A nice M1911A1 from Swissvale, PA

Not what you probably expected. :)

1942/43 Colt M1911A1 858090

Original and unaltered. Shipped between late November 1942 and January 1943 to Springfield Armory. A Colt factory letter is required to verify the exact date of shipping because Colt stopped shipping in numerical order during WWII at serial number at 799441 to increase the rate of production.

Matching numbered slide. The magazine is a commercial-to-military transferred pinned base magazine with the base plate marked COLT (over) .45 AUTO. These magazines were shipped with some Colt pistols in 1942 through early 1943. This is a beautiful 1942-43 Colt that is near new condition. Extremely rare and desirable in this condition.

Colt large G barrel.

When this pistol came out of the woodwork from Swissvale, PA, through the deceased veteran's family in 2002, it was still wrapped in a newspaper dated January 1946. Upon receipt and during inspection, a thin film of dried grease flaked off the outside of the pistol like fine dust. The pistol had not been disturbed for more than 56 years. It was a real discovery.

Included with the pistol, but packed separately, were (2) two-tone magazines, a lanyard, a military issue brass cleaning rod and a 1940 version military field manual for the pistol.

When the GI returned to the States, the pistol was apparently greased and wrapped in the newspaper, then stuffed inside what looks to be an old gun sock.

Even though the issue of 2-tone magazines was discontinued during 1943, many were still in use throughout the remainder of WWII. Brass cleaning rods, lanyards, holsters and other WWI gear were still regularly issued and used in WWII.


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True, not what one expects when you say Swissvale...but very nice.

It's freakin nice.

Great gun and story. Finding a true "out of the woodwork" pistol that hasnt seen a collectors hands is neat as could be. Its only happened to me a few times. On one occasion it yielded two guns, an early dulite Ithaca M1911A1 and a like new condition Inland M1 Carbine. The hunt for these treasures is almost as much fun as owning them.

Your Ithaca and carbine story reminds me of a deal I made a few years ago. Picked up a really nice numbered slide 1943 Colt and an all original 90xxx range early Du-Lite Inland in excellent condition from the family of a USS Indianapolis veteran. He had been wounded and was recovering in New Guinea when the ship went down. I had a pay $950 and $450 at the time. That's been a few years ago, but even then the pistol was worth about $1500. I literally insisted on paying more, but the family wouldn't hear of it!

The fact that you wanted to pay more and the family wouldn't let you is testament to the fact that in this world (1911/1911A1 collectables) where sellers with mismatched reworks or guns with poor finish asking double and triple their worth, that there are still people like you to give us all hope. Thank you.

Don't get the wrong impression. If I am at a gun show and a good pistol is laying on a seller's table with a low price, and I see it, I typically buy it...and sometimes even at a discounted price. I am not opposed to anyone making or saving money. I just won't lie to someone in order to take advantage of them. I don't mind paying a fair price for anything I buy. Some things are just worth more to me than others.

I have no use for someone that takes advantage of a seller that has no knowledge of what they have or what the market is. On the other hand, if a seller intends to set up at a gun show it is up to them to research what they have in order to protect themselves.

One of the best stories involved three people I knew, and a gas trap M1 Rifle. I don't know the first part of the story to be true, but do know the latter part is. Supposedly an elderly gentleman advertised a "Garand" in a local paper but got no serious responses, and this part I can't verify. He then took it to a local gun show priced at $750, and got no takers. Finally someone offered him $500, and the old gentleman took it. The new owner, who I know, then took it to a gun show regular, who I knew, and traded it for a pistol and $500 (see, he got his money back and a free pistol). The new owner had it for approximately a month before he took it to the Houston gun show and put it out for sale at $1250. The first person to see it was Peter Cardone, and ask the price. Mr. Cardone though the seller said the price was $12,500, and was going back to his table to get the money to purchase the rifle. Just before he walked off he ask the seller how much a Civil War carbine was, and was told that it was $1250 also, but he would take $2400 for the pair. It was at this time Mr. Cardone realized the gas trap was not $12,500, but $1250. Mr. Cardone said he was floored, as he thought the $12,500 was an absolute steal. He said it was one of those situations where you carry no responsibility to tell the guy he is selling it too cheap; ask me more for it. Naturally he bought it and immediately priced it at $50,000.

The seller had plenty of time to research what he had, but just didn't take the time. It would have taken no more than five minutes to find out that he had something special, as it is probably the best condition original gas trap out there. It was about as close to new as they get, and totally original.

I got to see the rifle at Tulsa, and ran into the original buyer at $500. He turned rather pale when I told him to go look at the rifle he couldn't wait to get rid of.

Sort of reminds me of the auctioneer who sold a high condition Singer M1911A1 with 2 original Singer magazines for $600. I saw it and the auction receipt about 5 days later. The fellow who bought it at least had sense enough to research it before selling it. I can hardly believe the estate executor or the auctioneer didn't check it out prior to the auction. There was nearly the same profit margin as with the gas trap rifle.

Those stories just blow my mind!!

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Scott Gahimer

Don't get the wrong impression. If I am at a gun show and a good pistol is laying on a seller's table with a low price, and I see it, I typically buy it...and sometimes even at a discounted price. I am not opposed to anyone making or saving money. I just won't lie to someone in order to take advantage of them. I don't mind paying a fair price for anything I buy. Some things are just worth more to me than others.

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As you I see it there is a distinct diffrence in purchasing from a dealer at a gun show and the family possesing a firearm with a family history. In the first case seller beware. In the second case I applaude your effort to pay fair market value. I have found individuals do appreciate the fact that others will provide stewardship and appreciation of a firearm and its history when you make it clear you are not purchasing it simply to turn it over to make a profit.This appreciation has often been reflected in the price at which an item has been offered to me for sale.:clap:

I'll admit I thought you were talking about a US&S, I'm always on the lookout for info and stories about them.

But I'd like more information on the 2 tone magazines. This is the second time I've seen them mentioned recently. 1 or 2 came with my US&S. I didn't think they were special, I assumed the colors were due to them being stored in a magazine pouch. What's the story on them? Should i stop using them? Goodness knows I have enough 1911 mags that it won't hurt to take those out of the rotation. In fact, one of them seems to occasionally misfeed in my series 80 and I was considering replacing the spring.

Originally Colt heat treated their magazines before they were blued. Since Colt used heat blue, it was found that the heat from the bluing process was removing some of the tempering in the magazines. Then Colt started bluing the magazines and then heat treating them. The heat treatment consisted of dipping the upper part of the magazine in molten cyanide at almost 1500 degrees F, and then quenching in oil. The heat treatment removed the bluing to the depth it was dipped in the cyanide solution. Beginning in 1938 Colt began changing their tempering process, which resulted in the full blued magazines.