Inherited a 1911, need info

[ADAM]

I Inherited this 1911 Colt 45 from my late grandfather, with looks to be aftermarket rubber grips. The SN is 332xx. Looking for the value and what it is suppose to look like originally. Thanks!

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/RFRFR009.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/RFRFR014.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/RFRFR018.jpg

[John]

I am nowhere near being an expert, but I can see a few other things which are not original. The thumb safety for one. The rear sight is not original too, but I can't tell if it is just the sight or the whole slide, it looks as if there is a square rib on the top of the slide. This can be an add-on or the whole slide has been changed. We need better pictures from the top of the pistol.

In any case, I do not believe this pistol has any collector's value, but as I said, I could be wrong.

[Scott Gahimer]

We'll need to see some better photos. Your pistol appears to be totally refinished and the frame appears to have been renumbered. It may have starte out as a military pistol, but...

We need to see the serial number and other markings a little better.

Thanks.

[ADAM]

http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/60a6bd1c.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/29449047.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/8a38ecc7.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/aa05af5e.jpg
http://i88.photobucket.com/albums/k179/NOTAHONDA/d01f3e33.jpg

[ADAM]

The stampings are serial number 33259, 60 next to the trigger on one side and P with a triangle on the other. On the area when the round is ejected it has has .45" .900" bhp 7 tons per []"

[ADAM]

Can anyone give a value amount?

[John]

For a parts gun? Sorry, I can't.

[bgiven]

It appears (tough to see photos) to be a Colt pre-war .38 Super frame, with an assortment of other put together parts and components. It certainly doesn't have any collector value, but I would imagine alot of sentimental family value.

[ADAM]

Thanks for your help guys

[wjkuleck]

The stampings are serial number 33259, 60 next to the trigger on one side and P with a triangle on the other. On the area when the round is ejected it has has .45" .900" bhp 7 tons per []"
Curiouser and curiouser. You've got the Brit proof marks on the barrel,at least. IIRC these are the marks pursuant to the '55 law. The marks were applied to arms exported from the UK.

Regards,

Walt

[Scott Gahimer]

Can anyone give a value amount?

Sentimental value? Priceless.

Laying on a table for sale? Probably somewhere south of $500. It would just have to be sold to someone wanting a refinished, mismatched shooter.

I hope you see the sentimental value and keep the pistol and enjoy it. It looks like a project your late grandfather probably enjoyed. Maybe he was the one who put the pistol together and modified it. Pretty common back in the day.

[ADAM]

SHould I have any concerns about shooting it after a good cleaning?

[Scott Gahimer]

No, I don't think so. I'd properly inspect the pistol for function and safety. That pistol was built to shoot.

You asked what it looked like originally. Back when it had it's original slide, parts and finish, it looked something like these pistols. The photos were taken in different lighting, but they are the same oven blue Depression Era Colt finish.

http://i30.tinypic.com/2a646es.jpg
http://i31.tinypic.com/29px1eu.jpg

http://i26.tinypic.com/wgpwk.jpg
http://i27.tinypic.com/10zcmqg.jpg

[ADAM]

The gun seems to just need a cleaning, the slide fuctions awesome, smoother than my new 9mm. So this gun has a .38 super frame with a 1911 slide?

[Hawkmoon]

So this gun has a .38 super frame with a 1911 slide?
No.

.38 Super (or Super .38) is a caliber, not a firearm type.

1911 is a firearm type. "Civilian" (commercial) 1911s have been sold in .45 Automatic, 9mm Parabellum, Super .38, .38 Special, .40 S&W, and several other calibers. There's even a variant in .380 ACP made and sold in Brazil.

[Scott Gahimer]

Actually Colt's offered two different models of pistols chambered in .38 Super.

One was named the Colt Super .38 and the other was the Colt Super Match. The Super Match was the model comparable to the .45 acp Natonal Match.

[ADAM]

So what gun do I have?

[bgiven]

You have parts and components from at least 2 or 3 different guns, with the addition of some enhansed components.

[Scott Gahimer]

So what gun do I have?

Provided the frame is from a Colt Super .38, technically by law you have a Colt Super .38 with a mixture of other parts.

The slide...is probably a Colt M1911A1 slide...provided no markings have been removed from the right side. The sights have been changed, so I'd have to see the disconnector cutout on the bottom side of the slide to determine the vintage of the slide. The disconnector cutouts are different on the M1911 slides compared to the M1911A1.

I also asked you previously to report if the slide was numbered on the back, under the firing pin stop plate. I don't think you've done that yet. You need to respond to the questions we have if you want answers about what you have. That might save a lot of guessing based on the photos you have provided.

The barrel is most likely from a WWII Lend-Lease pistol. There are markings on the lugs and perhaps the bottom of the barrel which will verifiy that.

Thumb safety is post-WWII. In 1949 Colt adopted that general style of thumb safety, but I can't see yours well enough to say if it's Colt or aftermarket. Obviously the grip is modern aftermarket Pachmayr.

The best way to simply describe your pistol for general discussion, IMO, is as a pre-1946 refinished Super .38/.45acp mismatch with varied small parts. It's difficult to know when the pistol was put together, but it was probably done in the 1960s or 1970s from the looks of it.