A 1941 Colt M1911A1...

[John Holbrook]

This beautiful Colt was in the last shipment to Springfield Armory in Dec. 1941. Note the two tone mag, which is correct for this pistol. It also is an early Parkerized example which is a soft green shade.

http://www.fototime.com/{A97CB748-C5CD-4285-A8E9-4A4FB8AFBC81}/picture.JPG

[John]

John you never stop to amaze me with your collection. Fine piece indeed. Thanks for sharing.

[DienBienPhu]

nice example of a WWII GI M1911A1

[John Holbrook]

A couple of things to look for when you are examining a 1911. This 1911A1 has had practically no use, so it is a good example to illustrate wear or lack thereof!

Look at the wear on the slide hold back notch. It should be nice and sharp. Many people use the slide stop to lower the slide which wears the notch. Remember, the slide stop is a lot harder than the slide.

BTW, when I load a full mag, I pull the slide back and release to return the slide to battery. This uses the full energy stored in the recoil spring to feed the top round. When closing the slide with an empty or no mag, I pull the slide back and then depress the slide stop to prevent excessive wear on the slide stop and notch.

The slide stop should be cammed down by the forward part of the notch, however it does not always work.

Next, look at the hammer face. The more a gun is fired or dry fired. the more "cratering" on the face of the hammer.

Finally, if the slide stop notch and hammer face show wear and there is finish over the wear, well I believe you can take it from there!!!!


http://www.fototime.com/{FAFD1564-AEAA-4F3A-8D78-496777FEA0F5}/picture.JPG

[John]

By the way, a big "Happy Birthday John" is in order for our friend, who shares with us all his lovely, historical toys. Many happy returns John.

[John Holbrook]

:eek: Holy Mackerel, I will be 73 years old tomorrow!!!!!! :p

I've never been that old before!!!!!!

Arrrrrrg.

(However, I've proven pretty damned hard to kill!!!!)

Heh, Heh..... :rolleyes: ;) :) :D

[EricK]

This type of Information is the exact reason I joined this Forum. Happy B-Day and Thanks!!!!!

[John]

What? You joined this forum, because you wanted to know, when John's birthday is??:)

Darn, and we are trying so hard to post good 1911 info in here!

[Sandman1967]

A very happy 1911 birthday, John!!!!

..and again, thanks for sharing your beautiful collection!

And thanks for the gun lesson. :)

[EricK]

Thought I might contribute. My Dad left me several M1911 and M1911A1 examples. Here is one I would like to share: The Last picture I posted shows what I would call a 2 tone appearance on the end of the slide and lower section. Was this common in US&S M1911A1's? Thanks ahead of time.
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/majson76/US_S1.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/majson76/US_S2.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/majson76/US_S3.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/majson76/US_S4.jpg
http://i16.photobucket.com/albums/b28/majson76/US_S5.jpg

[John]

The darker areas you see, is where the slide was heat-treated to increase its strength. Yes, it is common.

Rgds

[John Holbrook]

Here is a related photo of an Ithaca slide that shows the Rockwell test punches for testing the hardness. They first hardened just the front of the slides to prevent cracking and wear. Later slides had the area surrounding the slide stop notch for the same reason.

Note the small punch mark on the right side of the slide, and the two punches on each side of the slide stop notch.

http://www.fototime.com/{45425653-EA77-4E52-BA8B-1323CF3504B2}/picture.JPG