1911 Gun Shop Find

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.)

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1Colt005-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1Colt001-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1Colt006-1.jpg

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...1Colt010-1.jpg

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. :p

Very nice!

If it could only talk, congratulations.

That's a bit of coin to pay, but I can understand why you would.

Looks like you did better than most M1911 novice buyers. Congratulations.

Very nice. I was lucky myself last month when I found a 1917 in similar condition in my local shop. I picked it up, along with a K98 and M95 bayo for $1K OTD. He has a 1918, but it looks to be very nicely reblued.

Post some pics of the markings on the barrel. Also a pic of the mag and congrat's!

Big gun show end of march hope to find one as nice as yours and it gives me an idea of the prices.

Thanks to all for the positive responses. Here are the requested pics, barrel a bit out of focus (my Canon point and shoot camera and I sometimes have "a failure to communicate"), but I think the marks show well enough, hope they don't burst my imagined "all correct" bubble, also hope the photos don't get rotated.

https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...Colt2002-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...Colt2003-1.jpg
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo...Colt2004-1.jpg

A nice barrel, but not the original type for your 1911. The horizontal H P (or P H) was used from approximately 25,000 to 120,000 (Clawson). The original type barrel for your pistol would have been a vertical H P, used from approximately 110,000 to 425,000 (Clawson).

Oh, well! :)

If it were my pistol I'd probably just leave it as it is, but if you go on the hunt for a correct vertical H P barrel remember that you'll always be able to recoup the costs if you sell the one you've got. There's plenty of people out there who'd probably kill to have a clean horizontal H P barrel with an excellent bore. The barrel you need won't be cheap, but I can easily see you getting more for your current barrel.