 jollyg83 
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Posted: 8/6/2012 7:39:21 PM
THE IMAGE ABOVE IS A PAID ADVERTISEMENT Thanks for the help guys. |
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zaskar017
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Posted: 8/6/2012 9:10:38 PM
[Last Edit: 8/6/2012 9:13:10 PM by zaskar017]
You are correct, they are only going to be the 5" govt models. When you start talking wartime 1911s, M1911 and M1911A1 mean different things.
Some of the original M1911s had a slide marked Navy 
As the years went on and the M1911 switched to the M1911A1, no special rollmarks were used. They were all marked M1911A1 US ARMY. You have to go by ser # and shipping records. 
not the same pistol, but you get the idea 
The only way to get Colt rollmarks is to buy a Colt. Your options are very limited as Colt didn't making any blued WWII repros and the WWI repros (no longer made) are not going to say Navy. You could find a later parkerized WWII repro that has all the correct rollmarks and have Colt reblue it. I say later because the ealier WWII repros didn't have the USP rollmark They sell for a pretty penny though and are tough to find. Some of the small parts aren't period correct, but those can be changed. 
ETA: hope that helps. FWIW, there are a lot of guys that would like to see a blued M1911A1 or even a prewar reproduction put out by Colt. Myself included |
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Posted: 8/6/2012 10:49:48 PM
Thanks, that information helped a lot. If I wanted to go in a slightly different direction and get him a more modern gun that still retains a lot of the old school features should I go with a Colt 70 series or 80 series to closely replicate the M1911a1. One idea we had was to have the slide custom engraved with his last rank and service years.
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zaskar017
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Posted: 8/6/2012 11:42:11 PM
The S70 reproductions are probably going to cost you $150+/- more than the S80. They seem to be in higher demand and shorter supply.
They don't have the S80 firing pin block. Some guys care and some guys don't As far as I understand the new S70 repros won't have the government model rollmark on the right side. This will give you more room for engraving. Another option that I didn't mention is trying to find a Colt Talo Armed forces. USGI rollmarks on the left and blank slide on the right. Kind of a hodge podge of different decades, parts wise. 
They are probably harder to find than the WWII repros |
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Posted: 8/7/2012 9:21:52 AM
by the 1960's most all 1911 type pistols in service would have been rebuilt multiple times, so any USGI 1911A1 would be the most accurate example of the type he carried. a used fair condition example will run in the 1K range. If you can find one, Colt made some WW2 and WW1 reproductions, and these would work nicely- but again will be in the 11-1300 range. The advantage of the modern reproduction is the lower likelihood of breakage of parts when subjected to use. A series 70 or 80 is not a bad idea either. The old Colt 1991A1 can be found used in the 600 range. Getting it nicely finished maybe with some USN logo grips would bring the price back up to 1 k or so however. I myself would NOT cheap out by buying a foreign made gun (springfield or armscor/ria). These brands do have a good functional reputation but to commemorate service in the U.S. military a U.S. made gun would be the right thing in my opinion.
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Posted: 8/7/2012 10:50:01 AM
Springfield mil spec
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Posted: 8/7/2012 12:16:09 PM
Originally Posted By jollyg83:So I've decided to get my future Father-in-Law (FIL) a 1911 for Christmas.
I think you've already got some exceptional advice from our other members. I too spent a career in the Navy and wanted something reminiscent of my faithful Colt. Not sure how attached your Father-In-Law is to the Colt brand, but there's no substitute for an authentic Colt to preserve the memories. Repro's can be hard to find and originals can be very expensive if they're worthy of collecting. Either way, these choices weren't ideal for me, because if I had such an authentic pistol, I probably wouldn't shoot it. So, like one of our members already suggested, I purchased the same Colt TALO AF pistol. It's not 100% period correct (lacks U.S. Property Roll Mark and few other minor touches), but it captures the memories for me, it's a real Colt 1911, it's a Series 70, rattles and shoots like a dream, just like the old warhorses I trained with. It has the A1 Arched Main Spring Housing and lanyard loop and I couldn't be more pleased. You can find them reasonably priced on auctions and if you didn't want to go through the time & expense to engrave the slide, you could just slap on a set of USN grips and perhaps just have the barrel bushing engraved with his last Name, Rate or years of service. Of course, another great alternative to this would be an ANVIII, which you could still swap the grips with USN stocks and still preserve the originality of the pistol. 
