Well I put up a post of my 1911 a few months ago because in reserching to purchase a new one I kept reading about reliability issues. I had just fired my 91 year old one for the first time since my Dad purchased it for $200 about a year or two ago and it ran flawlessly. I figured I would share it with the group but now I have found some more info on it. Just by running the serial number our books show it was made in 1917 and issued to the USMC which adds quite a bit of value. I figured it was worth a couple of thousand but I still wanted to shoot it.
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/vwluv10338/IMGP0732.jpg
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/vwluv10338/IMGP0716.jpg
Over the weekend I was at a gun shop picking up a pre-election AK and some reloading supplies for the press I got for my birthday. I was telling the guy at the reloading counter that I wanted to make light loads for my 1917 1911 and he paused for a second before grabbing a reference book and saying "I dont want to tell you what to do but...." His reference book shows its value at closer to $8k and he almost pleaded with me to not shoot the gun anymore.
I ran 50 factory rounds and 20 ofr my reloads through it today and it may be the last time I shoot it. My dad has contacted the family he purchased it from because they have another 1911 and a Colt SAA he wants to buy. Through them we got some info to go with the gun. The woman he puchased it from is the daughter of Edmund Gillette Chamberlain Jr. He joined the USMC at 18 years old as a grunt. I have asked my dad to write all the info down for me so I dont have all the details but I dont think this gun would have been issued to him. Even rising through the ranks throughout WW2 and Korea I just dont see him being issued an old 1911.
After researching the family it looks more likely this gun was his father's, Edmund Gillette Chamberlain Sr. According to this article http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9902E3DC1439E13ABC4953DFBF668383609EDE Sr. became a Secont Lt. on Aug. 1st 1917. If you read the PDF link, Chamberlain was involved in a dog fight with the British without orders. He was origionally going to be awarded the medal of honor for downing so many planes then after being shot down taking a german prisoner and rescuing a french officer but ended up being court marshaled. According to this site http://www.acepilots.com/usmc/main.html he was the #6 Marine aviator. Here is the NY Times article with his inertview http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=9801E6D9173BE033A25755C1A96F9C946996D6CF.

So I dont know for sure but I can assume the gun I shot today was issued to Edmund G. Chamberlain in 1917. I figured the people here would love to hear the story of a 1911 with history. As much as I want to get a new one to shoot I just love the feel of this gun. It just has a feeling that you dont get with a new one.

Here he is with his father in 1917
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/vwluv10338/2008-11-19-1727-34.jpg

Here is Chamberlain Jr. when he joined the USMC at 18
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/vwluv10338/2008-11-19-1730-42.jpg

Here is Jr. feeding his monkey beer
http://i287.photobucket.com/albums/ll146/vwluv10338/2008-11-19-1731-34.jpg

this is the coolest thing i have read in a long long time!!  bravo zulu!!

Wow.  That is really cool.  I would NEVER sell that thing.

That top pic of Junior looks like Dusty_C

Is he related to Col. Richard Chamberlain of Little Round Top fame in the Gettysburg fight?

I have no idea. I am just starting to gather info.

Richard Chamberlain? You mean Col. Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain? Or Lt. Tom Chamberlain, his younger brother?

Very cool!

That's terrific.  I have a commercial Government Model made in 1913, and I'd love to hear what stories it might have.  Ditto for my old '03. Garand...

Fixed that !

Nice Pistola