A pal of mine has a pistol for sale. MKIV series 70 Gvt,  was nickel now the slide is blue and the frame is green, tight checkering on the front strap, abmi safety, beaver tail grip, high vis front sight, Novak copy rear, pachmyer trigger and hammer. Pistol shoots great but what kinda puts me off is it does not have the original Colt barrel. So, my pal wants $500, good deal or not?

Its value (in my opinion) as a Series 70 Colt has been lost witth all of the mods. As a shooter, maybe $300––$400 assuming its safe.

Really? I am dissapoint. I would have thought a series 70 would have a certain value in spite of the mods.

Thanks....

I'm not an expert!  I have several original Series 70s, and follow the values as a hobby.  Get additional opinions.  If the mods had been performed by a known builder and suitably documented, the value could be a lot more.  A nice, unmodified Series 70 could bring $700––$800, but once you talk about refinishing, non-original barrel, possible internal mods, the value drops quickly.  Good luck.

same for me.  mod it and i pretty much don't want it.  

Well I agree, if a weapon has been modded in a way that I just don't like or don't approve of it is nearly worthless to me. In this case the mods are to my taste. Also this is a local gun, a man owned it and died, his widow sold it to a local collector/gunsmith who made the mods and then sold it to my best friend. The only thing that I don't like is that the barrel is not Colt. I just talked to my friend who talked to the gunsmith who says he has a Colt barrel that he will fit.
I may post some pics later.

Is the slide the original slide? What type of barrel is in it? The issue with some is that just because the pistol has different parts doesn't necessarily make it more attractive or considered upgrades. The last thing you want is a 1911 that " Bubba" worked on. If you inspected the gun and feel comfortable with the work done then yes by all means $500 for a decent shaped 70 series is not out of line.

The slide, frame, and fire control group are original. The barrel, trigger, beavertail safety, ambi safety and hammer are pachmyer I think. See the pistol was nickel and in bad shape. The smith stripped the nickel, blued the slide and did a bake on finish on the frame kinda OD or dark earth hard for me to tell. Since he replaced the barrel it must have been in bad shape. The front sight is a orange insert and a novak rear. Also he checkered the front strap and it looks good to my eye.
I have shot the pistol and it runs great and is accurate, I thought $500 was a deal. But I agree with many, I have seen pistols with mods that made them near worthless to me.
On another note the series 70 is a favorite of mine, the original not the current new/old re-issie from Colt.

If it suits you then buy it for $500. OR...offer him $400 for it and see what he says.

 

really depends on who did the work- if a well regarded smith did the add ons this is a lot different than if it was done on someones basement. if it is a bubba barrel that is one thing a carefully fit kart or wilson something else all together- more info needed

This. In my part of the country, it's a parts gun and nothing more now.

Start at $400 and work up to $500 if you really, really want it.