WW1 Era Colt 45

[dhunter93]

Cool Arsenal refurbished Colt, I would bet the GI removed "US property" marking when he got home..

[Alan Smith]

Nothing to indicate an arsenal refurbish as some of the original blue is still on the pistol. In addition to the United States Property being removed, the slide and hammer are earlier than the frame, and "Bubba" attempted to put a finger cutout like a 1911A1 on the right side of the frame.

[tracman]

Nothing to indicate an arsenal refurbish as some of the original blue is still on the pistol. In addition to the United States Property being removed, the slide and hammer are earlier than the frame, and "Bubba" attempted to put a finger cutout like a 1911A1 on the right side of the frame.

I fully agree, and it pains me to see this happen: the pistol looks to have its original finish, and ths a real pity that someone at some point decided to bevel the right side of the grip frame a-la-M1911A1 and otherwise obliterate the "U.S PROPERTY" marking. It's almost certainly an altered pistol, and unless there's some verifiable story behind its modifications, it's value is almost surely considerably compromised.

[tracman]

Nothing to indicate an arsenal refurbish as some of the original blue is still on the pistol. In addition to the United States Property being removed, the slide and hammer are earlier than the frame, and "Bubba" attempted to put a finger cutout like a 1911A1 on the right side of the frame.

I fully agree, and it pains me to see this happen: the pistol looks to have its original finish, and it's a real pity that someone at some point decided to bevel the right side of the grip frame a-la-M1911A1 and otherwise obliterate the "U.S PROPERTY" marking. I don't have access to Clawson's book on the 1911 and A1: I vaguely recall that many Colts in mid-late 1918 were actually inspected at the Springfield Armory, but I'd have to rely on analysis of the slide fonts and markings to determine their age, and 99% of my documentation is in long term storage....

In any event, it's almost certainly an altered pistol, and unless there's some verifiable story behind its modifications, its value is almost surely considerably compromised.

[Alan Smith]

The short hammer was changed to the long hammer in 1914, and the horse on the left side of the slide was moved from the back of the slide to between the patent dates in the 280,000 serial number range.
All the Colt 1911 pistols were inspected at the Colt factory. The only thing that changed was the Army Inspector of Ordnance initials were changed to an eagle head over a number identifying the inspector at about the 303,000 serial number range.
You are correct that the value of the pistol is not what it would be if all matching and without the file work on the frame.

[RonR]

His pistol?