Posted: 6/20/2015 12:48:56 AM EDT
I talked to a LGS with this Colt. He says it's a 1917 produced gun. It obviously looks reblued. Do all the parts look correct, from what you can tell? I might go take a look at the gun in person. I'm wondering if it's worth the price and more so if it's authentic.
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Looks right to me as far as slide and frame belonging together and what parts I can see. Notice the 'serif' font on the slide and the 'U.S. Property' on the frame, plus the position of the 'pony' at the rear of the slide - this all goes with the serial number for about a 1916 M1911. The barrel should have 'H P' on top, but even if its not a G.I. barrel I wouldn't let that stop me. The grips are quite interesting; they are from a 1950s Colt Government Model and would be valuable to some owners of those. A nice full-checkered walnut grip would be good on the M1911 but it originally had double-diamond checkered walnut. Basically it appears that someone, possibly 50 years ago, decided to make a Government Model out of the old M1911. It was aggressively polished; probably had pitting, but the blue job is decent and the markings are good. Basically any functional M1911 with the 'US Property' and serial number along with all the other marks is worth more than $650.
The down-side is no Colt 1911-type had a fully-hardened slide until after WWII, and the slides were not even spot-hardened until the time of the M1911A1. So, shooting it would be risky. The slides have cracked by the thousands. Since this pistol is basically complete as original, it would be a loss to crack the slide. You can do things to make it more shootable; install a new 16# recoil spring and a new firing pin spring (the other springs should be fine and almost never need replacing). Shoot only target-speed lighter loads, like 185gr. You could also install a recoil buffer pad on the recoil spring guide rod. That pistol almost certainly was used in WWI and likely in WWII. There definitely will be an 'aura' to it that should be almost tangible when you pick it up - it's been there. |
| The hammer looks odd to me, almost looks smooth or barely cut for grip with your thumb. The safety also looks odd..too short and smooth also.. The ejection port is correct for the year it's advertised as. Definitely was reblued, that originally was parkerized I believe. Some original guns did ship with plastic grips so they could be original also. |
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It's just a "lookin' at pistol.''
It won't hold up to a lot of shooting and it's not collectable in any way, shape or form in that condition. The price is probably ''fair'' but it'll never go up in value and it'll beat itself to death if shot a lot. I'd inspect the internals to include the barrel feet and the slide very carefully. |
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Quoted:
The hammer looks odd to me, almost looks smooth or barely cut for grip with your thumb. The safety also looks odd..too short and smooth also.. The ejection port is correct for the year it's advertised as. Definitely was reblued, that originally was parkerized I believe. Some original guns did ship with plastic grips so they could be original also. Hammer is an A1, not the longer 1911 one. |
| For $650, you can have a new Ruger, RIA, Metro, etc, with a hardened frame and unworn parts, backed by a warranty. This old gun has little collector value, the hammer isn't original, and bringing it back to original appearance wouldn't be cost effective at all. I'd pass, and spend the money on something I could shoot. |