Interesting Colt 1911/A1- Need Information.

[Howard Frye]

I have come across a 1911 Colt that is interesting and I need some information as too what it could be. The serial number is 24419 and is matching to the slide which only has the last patent date of 1911. Both the slide and frame have been arsenaled reblued. The receiver is milled out on both slides with the finger relieve and in the process of milling on the left side, the WGP inspector stamp is only half there. The pistol has all the improvements of a transition A1. The hammer appears to be original to the pistol which has been shortened and reblued. The grip safety is the long tang, short trigger and checkered, arched and checkered mainspring housing, wide front sight and the rear sight has the larger U shaped cut. The barrel is a Springfield Armory barrel with the S P marking of late WW1 period, original blue finish. All the A1 parts have the original blue finish. The grips are the A1 full checkered type and are originals. The slide stop and thumb safety are the 1911 style with original finish. The barrel bushing and recoil spring are the early style and original finish. From all evidence the pistol is unfired since it has been rebuilt. There are no other inspector stamps except the the common H on the frame and slide. My question is- Could this be a sample (tool room) piece?. Did Springfield armory alter any 1911 pistols complete with the clearance cuts on the receiver. I checked out every part of the pistol and they are all period parts and in the same condition as the pistol. I do know that the Ordnance Dept. suggested a shorter hammer and this could be the reason why the hammer has been altered. The pistol retains 99.9 percent blue finish and again no evidence of being fired. The bore is pristine and the firing pin area shows no wear at all. If you have any thoughts on the pistol, please let me know. I am in the process of taking photos and will post them when I am finished. From the workmanship of the rebuild, I know it's not a BUBBA JOB!. Let me know what you think it might be. Thanks for your time in reading my reading my post.

Information

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[Johnny Peppers]

We need pictures.

[oldcanuck]

How do you know it's not a Bubba job ??? Arsenal rebuilds were Parkerized, not re-blues..... sounds like it has been in the hands of someone who is a compotent gunsmith/armorer. BTW, Bubba gets so much practice, he's bound to get good some day.

Pictures are the only thing that will clear this up as previously mentioned.

[Johnny Peppers]

The hammer appears to be original to the pistol which has been shortened and reblued. I do know that the Ordnance Dept. suggested a shorter hammer and this could be the reason why the hammer has been altered.

It was the other way around. The first Model 1911 pistols had short hammers, and there were complaints the hammer wasn't long enough to to get a firm hold on so in 1914 the hammer spur was lengthened. In 1924 the grip safety was lengthened, but the hammer remained the same until 1939 when the spur was shortened.
Serial No.24419 would have originally had a short hammer.

[Ken Hill]

Howard,

Having taken the time to read your post please realize you will need to take photos! I am sure you'll have some good/ accurate and informed opinions that will answer the questions you raise in your OP.