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Posted: 8/7/2012 12:20:59 PM
Originally Posted By CREPR:
Originally Posted By jollyg83:So I've decided to get my future Father-in-Law (FIL) a 1911 for Christmas.
I think you've already got some exceptional advice from our other members. I too spent a career in the Navy and wanted something reminiscent of my faithful Colt. Not sure how attached your Father-In-Law is to the Colt brand, but there's no substitute for an authentic Colt to preserve the memories. Repro's can be hard to find and originals can be very expensive if they're worthy of collecting. Either way, these choices weren't ideal for me, because if I had such an authentic pistol, I probably wouldn't shoot it. So, like one of our members already suggested, I purchased the same Colt TALO AF pistol. It's not 100% period correct (lacks U.S. Property Roll Mark and few other minor touches), but it captures the memories for me, it's a real Colt 1911, it's a Series 70, rattles and shoots like a dream, just like the old warhorses I trained with. It has the A1 Arched Main Spring Housing and lanyard loop and I couldn't be more pleased. You can find them reasonably priced on auctions and if you didn't want to go through the time & expense to engrave the slide, you could just slap on a set of USN grips and perhaps just have the barrel bushing engraved with his last Name, Rate or years of service. Of course, another great alternative to this would be an ANVIII, which you could still swap the grips with USN stocks and still preserve the originality of the pistol. http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/e5fa4101.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/41070680.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/d6ff0e21.jpg that is a beautiful pistol |
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zaskar017
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Joined: Jun 2007 FL, USA
Posts: 10865 Feedback: 100% (28) Link To This Post |
Posted: 8/7/2012 12:25:54 PM
Originally Posted By CREPR:
... Nice pistol. Here is another example of a Talo after a trip to the Colt Custom Shop for some massaging http://forums.1911forum.com/showthread.php?t=371792 |
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Posted: 8/8/2012 1:13:19 PM
[Last Edit: 8/8/2012 1:16:49 PM by jollyg83]
Originally Posted By John87:
Originally Posted By CREPR:
Originally Posted By jollyg83:So I've decided to get my future Father-in-Law (FIL) a 1911 for Christmas.
I think you've already got some exceptional advice from our other members. I too spent a career in the Navy and wanted something reminiscent of my faithful Colt. Not sure how attached your Father-In-Law is to the Colt brand, but there's no substitute for an authentic Colt to preserve the memories. Repro's can be hard to find and originals can be very expensive if they're worthy of collecting. Either way, these choices weren't ideal for me, because if I had such an authentic pistol, I probably wouldn't shoot it. So, like one of our members already suggested, I purchased the same Colt TALO AF pistol. It's not 100% period correct (lacks U.S. Property Roll Mark and few other minor touches), but it captures the memories for me, it's a real Colt 1911, it's a Series 70, rattles and shoots like a dream, just like the old warhorses I trained with. It has the A1 Arched Main Spring Housing and lanyard loop and I couldn't be more pleased. You can find them reasonably priced on auctions and if you didn't want to go through the time & expense to engrave the slide, you could just slap on a set of USN grips and perhaps just have the barrel bushing engraved with his last Name, Rate or years of service. Of course, another great alternative to this would be an ANVIII, which you could still swap the grips with USN stocks and still preserve the originality of the pistol. http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/e5fa4101.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/41070680.jpg http://i1232.photobucket.com/albums/ff366/C1911/d6ff0e21.jpg that is a beautiful pistol That truly is a fantastic pistol and exactly what I had in mind. I'm going to look hard at the Talo. I have also seen the Colt reproduction, I think its called the 01911A1, that looks amazing. But like you said it can be hard to find and a bit pricy. How does the Talo AF compare to the 01911A1 Reproduction? He's not attached to any brand, he just wants a 1911 that's as close as possible to the one that he used. To me that means a Colt M1911A1. |
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Posted: 8/8/2012 3:50:31 PM
also bear in mind the majority of guns in service by the 1960's were not colts- remington rand made more than anyone else in ww2 and by the 60's most of the ww1 era 1911's were out of service. what most people call a colt was usually a remington rand or ithaca or even union switch and signal, often with a replacement (sometimes colt marked) slide. again aside from a few thousand early pre ww1 era guns no 1911's or A1's were ever marked anything but U.S. Army regardless of what serivce used them
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