Help with an "odd" Springfield 1911

[Lawyerman]

I need help in figuring out what I have. I bought a gun at a pawnshop today. It is a Springfield 1911 and is nearly identical to a "loaded" but differs in some interesting ways.

First the frame is the old style with the flats in front of the grips. There were
"Loadeds" made this way I know as I own two of them however, the Serial number starts with NM.

Second, the gun has no ILS system and it sports what appears to be a factory Springfield mainspring housing. This seems to indicate it is an older gun also.

Then it has a one piece stainless steel barrel, marked in the same way Springfield marks all their others. Lastly it has a two piece stainless guide rod but it has a hex head screw as opposed to the screwdriver slot type. Also, the barrel bushing is stainless steel.

I got the gun out the door for $450 and it is in excellent shape but for a few holster marks on the top of the slide.

What is this gun? I figure I did ok no matter what, it's tough to buy a decent .45 for $450 but I think this gun is moderately "special". Ideas?

 

[psyopspec]

Got pics?

 

[XavierBreath]

If the serial begins with NM, it's a Mil-Spec. Not to worry though, you still got a deal.
What type of sights does it have?
Does it have forward serations?
What finish?
If this stuff is more like a loaded, it might be a loaded slide on a Mil-Spec frame. Still a good deal if it shoots well.

 

[Lawyerman]

I have done some research on a couple of other forums and what I have come up with is that this is an early Loaded gun whose frame was finished in the US, made in Brazil, but the final milling cuts etc...where made here. That's the significance of the NM marking apparently. It is not marked Made in Brazil on the underside of the dustcover as most of the frames are.

Yes, it is in all other respects a Loaded-three hole trigger, Novak rear, front slide serrations (sharp as all hell too!- Have always hated that about the Loadeds!), beveled mag well, beavertail grip safety.

The added features that are pretty clearly factory make it an odd gun to me. Like I said I have two other Loaded guns, one stainless and one Blue, both have two piece barrels, both came with an ILS, both had a screwdriver type two piece guide rods.

It was explained by folks on another forum that from time to time Springfield runs low on parts for a particular model and they have orders to fill so they dip into "upgrade" parts to get it out. This was a Loaded that got some upgraded parts from the factory as a result of them needing to fill an order quickly. I have seen similar things with some of the Milspecs so I tend to think it's true. For example, I have seen milspecs with stainless one piece barrels and bushings too, right in the middle of a pile of other milspecs that have two piece barrels and blued/parked bushings.

A darn good deal for $450 I think.

 

[XavierBreath]

I agree, it's a darned good deal for $450.
Deb from Springfield posts on the Springfield 1911 forum from time to time. She is kind of like Springfield's mini Roy Jinks. She can give you a pretty definitive answer as to what you have and it's date of manufacture. I always thought a NM serial was exclusively Mil-Spec, but a little research proves me wrong----- but hey, I don't know everything!