[BUCKMARK]

Being a "small time" Colt collector, I would be willing to bet that those light scratches are straight from the Colt factory. Colt made some great guns, and they still do. It is a very sad to say that many of the guns leaving the factory have blems and some of them are the same over and over again. I can't tell you how many Colt 1911's that I have seen with a slip of the polishing wheel. Blued guns with polished flats that have a disc slip somewhere on the gun that looks like ****. Colt will fix these problems, but it's sad to see them in the first place. IMHO Colt Mfg is in trouble. They havent even updated their website in years. The News section at Colt.com dates back to 2002 or 2004....I forget.

Colt makes a lot of odd ball guns that never make the website, and many guns that use parts different from what is known to be standard. I learned many years ago to NEVER say..."Colt never made a ______." Odds are, they did. This makes collecting Colt handguns very hard. It's easy to get taken on a deal.

What are these guns worth? Colt pistols are more like bidding on old muscle cars. They bring whatever the buyer is willing to pay. Most Colt pistols bring well over Blue Book value. I always pay for the guns I like, but walk away quickly if I see that other bidders want the same gun. I find it hard to compete with big time Colt collectors. With all of the great handguns on todays market, Colt handguns are more for collecting than they are shooting. I retired almost every Colt I own in favor of a more practical gun with less street value.

I LOVE my Colts, but I think the days of Colt being a powerhouse American gun maker are long gone. I hope I am wrong.