually formed Whitney Firearms after developing the Whitney Wolverine. This example represents a tiny sliver of an already small production quantity. The factory box is in very nice shape for 1983, with only light edge wear and a slightly compressed corners. It also comes with the original instruction pamphlet and two magazines, one an original Randall example, and one a Colt-branded example with pink paint on the base.

Randall began as Ken Lau's precision aircraft parts shop in the San Fernando Valley. Lau was a gifted engineer, and the plant's setup, as well as the staff's experience and well-honed skills in precision machining to aircraft quality standards made the company uniquely suited for firearms development and production. In 1981 they were awarded a Korean military contract for pistols and began repurposing the factory for pistol manufacture. By the time the line was converted and ready to start, Korea cancelled the contract. The decision was made to move forward on this new trajectory and develop and manufacture firearms for the commercial market. Lau left nothing to chance, assembling a veritable dream team featuring experts who had held posts at Colt, Smith & Wesson, Remington, Detonics, and Winchester. The company operated for only two years, from 1983-1985, producing slightly less than 10,000 guns across all models. They were incredibly innovative in this short timeframe, developing 24 separate models, including several strictly left-handed variants, which was absolutely unheard of, and has seldom been attempted since. While Randall Firearms is often attributed as the first company to use Stainless Steel in their 1911s, AMT actually began that trend with the Hardballer in late 1977. Though AMT was first to use stainless steel in this capacity, the company had a very poor reputation, with notoriously sub-par quality control and consistent reliability problems, which eventually led to multiple bankruptcies and three separate buyouts before the company was retired while under the ownership of High Standard in 2002. So, when Randall endeavored to exclusively use the same material they had previously used for aircraft parts to make every single pistol component (besides the grips). Using the 17-4 PH-classed, aircraft-grade stainless steel synergistically aligned with the company's goal to never compromise on form, function, reliability, or durability. Randall operated with meticulous quality control standards in all aspects of the production process, backed by genuine insight into the material from both a precision machining and engineering tolerances perspectives.