Is this old Colt 1911 worth anything?

I found an old post saying they were a 1960s limited run. The poster had one for sale with a matching shadow box with a map of the Argonne forest in the back. He wanted $1000. His was in very good condition. There were no indications if it ever sold.

Yours is a neat piece. Someone could make a great project gun out of it.

At first glance it looks like a parts gun. I cant read what all it says on the slide, in 1967 Colt made a set of 4 WWI commemoratives that had different battles for each gun, and different grips etc. All were original 1911 style, not the later 1911A1. They came with a wall shadow box, maps and info of the battles, and the guns were nicely finished. Yours, however, looks like its on a National Match frame. The trigger was the first clue, and it looks like the serial number has NM at the end of it, which is the National Match serial, that eventually became the Gold Cup. Due to the poor finish condition, its not going to be worth a lot, as well as being a parts gun. Is it possible it was mistakenly put together with the wrong parts of two different guns, rather than intentionally? The correct parts would probably improve the value of both guns if the person you got it from has any more guns or parts.

First thing Id do is carefully remove the grips (with a correct size screwdriver) and oil the gun heavily and let it soak a couple days, then start to carefully bronze wool the surfaces and see if the rust caused any pitting. If you get too aggressive with cleaning you will likely do more damage than good.

You have a WW I commemorative 1967 slide on a 1968 Gold Cup frame. No way of knowing how they got together.
I first thought it was some sort of fake or DIY with a wiseguy putting Pi on it as a serial number but it showed in the Colt lookup.

Rusty and mismatched, it is not worth a whole lot. Maybe you can find somebody looking for a project. If I had it very cheap to free I would put some better sights on it and have it inexpensively refinished, Parkerizing or Cerakote, maybe.

I looked a bit more, your slide apparently was from the Belleau Wood commemorative gun. Its serial number should be a 4 digit number ending with BW I believe. Too bad its not complete. When I was a kid, my local gun shop had the complete set in the showcase for years. I gawked at them quite a lot. They turn up for sale, both singles and as a 4 gun set. They did a nice job for what they were, and highlighted an interesting bit of history.

This is what the set looked like when new,
http://www.icollector.com/Complete-...emi-Automatic-Pistols-A-Cased-Colt-W_i9967022


I sent a PM with a little more info, and to keep me in mind if you come to a conclusion on a value youd accept for it. Id enjoy a project, both for the slide, and I had a 1968 National match that I foolishly let go a few years ago. I know someone that can blue it for me.

It's a shooter.
Maybe $400

AFS

On a GC frame, it is worth more than $400. The value on a put together gun is the sum of the parts. I seem to remember that a surplus dealer, maybe Sarco or such, sold some of those slides a number of years back. They are good Colt slides but worth no more than any other rusty Colt slide.

The original four guns were introduced at the premium price, I believe, of $250 each. Back when SAAs and Pythons were $125 and God Cups $150. I could be wrong but numbers like that stick in my head.

When I was a young guy, the gunstore owner had a set that I didn't pay much attention to, now I have a puter folder to remind me

Even thought its a parts gun, it is still very cool.
If the internals are in that good a condition, you may have a very nice shooting 1911 with a neat story.

Dollar value isn't everything. I'd love to have a Colt 1911, even if it was a parts gun with some wear.

As AF Shooter said - it's a shooter.

I think it has value mostly as a shooter as opposed to a collectible, given its condition.

hard to say what it might be worth. if someone really wanted that exact gun it would probably be worth more than someone who wanted a project gun.

I am not a huge fan of commemorative guns. I want to shoot them.

Interesting shooter. If that were local I'd pay $400 to $500

Looks like a perfect candidate for a home bluing job. Get the rust off and blue it. There are tons of home bluing kits and methods. Or you could use duracoat in the spray can.