COLT M1911 with pics

[powell river]

I dont know to much about this other than it was made in 1913 the grips are the wrong ones would it be easy to get parts for would they just be current colt 1911 parts. I only paid 300 canadian for it

 

[nwilliams]

Gorgeous!!

No gun has more character than an old well used M1911!

I would leave it just the way it is but maybe look for some vintage 1911 grips for it.

Have you shot it yet?

Here's my old "US Property" marked M1911, I paid about $200 for it and I love it.

 

[Dr.Mall Ninja]

Powell,IMO your 1911 is most likley worth more 500

 

[tomwalshco]

Great pickup. You'll love it. And the best news is that it's "seasoned" and has some personality. A little nick here or there won't send you into a mental tailspin.

It would be fun to get some history on it. It may have dispatched a couple of Gerrys during the Big One....

 

[Oro]

A couple of thoughts from those pictures:

1) Looks like the s/n has been removed. Is that going to be a problem in Canada? It is a big problem in the US.

2) On the right, does it have US Property stamps on the dust cover forward of the trigger? I can't tell if it's a commercial model or military (the s/n would tell that if it were there). The "H" on the slide above the fp stop indicates a military slide at least. If you remove the slide stop the s/n may appear also on the slide beneath it surrounding the fp hole.

3) The thumb safety and slide stop are wrong, from a much later gun. All other parts look correct to 1913. Perhaps it was a military gun that had been through an arsenal at some point and then was later, er, "liberated" from service and the property marks and s/n removed, and then refinished. This is pretty common. The grips are later (WWII or later) GI style grips, but unable to tell if WWII era or later production.

4) For some cheap but authentic grips, I'd consider three options:

a) Herret's makes a nice looking walnut checker, no diamonds, and they sell via CDNN for like $20. Authentic to a 20's/30's era gun, but would also look good on that one.
b) Get some take-offs from a current production Colt WWI replica.
c) Any set of nice dark walnut double diamond grips would look correct. You can get these from ebay or from many, many vendors.

I'd say the gun's worth about $500 to someone looking for a rough old shooter for nostalgia or restoration. Keep in mind the steel in these is not hardened and after this much aging, lots of shooting can crack lugs or rails.