A while back I dropped into a local small time gun shop and idly looked over the handgun cabinet, casual curiosity only. On the bottom shelf in the corner, hiding in the shadows, appeared to be a perhaps interesting Model 1911 or 1911A1. I asked to see it, and it indeed was a 1911, not an A1. Looked to be in pretty good shape, and the asking price wasn't astronomical, so I mentally bookmarked it and tried to get smart fast on the internet (I'm not a 1911 wiz). I decided to make an offer the next day, not terribly below the ask, and more based on faith than knowledge, since, of course, just one non-original part halves the value, and I don't know all the ins and outs of 1911s. But most of the marked parts appeared to be correct from what I could gather, and I felt that, given the obvious minimal use it shows, it was not terribly likely that anything had been replaced. Hmmmmmm. We'll see.

Anyway, just got it out of jail (10 day PRK wait) today. I snapped a few pics that may appeal to those who are interested in vintage gun porn. Manufacture date is 1918, looks pretty good for a 94 year old lady, I think. Here are some pics for any of those who may be interested in this kind of thing.

(Note: sometimes my album pics get rotated 90 degrees when posted to a forum, dunno why, apologies in advance if this happens here.)









Before you ask, cost was a bit over $1.5k, okay, not a steal, but not a bad deal either, I think, especially for a gun shop. Of course, that assumes that the piece is all correct. Detail strip aside (which I've never done before), I'm afraid to even field strip it, note that there is no idiot scratch! Also no noticeable pitting or even discoloration within the slide grasping grooves. There are about five small pits on the slide and a bit of freckling here and there, plus thinning of blue on the grip straps, that's the worst of it. The barrel bore is the best of it, almost mint, no noticeable pitting or even frosting (I believe the barrel is original). Well, again, we'll see. I'm usually much more careful and leave little to nothing up to chance before parting with long green. My one and only impulse buy.
Information
Warning: This is a relatively older thread
This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.