Thanks, Bruce - yes, I've already field stripped it for a partial cleaning, but I'll use your instruction set and take it all the way down this weekend if I hear it passes a trace.

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Now, I am not a beleiver in original GI issue firearms, though some certainly exist, guns were scavenged from battlefields, refurbed and put back into service. Guns were arsenal rebuilt between wars and re-issued to our troops and/or loaned to forces of other nations, both friendly and defeated.


All I can say is that I looked at a list of Colt proof marks for the frame, slide and trigger and all are correct and matching for a 1944 Colt on this pistol. The arsenal rebuilt pistols were stamped with a rebuild proof - this pistol has no such marks.

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Should yours be totally original, it may well be worh far more in it's current condition than you could imagine. Get it appraised by a reputable dealer. Take some really great photos and post them on www.jouster.com, a military collector site with many knowledgeable and honest folks there. You might be able to sell that gun for enough to replace it with a modern, precision built 1911 that would truely make you happy.


I'll post the pictures, but I doubt I'd sell this one - it feels too good and reminds me of my father's 1911s - which long ago disappeared and I never asked him what he did with them. I've enjoyed using some of his hand tools and this pistol seems like another one of his tools to me.

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That 1911 you have suffers from a short trigger, loose fitting mil-spec parts, poor sights, and age. You could buy yourself a custom built Wilson Combat, Ed Brown, Les Baer, Nighthawk to name a few.


Maybe so - but to me, the trigger feels exactly right, the action is not loose like a lot of the 1911s are reported to be and the sights are perfectly fine with me..... I rarely see the sights on a weapon anyway unless I'm shooting still targets.... I guess it's a result of years of shooting birds, skeet and trap with well-balanced, good-fitting shotguns like my Winchester Super-X Model 1, a Nikko O/U skeet/skeet or a Browning Broadway/Superposed Trap gun. Some weapons just come up dead where I'm looking and this one does that perfectly.... it's the only pistol I can compare to the way the 9mm BHP feels and points. If it's as accurate - or nearly so - I'll be tickled. There are probably other choices as good or better, but I sorta like this one.

Those pistols you named are nice, but I'd never buy one - they're too fancy for me. I really don't like the drilled triggers and other modern eye candy..... heck, I don't even like the day-glow front bead sight on one of my 50+ year old Ithaca Model 37 Featherweights. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/lol.gif" alt="" /> I figured this one might be worth $1000, but you're comparing it price-wise to $2-4000 pistols - so I'll take your advice and get an opinion on it.

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BTW, that S&W .32 Handejector of your grandpa's isn't useless. Take off those stocks and look for a "N" stamped in the frame to signify it was factory nickled. The hammer and trigger appear to be color case hardened which would be correct for a factory nickle gun. See if the stocks are numbered to the gun, as factory M-O-P stocks are rare.


The grips are not numbered. The only proof mark I could find on the frame is near the right-side grip locating stud - looks like a "D" or an "A" to me:

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Thanks for your help and advice! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

Frank

'89 [color:"white"]G-Raider[color:"white"] [color:"black"]Supercharged 3.0L, MegaSquirt 2, lockup A/T, 2.5" exhaust, 172k, Cibie H4s/Oscar SCs, Hella Micro DE fogs, Cobra CB, Superwinch hubs, LSD rear/Aussie Locker front, Bilsteins, Lifeline AGM, Rust-Oleum