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COLT M45A1 “Best Ranger Competition” Prize pistol

4K views 10 replies 9 participants last post by  OctopusHighball 
#1 ·
Here is a rather unique M45A1. This pistol was one of two special order guns made for the US Army’s Best Ranger Competition in 2013. I would assume the Army wouldn’t have wanted USMC on the slide hence the unique slide roll marks on this pistol.
It would be interesting to know how this pistol got so much wear. Maybe one of the winners was able to use it as a duty pistol?









 
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#11 · (Edited)
Did a little digging on this one, since I have a renewed interest in it. The competition looks to be held in April of each year (note the ship date on the OP's letter is April 5th, 2013) Looks like they awarded M45A1s in three years; 2013, 2014 and 2016.

For the 2013 competition, I dug up a couple on interesting pics. Here is one with a special guest at the prize ceremony, the winners holding their prize pistols aloft. For a variety of reasons, I believe the subject pistol is the one on the right. Definitely can't see the serial number, but based on other factors, I do believe it is that one:



Here is another pic I found, with the special guest inspecting one of the prize pistols. The other prize pistol is in the background:



Play with the Gamma a bit on that pic, and you get this...



On that final pic, we can see that slide is clearly NOT a typical M45A1 slide, and is indeed the Colt Rail Gun slide pictured in the original post.

In 2014, they were USMC marked slides. One of the pics, if you download it and blow it up, clearly has a USMC slide.

In 2016, they were DecoBond M45A1s, none of the pics were clear enough for me to make out the roll marks.

Anyone interested in the photos from the Best Ranger Competition, they are here at Fort Benning's photos site:

https://www.fortbenningphotos.com/I...g-Briga/Ranger-School/Best-Ranger-Competition
 
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