1918 WWI Colt 1911

[surjimmy]

Even a blind squirrel can find a acorn every now and then. picked this up at the local gun show. I know just enough about these older 1911's to get into a whole lot of trouble. This time I lucked out. All original except the hammer(which he gave me) Hope you enjoy this piece of history. Please feel free to post any 1911's you have.

 

[SteampunkQueen]

gorgeous! gotta love those old M1911. They just look so classy.

 

[cromlw]

Nice find you can just imagine the history

 

[1911Tuner]

I really like the old ones. I especially like the WW1-era pistols. They just have a different personality, and you can feel it when you pick one up. They've all got a story. Even if they spent their time as trainers...never dropped an enemy soldier in a night raid across No Man's Land in the Argonne or finished cleaning out a Japanese machine gun nest on Saipan. They could tell about the young men who learned to shoot them at Polk or Campbell or Geiger, then went on to make the ultimate sacrifice.

You just never know who's handled them. You never know who used them to good effect. You never know...

 

[Onmilo]

Not mine anymore, I sold it to an advanced collector.
The gun came home with a Marine who survived the Pacific Island hopping of World War Two.
Kind of ironic that the gun was possibly stolen once & returned defaced to have a rebuild and X number added only to be swiped again by the guy who was issued the weapon,,,
It lay under a couch for fifty years before he passed away and his widow sold it to me.

 

[Mac Attack]

I really like the simplicity of the old war horses. I really like the bronzed color of your new acquisition as well.

 

[bannockburn]

surjimmy

Simply beautiful! That's one fine looking Colt M1911.

 

[surjimmy]

Thanks bannockburn, and the rest of you guys. I don't know why but I really like the feel of this old pony, it really feels different then my other 1911's.

 

[19112XS]

She sure is a beaut surjimmy! Each of the old ones does seem to have a distinct personality. If you do choose to shoot this jewel, you may wish to do so sparingly with full power ammo. The slides of these early versions weren’t hardened like later ones. I came across a M1911 (I forget which year, I think a ’13 or ‘15 ) defaced with little collector value and a WW2 barrel dropped in. The old girl shot like a house on fire, everyone agreed, but she really needed a fitted barrel as peening had begun. Tuner fitted her with a Kart EZ-Fit, and she became a tack driving house on fire. When I noticed the case indentions in the breech (the brass was battering the breech during recoil) I retired her. I guess we enjoyed around 750 rounds together total. I could set her up for puff ball rounds, but that doesn’t seem right. As it is we can still get together for the (very) occasional full-power quickie.

YMMV

 

[1911Tuner]

When I noticed the case indentions in the breech (the brass was battering the breech during recoil) I retired her. I guess we enjoyed around 750 rounds together total.

I'd forgotten about that old Colt.

That was an expensive 750 rounds, m'fren.

Well...I warned ya.

I'm glad 2XS mentioned that. In 1936, Colt implemented the use of a hardened steel insert in the breechface to address the deformation. At the time, they didn't have the technology...and likely the metallurgy...to harden the whole slide without warping it. Often mistaken for a toolmark, the insert can be seen in the pistols that had one installed.

Another potential trouble spot is the front faces of the upper barrel lugs and the rear faces of the mating slide lugs themselves. Many of the old ones...including the WW2 pistols...show up with those lugs deformed in a straight line from the pounding of recoil.

surjimmy...Clean the gun and examine those lugs closely. If they have a stair-stepped shape...have a gunsmith gauge the headspace to see if it's beyond the maximum allowable. If it is...depending on how far out of spec it's grown...the pistol should probably be retired or be relegated to light duty and fired only occasionally to celebrate your grandfather's birthday or the anniversary of D-Day.

The picture below illustrates a glaring example of barrel lug deformation. The first and second lug walls show the "stepped" appearance of the lug. In many pistols, it's not this bad or this obvious.

 

[surjimmy]

I'll do just that, thanks Tuner

 

[1911Tuner]

Tuner. Tuuuuuner.

