Model 1911 Colt .45

Status
Not open for further replies.
B

BigMik1

Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
51
Hello everyone,

Here is the Colt .45 that the Museum got from a WWII Vet. I welcome any additional help on the pistol. Thanks to Old Fuff for the information he gave me in another thread. I sent an email to the Springfield Armory for more information on the pistol. Serial no. 76428. :)

Thanks for all your help,

BigMik1

P6200020.jpg
P6200021.jpg
P6200022.jpg
 
Last edited:
The serial number is in the 1914 Springfield Armory range but it has a Colt slide. Everything looks to be in about the same condition so I would say parts were mixed during maintenance. I think it was rebuilt early on, during or shortly after WW I because there are no 1911A1 parts on it; then reissued to your guy in WW II. But I am not a collector or expert and you need somebody with the references and knowhow to really pick out all the little details.

By the way, your pictures are underexposed and identifying details are hard to pick out, at least on my monitor. This is the best of a bad lot.
 
Thanks Jim for the info, sorry about the quality of the pictures, I am not professional by any means. I will try to get better photos in the future.

What identifying details would you be looking for? I hope the Springfield Armory sends me back some info on the pistol.

BigMik1
 
To the collector or curator, all the markings, contours, and design features are meaningful. Clear pictures are needed. In this case, I could tell you have a Colt slide on a Springfield frame, probably as a result of Army maintenance practices. All they wanted was a functional weapon, they didn't care about originality for a collector in the next century.

Except in rare cases, the US Army did not keep individual records on small arms issuance and use. It is unlikely you will learn more than what the donor could tell you.

Which Springfield Armory did you e-mail? The real original US Springfield Armory that made this pistol closed in 1968 and is now a National Park.
http://www.nps.gov/spar/
I could not tell on a fast pass through that site whether they have a research operation.
Springfield Armory Inc. is a commercial operation selling copies made in Brazil. I doubt they have historical information on real USGI pistols.
http://www.springfield-armory.com

Where is your museum located? Sounds interesting.
 
Jim Watson

Which Springfield Armory did you e-mail? The real original US Springfield Armory that made this pistol closed in 1968 and is now a National Park.
http://www.nps.gov/spar/
I could not tell on a fast pass through that site whether they have a research operation.
Springfield Armory Inc. is a commercial operation selling copies made in Brazil. I doubt they have historical information on real USGI pistols.
http://www.springfield-armory.com

Where is your museum located? Sounds interesting.
Click to expand...

Hi Jim,

Thanks for the info, I guess we have a mixed bag .45. The donor was assigned the weapon in WWII and just hung on to it. And he knew he wasn't suppose too, but he wanted a keepsake.

I went to the Springfield Armory website in the National Park Service, they have a email address you can request info on a weapon from the site.

On the Museum I am with, we are the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, Tx. We started in 2000 and still growing, but we are slowly emerging from Mom and Pop status. We display and educate the public about the Buffalo Soldiers and overall the actions and experiences of African-Americans in America's conflicts from the Revolutionary War to now. We have had many people of all kinds donate military items to the Museum as you see with the rifles and pistol I have displayed on this fourm.

Thanks again for your help,

BigMik1
 
Purely as a gun, very little in that condition, maybe $200 or so as a "shooter".

If there is a documented history of its use in WWII, by which I mean a notarized statement by the veteran that he was issued the gun and carried it at this or that battle, the value would be much higher.

Many vets who "liberated" guns have a reluctance to mention them; some even ground off the "U.S. Property" marking under the (false) assumption that they could conceal the origin of the gun. If any questions arise, I hope you can assure these folks that 1) the statute of limitations has long expired, 2) millions of GI guns were disposed off and sold on the open market and 3) there are no hordes of FBI agents arresting WWII veterans for bringing back Uncle's guns. Only machineguns (and a few other weapons) are illegal unless registered; those can present a problem and generally must be surrendered to BATFE to avoid prosecution.

Jim
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top