Tracing a 45 by serial number??

[bilbo42]

I know the 1911 that I am getting was made about May 1918 by Colt. The serial number is 2906XX. Is there any way to check where it went when it left Colt, ie, thru military records of some kind. I would love to know if it ever got oversees and saw battle in WWI. Would a May 1918 have made it into combat that fast? Also, it has no WWII parts, ie origianl blue finish and no arsenal rework marks, original grips --if it got turned back in after WWI, did the military issue any 1911 pistols in their original condition for service after WWI or were they all reworked, parkerized, new grips, etc. Also, i wonder what are the chances that a WWII solder could have carried his father's WWI pistol into harm's way for a second time? Neat to think about. Any ideas would be great. Thanks to all, Bil

[Johnny Peppers]

Colt kept their records of shipment, but it will cost you $100 to get the actual date of shipment and where it was shipped to. After that there is hardly any information on where pistols went. There seems to be more records on Navy assigned pistols than Army assigned. The Navy pistols tended to stay in one place longer than the Army assigned. There are a couple of books with the shipping records for Colt, and if you wanted to post your serial number I will take a look.

[John]

If you do not want to post your serial number, for obvious reasons, send a Private Message to Johnny with it.

[bilbo42]

Yes, I did send it to him. Thanks, Bil