OT A 1918 Colt RAF Government Model.

[John Holbrook]

I bought this beautiful Colt .455 at the Great Falls show last weekend and will display it as shown... I have had a couple before, however this one is all correct and original and the bore is perfect!!!











And the display.....

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.

[browningautorifle]

Love the little "NOT ENGLISH MADE" mark. The gun's about perfect. Very nice. The last one I saw was years ago, looked good outside but the barrel was trash.

[John Holbrook]

Here is the bore and it is near perfect!!

[browningautorifle]

Nice to see one that was cared for. Correct mag too. When he showed me the other one I said "Just change the barrel" then he pointed out the correct markings. OOPS! too bad !

[MARTIENS]

Herewith photos of my .455 with serial no w 19191. The pistol is pristine including the barrel. There is no RAF markings on her. Does this detract from the value ? When was she manufactured ? What is an estimate value ?

[Promo]

Can you please post a better closeup on the S/N of the pistol? To what I know the W-prefixed contract started around S/N 29.000, therefore it could be possible yours is "just" a C-prefixed Commercial variant?

€dit: added some pics of my .455, please note the rim in the barrel for the .455 cartouche plus the matching S/N on the magazine.

€dit 2nd: your slide has the colt "horse" at the end of the slide, while mine and the one of John has the horse right above the slide stop. Could it be yours is a Commercial in caliber .455? Would need to see better pictures again

[MARTIENS]

Herewith some closer photo's. I bought the pistol about 30 years ago and never fired it. I dont think it was ever fired ! On the left side of the trigger guard is the markings J.J. stamped(PHOTO UNCLEAR) Thank you for the interest so far. Here in Dark Africa information is sometimes scarce ! I am not sure wheter this was for Commercial use. As far as I can ascertain it was manufactured for the British Army in 1915. It is possible that it was never issued to the RAF ? I dont know.

[Promo]

Yours is just a few digits away from the Colt M1911 Commercial S/N W 19.062 which Karl Karash has in his collection. He describes his weapon as "Shipped to the Colt's London Armoury Office in 1915 where it was "J.J." marked on the upper left trigger guard bow. Many of the .455 Eley pistols were converted to .45 AUTO. This is from the first contract of W prefix .455 model 1911 pistols." (I left out the part describing the finish on his specific pistol, however it may be worth mentioning that his example bears engravings on the mainspring housing naming the owner).

Therefore I'd say yours isn't one of the RAF M1911s, but a very nice example of a .455 Eley commercial. Congratulations to it and let me know when you're selling it

[MARTIENS]

Promo,
Thanks for the info. Does the fact that it is not a RAF model detract from the value ? My pistol has no engravings on the mainspring housing. The letter R is on the trigger guard forward of the magazine release catch. I do find R and E on the mainframe. Anything is for sale ! If the price is right. Regards,
Martiens

[Promo]

Value is more or less not only depending upon if someone wants to have it, but also upon where you live. I'm pretty sure it would have a higher value in the US than in Europe, but getting it there without having it bear importer markings would be impossible.

To the comparison with the RAF M1911: usually all military models reach higher prices than the civilean production, at least with the M1911. I paid roughly 1500 Euros for my above shown RAF marked M1911 about half a year ago (which would be roughly $ 2000 at the moment).