Finally a silver lining to living in CT? (a thread about a 1911)

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19-3Ben

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On a whim I stopped in one of my favorite local LGSs today. I don't know why, but I felt like I just needed to.
I'll save everyone the bother of a long flowery story about it.

The LGS, being in Southington CT, only about 25 mins from the Hartford plant at Colt, had just bought 30 series 80 1911A!'s from Colt, that Colt had used in their armorer training. These have been disassembled and put back together, and disassembled and put back together, and disassembled and put back together more times that you can count. BUT they were hardly ever fired.
He had put them out for sale, I think he said Friday. He priced them all at $499 and I was looking at one of the last two in the shop. The rest had all sold.

Another guy was looking at the other remaining 1911. The LGS owner, knowing myself and the other guy are both regulars, and that being the last two guns these were in the worst condition of the lot offered us $450 OTD, and threw in extra grips. He also gauranteed that they would feed reliably with just about any ammo, and told us that if they don't, he will take them back and work on them until they do. This shop is THE gun smithing shop in CT. They are just amazing and I have no doubt that if he tunes a pistol it'll work properly.

I dated the gun and the frame dates to 2008, but you'd swear it was in a war! Idiot scratches and finish wear galore. But internally? There's no doubt it's been handled and stripped down a lot, but it was immaculate. I don't know if it has ever been fired other than the factory test before they sold it to the LGS. It is likely a "frankengun" but coming from the Colt plant, all parts would be matching Colt parts, which is nice.

Oh well, for the price, how could I say no? So I guess being in CT and only a few minutes from Colt does have a silver lining?

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What do you guys think? I know a used Taurus 1911, and maybe even used Ruger SR1911 would probably have cost similar, and I could have had a brand new RIA for that price. But to have a Colt at that price... I figure I can always get my money out of it and it may be a good base for a custom gun some day. For now, it'll be a wonderful HD and carry gun where I don't have to worry about the finish!
 
Haha. Fair enough. This one certainly won't win any beauty contests.

Here's a question for you pros out there. Since, as I mentioned above, this gun has been stripped down and rebuilt more times than I can imagine, do you foresee any different types of wear or any problems that may arise that I would not see with an ordinary 1911?
Or does the constant stripping and reassembly not make any difference at all?
 
You should be fine. Generally training guns get rebuilt with new parts as needed before they go out the door. Armorers schools generally also involve fitting parts, not just disassembly / re assembly. I doubt colt would let a gun out for sale that has parts not fit by factory personnel.
 
Colt

In this area, $499.00 is a bit stiff for a used 1991A1. It may be different in yours. I don't know what the market is there, so it may be one of those "I practically stole it" bargains.

The repeated disassembly isn't an issue. About the only thing that gets worn is the point of the mainspring plunger. The rest of the gun practically falls apart.

The 1991A1s were good pistols. I'd buy it.
 
In this area, $499.00 is a bit stiff for a used 1991A1. It may be different in yours. I don't know what the market is there, so it may be one of those "I practically stole it" bargains.
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Wow. If you came up here you'd make a fortune. For an actual Colt 1991A1, even used you'd be looking in the low to mid $600 range used here. I see used Ruger SR1911's selling for around $500-525 here. I was just thrilled that the LGS owner, knowing me as well as he does, gave it to me for $450OTD. That, in this part of the country, is the kind of deal you can't leave on the table.
Thank you so much for chiming in here. I appreciate your commentary as you are the 1911 guy, after all.

I appreciate all of your comments. I have no doubt this is going to be a nice, no frills, 1911 that I can really USE without having to worry about ruining a nice finish. One thing that is kinda funny is seeing a gun with this much finish wear, but zero holster-wear at all. The high points and edges are no more or less worn than the rest of the gun.
 
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I am going to have to start visiting that LGS in Southington. Had I seen those Colts I would be a proud owner of one too. Good luck with it.
 
19-3Ben

I wouldn't have hesitated on getting that gun either. For that price I would probably have it hard chromed plated, and still be money ahead on the deal.
 
Bannockburn- I'm considering it. The shop where I bought it, does incredible work. They don't hard-chrome but they use a teflon-nickle finish (which I think is actually the same thing as NP3 if I remember correctly) and I may eventually have them refinish this one along with some other minor work (night sights, perhaps trigger job, etc...)

I'd bet they bought the guns from Colt figuring that at a low price point, people would buy the guns, and not only would the shop make money on the sale, but then make more when everyone decides to get work done because a Colt 1911 for under $500 is a great base gun for custom work. It's a great idea and I can't fault them for that at all!
 
Used 1911 prices up here are absurd (I don't know why, I guess we just love our 1911s in the PNW). Folks up here would be asking $800 for those beater-looking Colts. But 450 for a Colt? Even in the rough cosmetic shape of yours, I'd have bought 4 for that price ... Hard-chrome would be perfect then ... Great score.
 
Great score, I'm jealous! I'd be tempted to have a really nice Royal Blue finish done to it though and make it pretty. Or have it parkerized and make it more utilitarian. But, it ain't mine.

I just loves the way this one looks.

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WOW! That high polish blue is just plain sexy. Nice melt treatment as well. Still maintains the shape and does not look like a used bar of soap.
 
That's NOT my gun, photo is off the 'net somewhere. But that's a Colt 01911 WWI reproduction pistol that the owner had refinished by the Colt Custom Shop. I have more photos, it's beautiful.
 
Wow. That really is just jaw-droppingly beautiful! Inspiring, but hoooooo boy would I feel like a schmuck if I idiot-scratched a gun like that!!!
 
Sounds like a pretty good deal to me. I've got a few 1991A1s, they're great platforms for custom builds and take a polish and blue as well as anything else Colt has made. Here's a pic of my 1991A1 Compact used bar of soap.

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From your first post, I figured (correctly) this was JoJo's. I've had that finish done there a couple of times, it's very good.

They also did a fantastic job for me on a Bright Nickel revolver, but I know they had the Nickel done at USFA in Hartford.
 
but I know they had the Nickel done at USFA in Hartford.
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I wonder if USFA still does that kind of refinishing now that they have droped the beautiful revolvers and gone to the oh so wonderful Zip gun.:scrutiny:

And oh man, all these melted and highly polished 1911s are really impressive!
 
The USFA site has a link to the USFA Single Action guns, I sort of think that might be an "archive" link. JoJo's did the tear down and prep, I think, and they did the reassembly with some action work and new springs.

I guess I can't resist posting a picture, even though this is a revolver in the "Autoloaders" Forum

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Not exactly a "before and after" but two almost identical Dan Wesson 15-2's
 
I think you got a great deal. Used 1911's bring a lot more than that around here. Heck, I have no interest in them, but at that price I would have probably snapped up one.
 
UPDATE:

Since getting this pistol, I've fired about 400 trouble-free rounds through it until last night. I actually had a friend of mine shooting it, when she looks at me and says "hey Ben, is this gun supposed to have a front sight?"

Yup. The front sight flew off and landed somewhere in Never-Never Land.
Go figure. I used it as a training opportunity. Since every mechanism can and will fail eventually, every failure is a chance to drill around that failure, and i set about shooting without the front sight and just a rear sight. It actually worked out pretty well. I could still keep all rounds in about a 5 inch circle at 30 feet.

Anyway, I just wanted to share. I wanted to install night sights anyway, so this is kind of a blessing in disguise as I would have needed to remove that sight anyway!
 
I think you did real good. If I saw a colt for $450 I would buy it in a heart beat. Strip it and get it blued.
 
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