Dug relic 1911 restoration (Pics and Video)

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When did removable floor plate magazines start showing up for the 1911? I'm thinking this one probably had a welded floor plate but I haven't looked at any of the videos. It's hard to imagine a welded floor plate popping off in a fall.

If a round cooked off in an unsupported gun, could the firing pin inertia cause the dimple as the gun recoiled with the slide locked?

I guess we still need somebody to toss their loaded 1911 in a fire to find out. :)
 
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It's hard to imagine a welded floor plate popping off in a fall.
Click to expand...

I used to have a Colt Government Model (yeah, I know, too bad I sold it, I could have dropped it repeatedly on a concrete floor and threw it in a fire :D). Once when reloading, I slammed the factory mag home, and the spot welded base plate popped off, spilling the rounds and spring on the ground.
Colt replaced it for me, and I've never heard of it happening to anyone else, but anything manufactured can fail.
 
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Don't know of any removable flooplate magazines that anyone would want to use or be in any kind of common use (usually, VERY cheap ones, back in the 60's), but early 1911 mags were pinned with two small pins, and possibly these rusted out (highly unlikely, as the rest of the gun didn't rust THAT badly). The magazine condition is a mystery, for sure.
 
Perhaps the original owner kept a spent case in the chamber, under the believe that it would provide some benefit when dry firing. The went for a walk along the side of the road one day and lost it. Should of used the lanyard.

Perhaps it was military issue lost during one of the many big multi-state war game maneuvers held prior to and during WWII. Hundreds of thousands of inexperienced troopers hiking hither and yond along the sides of roads, over days and weeks. I’m sure more than a few side arms were lost. And if one was lost, oh well, to bad, don’t look to hard. Uncle Sam has lots more where that came from.
 
Perhaps it was military issue lost during one of the many big multi-state war game maneuvers held prior to and during WWII. Hundreds of thousands of inexperienced troopers hiking hither and yond along the sides of roads, over days and weeks. I’m sure more than a few side arms were lost. And if one was lost, oh well, to bad, don’t look to hard. Uncle Sam has lots more where that came from
Click to expand...

That's sure not how lost weapons were treated when I was in the service. :uhoh:
 
The second photo in Post #1 shows the magazine (w/out base plate) in the magazine well. Last video in Post #1 shows the removed magazine.
 
Bootlegger being chased by the "revenuers" or sheriff threw the cocked-and-locked gun from his 'shine runnin' car. It hit a tree or rock, the firing pin hit the primer and fired, the gun landed in the dirt next to the road. The bootlegger got caught and never went back to look for the 1911. Over time it migrated down through the dirt and debris.

That's my theory, anyway.

ECS
 
The bootlegger fired shots in anger, and the extractor failed to extract the last round fired.
So, he racked the slide a couple of times, to no effect.
Understandably perturbed, he slung that malfunctioning sumbeach to the ground-with gusto.
Mag floorplate popped out.
Bootlegger decides he's through with them autojammers and goes back to his trusty revolver.

That's my story and I'm sticking to it. (Sorry, Vince Gill)
 
To the poster who questioned using a grinder instead of electrolysis.
A grinder removes metal. Electrolytic rust removal does not remove metal. It only removes rust.
That's why he's using electrolysis, not abrasives.

Heck, get a 1911 parts kit and use the small parts and barrel that come with it, with your frame and slide.
Use lab metal to fill the pits and have the gun Dura Coated.
 
Pardon me for the late entry, but if discussing original 1911 mags, they were pinned....not welded. It wouldn't take much corrosion to compromise the peened pin heads and cause a failure of the floorplate.
 
I say again, why would someone purposely entomb a firearm with no apparent signs of damage in a purposely remote area? Not a single part removed? Is that anyone's standard protocol for a firearm they don't like or trust? Glock FTE, should I bury it in the desert or sell it? isn't a thread title I've come across...yet.
 
I'm thinking a loooooong string for the first live test...


So I'm currious, did you have to transfer this like a regular firearm? (FFL)
 
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