Need help dating my WWII Colt 1911A1
- Thread starter Joeyshabadoo
- Start date
Oh yeah, it would definitely be a beer drinker!
Here's my .02
The refinish on the slide, frame & small parts does not look like an arsenal refurb job. It looks like someone sand or bead blasted it & reblued it to look parkerized.
If it had been an arsenal rework, there would most likely be an arsenal refurb proof on the frame. Most often arsenal refurb proofs I have seen in Canada are: SA [Springfield Arsenal]; RIA [Rock Island Arsenal] and AA [Augusta Arsenal]. There were other arsenals but the ones mentioned are most commonly encountered.
The frame & slide are 1911. The slide appears to be later 1911. The frame has been renumbered, where & where, & by whom for what reason can only be conjecture. Clearly it was US Military given the United States Property mark above the restamped serial number. The mark above the mag release button on the frame is part of an Eagles head Springfield inspection mark. It is likely "S10". Usually, found on Colt military 1911 frames from serial number 300,000 to end of production ~ circa 1918 to 1919. There usually a lightly stamped "Eagles Head" above the S number. Likely got removed in the frame refinish. That's probably the best indicator to date your frame, in the absence of the proper frame serial number being present.
On the small parts.... the arched mainspring housing, given it is checkered, likely is early Colt 1911A1 production, as is the milled short trigger. The dark brown coarse checkered plastic grips with large rings around the screw holes, if they have a number on the "T" on the inside rib likely are WWII era Colt military.
She'd have interesting stories to tell if she could talk given she's likely mostly 95 years old.
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NAA.
The refinish on the slide, frame & small parts does not look like an arsenal refurb job. It looks like someone sand or bead blasted it & reblued it to look parkerized.
If it had been an arsenal rework, there would most likely be an arsenal refurb proof on the frame. Most often arsenal refurb proofs I have seen in Canada are: SA [Springfield Arsenal]; RIA [Rock Island Arsenal] and AA [Augusta Arsenal]. There were other arsenals but the ones mentioned are most commonly encountered.
The frame & slide are 1911. The slide appears to be later 1911. The frame has been renumbered, where & where, & by whom for what reason can only be conjecture. Clearly it was US Military given the United States Property mark above the restamped serial number. The mark above the mag release button on the frame is part of an Eagles head Springfield inspection mark. It is likely "S10". Usually, found on Colt military 1911 frames from serial number 300,000 to end of production ~ circa 1918 to 1919. There usually a lightly stamped "Eagles Head" above the S number. Likely got removed in the frame refinish. That's probably the best indicator to date your frame, in the absence of the proper frame serial number being present.
On the small parts.... the arched mainspring housing, given it is checkered, likely is early Colt 1911A1 production, as is the milled short trigger. The dark brown coarse checkered plastic grips with large rings around the screw holes, if they have a number on the "T" on the inside rib likely are WWII era Colt military.
She'd have interesting stories to tell if she could talk given she's likely mostly 95 years old.
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NAA.
Just as an aside, and I've posted this before, circa 1989 Lever Arms outta Vancouver, B.C. got in a few cases of "surplus" 1911/1911A1's of varying condition. Some were very nice examples. Some were absolute dogs.
Here's one of the dogs I scored for $99 [plus tax] I hand picked out of one of the crates there:
And then later, after a bit of a rework...............
Given it's condition as found, with virtually no markings left, poor finish etc it was a prime candidate for a "make over".
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NAA.
Here's one of the dogs I scored for $99 [plus tax] I hand picked out of one of the crates there:
And then later, after a bit of a rework...............
Given it's condition as found, with virtually no markings left, poor finish etc it was a prime candidate for a "make over".
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NAA.
Don't need to say what ha already been said by many. But if you remove the retaining plate that holds the firing pin you will find the original serial number for the slide. (area too small to restamp maybe ground off though) The question will be is that the original slide for that receiver as parts were definatley changed on yours. I have a m1911a1 from 1943 with a 6 digit serial, you have a 7 digit with too many differences (frame/slide). It's a ww1 with upgrades (trigger/grip safety). Hope this helps out a bit
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"The refinish on the slide, frame & small parts does not look like an arsenal refurb job. It looks like someone sand or bead blasted it & reblued it to look parkerized."
It might be hard to tell in the pics, but the finish is definitely parkerized. It's worn smooth in many places, but its thick, brown and porous.
It might be hard to tell in the pics, but the finish is definitely parkerized. It's worn smooth in many places, but its thick, brown and porous.
I had a peek behind the firing pin stop plate, but there was nothing stamped there, unfortunately.
Just as an aside, and I've posted this before, circa 1989 Lever Arms outta Vancouver, B.C. got in a few cases of "surplus" 1911/1911A1's of varying condition. Some were very nice examples. Some were absolute dogs.
Here's one of the dogs I scored for $99 [plus tax] I hand picked out of one of the crates there:
And then later, after a bit of a rework...............
Given it's condition as found, with virtually no markings left, poor finish etc it was a prime candidate for a "make over".
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NAA.
Man, I would love to find a bargain bin like that! I wish I could refinish my piece, but I just couldn't bring myself to do anything beyond giving it a good bath.
That sucks, does it look like it had been ground off or just never stamped. I guess you could research on when they started stamping them on the reciever as a base date. You could contact colt about it, would have probably been documented. I think it about a 100 bucks for the research though.
Colt 1911A1's between serial number 710001 and about 1139### have the serial number also underneath the firing pin stop plate. So, that's 1937 to later 1944 production Colt slides.
The markings on the slide with your pistol indicate it is too early production to have the serial number of the frame it was originally with stamped under the firing pin stop.
Also, I've personally seen many 'Colt' 1911A1's in Canada with matching as well as mis-matched slides/frames [where there is a number stamped under the firing pin stop].
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NAA.
Here's an example from my collection:
Ithaca 1911A1 1943 mfg frame, sn. 1,21x,### with Colt 1911A1 slide [number under firing pin stop = 920,###] also 1943 mfg.
Pistol was RIA [Rock Island Arsenal] refurbed sometime in it's history. Consistent frame & slide finish would indicate this is when the frame & slide were mated.
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NAA.
I appreciate all of the help, everyone! I gave the Colt a good, thorough cleaning and Militec-ing this weekend to keep it from wandering any further toward the clearing at the end of the path. There wasn't a shiny new pistol under the dirt, but it came out nice enough.
