CMP General Manager: What you can expect to pay for a surplus 1911

**Sgt.K** · December 4th, 2017, 02:22 PM

Originally Posted by IronButt

Since I actually carried one, owning a piece of that history would be nice, ...

I never *carried* one, but I did shoot one.

Division Commander's match, 1988, 4th place overall.

Resulted in the Excellence in Competition Badge shown in my avatar and sig line.

I'd like one to put in the shadow box with the badge, but not for $1000+

My 2¢

**mpan72** · December 4th, 2017, 03:37 PM

If I collected war time pistols I would pay the $1000 to add the 1911 from the WWII era to my collection. I don't collect wartime pistols though. I would still pay $500 for one in shooting condition.

**bigdawgbeav** · December 4th, 2017, 04:53 PM

I have one of those sitting in my safe at home... 1918 mfg. date, 2-tone 7-round magazine, stamped United States Property. Not a good picture, taken a few years ago before I cleaned her up, oiled her and took her to the range for some leg stretching.

**unclejumbo** · December 4th, 2017, 04:57 PM

Originally Posted by mpan72

If I collected war time pistols I would pay the $1000 to add the 1911 from the WWII era to my collection. I don't collect wartime pistols though. I would still pay $500 for one in shooting condition.

My buddy picked up a pristine (other than corroded barrel) Remington-Rand 1911 for $300. At least as nice as the one pictured above. He accepted a $600 offer since I'd hooked him up on some previous deals, at the time we both knew what it was worth. He reneged on the deal the next day and eventually sold it for north of $1500. The point of all of that is that there are some extremely fine examples of 1911s on Gunbroker for not a lot more than the ones the CMP will be selling. I'm not overly excited by the prospect so I won't likely buy one unless they're extremely nice. I'll be curious to see if they can be flipped for a profit like the Garands.

**thebearpack** · December 4th, 2017, 05:09 PM

Originally Posted by unclejumbo

I'll be curious to see if they can be flipped for a profit like the Garands.

If they stick to the one/customer/year, I'd almost guarantee you can make an easy 25-30% on a $1,000 CMP 1911 without trying very hard. Remember, one reason for the flip-ability of CMP products is the first guy is buying low but sight-unseen. As soon as you have a known example in your hands, it's worth more to a lot of people.

**bogey1** · December 4th, 2017, 05:45 PM

Originally Posted by IronButt

Nice! It may have come from a closed area, like an embassy or small duty station, or something. There was nothing correct about our guns. We used to all sit around buckets of dry cleaning fluid (That's what they told us it was.) & throw all our M-14 & 1911 parts in, then pull them out, brush them clean, & slap our guns together. Gas pistons, 1911 barrels, springs, trigger assemblies, slides, receivers; they were all interchangeable.

Mine looks exactly like that. MFG 1915

Clicked the wrong post. Meant for abner13

**mpan72** · December 4th, 2017, 05:52 PM

Originally Posted by unclejumbo

My buddy picked up a pristine (other than corroded barrel) Remington-Rand 1911 for $300. At least as nice as the one pictured above. He accepted a $600 offer since I'd hooked him up on some previous deals, at the time we both knew what it was worth. He reneged on the deal the next day and eventually sold it for north of $1500. The point of all of that is that there are some extremely fine examples of 1911s on Gunbroker for not a lot more than the ones the CMP will be selling. I'm not overly excited by the prospect so I won't likely buy one unless they're extremely nice. I'll be curious to see if they can be flipped for a profit like the Garands.

I look at them as collectibles. Collectibles can be all over the place. People still pay thousands for toy animals stuffed with plastic beans. I don't have a strong knowledge base on the older government 1911's if I was in the market for one I would be doing a lot of research trying to find a good example.