Jim Shepherd writes that Remington is entering the handgun market! From The Shooting Wire (scroll down half way) …

The Outdoor and Shooting Wires have received- and verified the accuracy of an internal Remington memorandum that effectively answers most of a question that has been making the rounds of the industry: Is Remington getting into the handgun market?

Short answer, yes.

…

A 1911 is in first-production testing, and may be ready for introduction at SHOT Show in January.

This is incredibly interesting news! I have wondered for a long time why Remington did not seem to want a piece of the handgun market. Not wanting to be associated with “evil” handguns was my guess.

I do find the suggestion that they are going with the 1911 platform odd. While the 1911 is a very popular pistol with civilians, police departments are not adopting it. Instead they are dropping the Glock in favor of other polymer pistols like the Springfield XD and Smith & Wesson M&P pistols.

We know Remington loves military and police contracts and that they are willing to delay consumer products in order to make a grab for lucrative military contracts. The constant delays of the Bushmaster ACR are a testament to this.

So is Remington making a 1911 because they know something we do not? Will we soon be hearing about a new military competition for a .45 ACP pistol¹ ? Or are they developing a polymer 1911 or some other polymer pistol ² ?

UPDATE: The pistol has been launched: Remington R1 1911.