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Thread: What happened to the original?
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February 23rd, 2010, 12:45 PM #1
What happened to the original?
I'm a fan of the .45 ACP cartridge. Always have been. I can comfortably shoot it all day, take the brass home, reload all night, and repeat. But what has really surprised me is that it's hard to find anybody who shoots an original M1911. Has new surpassed old? I mean my father owns a Colt M1911 manufactured in either 1939 or 1942 and shipped to the USN (can't remember exact serial # off the top of my head but for some odd reason I can still dissamble and reassemble it with my eyes closed?) that works perfectly fine. Only thing he has ever done to it is put in a 13oz spring and buy two new stainless steel magazines to add to the original blued magazine. In the 60+ years it's been around I'm the only one who ever had a, and I do mean "a" as in ONE problem, when I was 16. Pull the trigger twice with one mag in and fired 4 rounds with 1 trigger pull then fired the remaining rounds with 1 trigger pull. Scared the shit out of my father and best friend, they thought I had managed to rip off an entire mag in competition speed time.
I guess what I'm trying to say is, if ain't broke why buy a new one? Anybody else out there got one that says "Property of US Government"?If only ammo was cheap. Wait. I reload. Darn .22 lr.
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February 23rd, 2010, 12:54 PM #2
Re: What happened to the original?
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February 23rd, 2010, 01:54 PM #3Hokkmike Guest
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February 23rd, 2010, 02:09 PM #4Grand Member
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Re: What happened to the original?
Exactly what Knight said! They are damned expensive collectors items at this point in time. I have one I've had for years and I like to shoot it now and then. However when I went to carrying a 1911, I got a Combat Commander. I now carry a Sig 220 or 245 and leave the old warhorse as a backup in the safe along with the WW1 Webley and the WW2 Hi-power.
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February 23rd, 2010, 02:28 PM #5
Re: What happened to the original?
Keep in mind that if your Dad's piece is still all original from that date range and part of a Navy shipment, it could be worth several thousand dollars. But the second you start replacing springs, guide rods, grips, etc. the value plummets.
I have an all original 1942 GI Colt that sits in the safe and will go to my son some day. I went out and bought a Springfield GI for $400 and I shoot the heck out of it. Except for the grips it's exactly the same as an old GI gun. In fact I put a set of original GI grips on mine and now there's virtually no difference in feel.
Leave the Colt in the safe for future generations of your family to enjoy. The history is priceless.
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February 23rd, 2010, 04:03 PM #6
Re: What happened to the original?
I would love to have an original. I actually looked for one when I bought my 1911. I was kind of shocked how much an original cost and how hard they were to find. I picked up a Springfield trying to keep with the USA made tradition of the 1911. I was beyond pissed off when I read "Made in Brazil" on the slide when I got the gun home, I guess I should have looked a little closer. I still love the gun but It was a real bummer to find out Springfield can't even make their own 1911's.
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February 23rd, 2010, 09:56 PM #7
Re: What happened to the original?
The original spring is still in his possession. I'm just saying what happened to the millions of these guns that got produced? Even if you say half of them were destroyed there should still be a lot of these around.
If only ammo was cheap. Wait. I reload. Darn .22 lr.
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February 23rd, 2010, 10:50 PM #8
Re: What happened to the original?
They're still around. But after the war there wasn't much interest in them as collectibles. People shot them and "improved" them by changing grips, sights, barrels, slides, triggers, whatever. Some got chopped for parts and so on. Which is why those comparatively few that were thrown in the vet's sock drawer and forgotten about are so special.
Then take into account that most GI .45s were made by Remington Rand, not Colt. RR made more than Colt and the other manufacturers combined so finding one of those in original condition isn't as special. There were so many RRs to begin with that it stands to reason a lot would be left unchanged.
Next, many of the WWII guns were used again in Korea so a good number of them went through rearsenal and were changed forever.
So here we are 65 years after the end of WWII and you can see why an unaltered Colt can command a premium and often doesn't get shot anymore.
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February 23rd, 2010, 11:24 PM #9Junior Member
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Re: What happened to the original?
My great grandfather served in WWI (yes world war 1), we still have his service pistol, maybe 50% of the finish is left but it's all original, the barrel is pitted halfway through but no rust anywhere. My dad and I would like to take it out to shoot sometime.
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February 24th, 2010, 12:24 AM #10
Re: What happened to the original?
A lot of them were kept as souveniers, destroyed in battle, broken and reused for parts.
The rest that were in military service basically wore out. That's where all of the stories about inaccurate and unreliable 1911s came from.
No new ones were made for the US military after WW2. The ones that were in service in 1984 were made 40+ years before.
Of the millions made, I'd guess that less than 1/3 are still in usable condition and most of those are either in collections, museums, stashed in safes or hidden away in boxes that grandpa forgot about.
I wouldn't be surprised if you can still find them in attics and basements after being forgotten years before.
Most average folks can't afford the prices on a decent shooter grade original 1911 or 1911A1.
The closest you can get nowadays to an original style 1911 is from Colt with their 1918 replica and those run at or around $1,000.
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