 

[surjimmy]

LOL Fixed it^^^^. I still had sleep in my eyes. I really don't know if I will shoot it or not, I may sell it. I have several 1911's including a custom Austin Behlert 1924 Colt. I'm really looking at a Les Baer AR, so I may have to let this great piece of history go.

 

[Husker_Fan]

I find it interesting how some of the "old" features that were changed with the 1911A1 are now back to being the standard way most new 1911s come. Like a flat MSH and longer trigger. I think JMB had a knack for ergonomics when he mad the original.

 

[19112XS]

Yes you did warn me and I don’t regret a penny! The old girl obviously has seen a lot of history, and from her looks contributed to a bit of it. She continues to lead an interesting life, and still always shoots like a house on fire.

 

[1911Tuner]

Hey! As long as you're happy, brother. I imagine it torques some of the fraternity when it outshoots and outruns their 2,000 dollar blings. That alone makes it worth the effort.

Speakin' of torque values and the fanboys...

How's that Glock Spanker Nork doin'? Ain't heard you mention it lately.

 

[bigfatdave]

I find it interesting how some of the "old" features that were changed with the 1911A1 are now back to being the standard way most new 1911s come. Like a flat MSH and longer trigger. I think JMB had a knack for ergonomics when he mad the original.

I suspect that many of the changes had soemthing to do with a population of Depression survivors ... and the average American is fairly well-fed these days, too.

===

And that's a really cool piece of history you have there, surjimmy ... good find!

 

[PADRE24]

Very nice find

 

[rondog]

Beautiful! Wish I could stumble across one for a decent price.

 

[Old Fuff]

After a little research I was able to determine that your pistol was most likely shipped from the Colt factory on November 19, 1918 as part of an 11,000 gun lot with serial numbers in the 521000 to 538,000 range.

Because of pressures caused by the war effort, pistols were no longer manufactured nor shipped in numerical order, and the usual practice of sending production to Springfield Armory in Massachusetts was suspended, and instead this shipment went directly to the Ordnance Depot at Bush Terminal in Brooklyn, NY to be placed on a freighter, and on its way to France, post haste.

There is a thin possibility that it was in a small 500 gun shipment that left the factory on November 25, 1918 that went to: Ordnance Officer, Depot, Ordnance, Washington, DC. That said, it would seem more probable that the later shipment was made up of pistols with serial numbers more toward the upper end of the series.

 

[Peter M. Eick]

I have to say that is a nice one. That is like what I have been looking for.

I have been sort of on the hunt for one like that to remember my grandfather with. He served for a long time in WW1 and lost his hair to a mustard gas attack. He was bald as a cue ball all the rest of his life but survived. As I understand it this occurred during the battle of Bella wood or something like that. The Germans attacked with a lot of gas and he picked up his helmet which had gas in it that took his hair when he put it on. He survived but lost his hair. He continued to fight in the battle from the start to the end of the operation because he could not be evac-ed and was not a seriously injured as others. After that battle was over, he was considered not injured enough and continued to serve the rest of the war. He was an early volunteer(?) and spent a lot of time in the war.

I don't remember him talking about it much but my Grandmother, Mom and Uncle told me about it over the years. Bella wood was apparently a very bad fight and he was in the thick of the war for a long time. I never really researched it much but I should probably start.

I have vague memories of him liking a 1911 or making some comment about it when asked. He died before I got to really query him about it much.

Anyway, someday I will find one that talks to me and get it to remember him by.

 

[Pilot]

Peter, I know it is not nearly the same, but you can always try to find a Colt 01911, or 01918 WWI Repro that would remind you of your Grandfather, plus you could also shoot it without worrying about the value too much.

 

[Dr.Rob]

This is 1919 made Commercial model that's been professionally re-blued but is an excellent shooter.

 

[AlexanderA]

I am curious about something. I have an M1911 in the 613xxx serial number range (AFAIK a 1919-made gun) that has the "normal" as opposed to the "scalloped" frame cutouts under the grips ("scalloped" as shown in the first picture in this thread). Were the "scalloped" cutouts standard in the early guns, and if so, when did the change take place?

 

[bigfatdave]

Were the "scalloped" cutouts standard in the early guns, and if so, when did the change take place?

I was also curious about that.
And why the change?