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Thread: Information and/or advice: inherited 1911

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  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Information and/or advice: inherited 1911

    Hello and thank you for your help in advance. I've got a buddy who inherited a 1911 several years back. It has enormous sentimental value to him and he has no intention of selling it. It will stay in the family.

    From the photos below, can you tell me anything about it? Are there marks that you'd need to see? Does it have much monetary value? Do you have any advice for someone in his position? He's got other firearms, but is not a collector.

    Regards,

    PapaTango

    Left.jpg

    Right.jpg
    Attached Images Attached Images

  2. #2
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    9th June 2004
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    A 1911 made in 1918 that apparently got through arsenal rework without parts mixup. It looks all 1911 to me except for the plastic grips and Parkerized finish. The mark in front of the slide stop is likely a poorly struck AA for Augusta Arsenal where a lot of guns were refurbished.

    I won't guess a dollar value other than "substantial."
    I would not consider it a working gun, it is not heat treated and is not as durable as post-WWII guns. When the 1911 was under test, 6000 rounds without failure was amazing. A cracked slide would destroy its value. Tha Army didn't care, they bought lots of spare parts.

  3. #3
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    I agree with Jim Watson. The dollar value is certainly "substantial," but if the pistol has significant sentimental value then the dollar valuation doesn't really matter. What does matter is that it should NOT be shot. Not even occasionally, with "light" loads. As Jim noted, the WW1 slides were not heat treated and were known to fracture. There is no way to predict which shot will be the one that breaks the slide. Once that happens, it can never again be the same pistol ... it will then be a box of 1911 parts, minus the slide. Finding a "correct" slide to replace it would cost more than the gun would be worth with a replacement slide, so it's best not to take the risk.

    Suggested reading for the owner:

    https://forum.m1911.org/showthread.p...nal-USGI-M1911

    https://ezine.m1911.org//showthread....vernment-Model
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  4. #4
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    Nice looking rebuild. The grips mismatched from side to side but normal for a pistol like this. I wouldn't change them.

  5. #5
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    Thank you very much. My buddy was unaware — as was I — of the risks of shooting it. Thankfully, I got to run a few magazines through it prior to your advice and without apparent damage. It’s just a cool firearm and piece of history.

    I’d like to broaden the scope of my post, if you’ll allow it. I entered the CMP 1911 lottery. If I’m selected, what are the odds I would have a fully treated pistol that is safe to fire? Is it random? Or highly likely a non-auctioned Ithaca would be mixmaster with a newer parts? I’d like to have something I can shoot periodically and eventually pass on. So part shoot, and part collect. Not grandfather’s side arm or anything.

    im super grateful for your help. Thank you.

  6. #6
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    Quote Originally Posted by PapaTango View Post
    I entered the CMP 1911 lottery. If I’m selected, what are the odds I would have a fully treated pistol that is safe to fire?
    The odds are slim. As-issued 1911s never had fully heat treated slides. The later ones had partial heat treating -- basically a small area around the slide stop recess, and the forward-most inch or so of the slide (back to approximately where the frame begins. They were still known to break off at the point where the heat treating ended.

    Later replacement slides were fully heat treated. IMHO the odds of getting a pistol with a fully hardened replacement slide are small. Not impossibly small, but ... small.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  7. #7
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    as the pistol was parkerized there is a good chance it saw service during WW2, and maybe afterward.......
    Blessed are those who expect nothing....for they shall not be disappointed

  8. #8
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    Quote Originally Posted by romer12 View Post
    as the pistol was parkerized there is a good chance it saw service during WW2, and maybe afterward.......
    Much too clean and unblemished. That thing never saw service after it was rebuilt -- not in WW2, Korea, Vietnam, Greneda, or anywhere else.
    Hawkmoon
    On a good day, can hit the broad side of a barn ... from the inside

  9. #9
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    Maybe in the admiral's desk. Saw one like that with provenance to a high level staff officer who apparently felt a soldier needed a gun even in an administrative position.

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