Early 1911 value

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Harv1RCR

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Hi all, i have a 1911 government model made in 1914. The pistol has a new sear, hammer, and barrel on it, but i still have the originals. The wood grips have been replaced with WW2 plastic ones, and some jackass replaced the sights with aftermarket ones, however i do have an original rear sight for it. It has about 80% of the original bluing, with only a few small pitting marks on the slide and frame. It has a lanyard loop main spring housing and what looks like a two tone mag with lanyard loop. I'm wondering what it might be worth. I've looked around on the net and have seen slightly later mfg 1911 going for $1800-2500 in about the same condition as mine, but i would like to narrow it down a little. Any help with this would be appreciated
 
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Put the original parts back on it ,and I have some original Diamond grips I can provide you with! I have a Com 1817 colt that the Diamond grips are near smooth (I bought some replacement original grips) and put swell buffalo grips on it so that my hand is gripped around something big(no hammer bite).

The FMS housing and the thin grip produces the thumb grip bite for me!

Bob
 
Through a picture or two up and we can tell you. I have bought and sold a ton of early 1911's from 1914 and up. Lowest I sold one was for 1200. highest was over 2K.
 
Ok, here's some pics for you guys, lemme know what you think! And bobbyjack, what would you want for those old grips? I have a set of new gunner grips on it right now because i didnt like the feel of the plastic ones. The only thingim worried about are the sights, the rear sight notch looks un-bubbed but the front sight i'm not sosure about, any ideas?

Mike

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That is probably a CDN issue 1911, the serial number range is right. From the pics the finish looks about gone. It was originally a deep polished blued. I have had 3 of these guns. I sold one (broke myheart but i needed the money) all origional with 2 ton mag with a c broad arrow stamp for 1400 bucks on the forums here. Now once its all "correct" wiht that finish i would expect to get 800 to 1200, 1200 being high, 800 being a steal, but 900-1100 being more than fair.

Now if you had the cold lettre of providence saying that it was sold to the Government of Canada i would ask 1100 firm and expect to get it. Lots of guys looking for old 1911's right now. Now thats just my experiance. If you like i can email you pics of the one i sold so that you can get an idea of the condition.
 
What is that little dot back of the front sight? Hope it is just a blemish, and not a plugged hole.
Anyway, the original front sight will not have a square tenon, it would have had a round stem that is rivetted to secure the slide. No idea where you could get a correct replacement sight, one might have to be scratch built, unless the one that is one there could be carefully reworked to duplicate the appearance of the original.
 
The pics dont do the pistol justice i'm afraid, the bluing is well worn on the main spring housing and the front of the grip but the slide and most of the frame still has a good portion of the bluing left. Mind you its not as deep blue as it was new. And yes there does appear to be a small hole plugged to the rear of the front sight. How badly will that affect the value of the pistol? ShooterMcgavin, where was your pistol stamped with the C broad arrow? And how would one go about getting a letter stating that it was CF property?
 
Being that the front sight is not repairable, bringing this gun back to original condition is impossible, thereby destroying the historical aspect of this pistol. This is now a shooter with a historical pedigre, not a collector piece. I would say $800.00 would be max. The finish is what someone would expect of a 90 plus year old handgun that has possibly seen war service.
 
I agree with the sights being not correct and very tuff to find originals I would say $800.00 is about where it would land. I would pay $800.00 for it.

I have had replacement half moon sights made for commercial 1911's but it is time consuming. The proper rear sight would be hard to find as well. You may get lucky at a gun show and find one.

If it goes on the EE I would pay $800.00
 
*sigh*, poor old gun, but I have to assume that in the time period when the mods were done, it wasn't anything more than an 'old colt'. At least there's hope for the old gal!
 
I had one, a commercial model within the serial number range of the canadian WW1 order. Mine had after market sights, none period correct grips and one period correct mag. I sold it for $650 2 years ago.

There are 5000 pistols within the 1-15000 serial number range that are the canadian order, all were made in 1914 I believe. Unfortunately the only way to confirm is to pay Colt to check their records. I believe it costs around $100. I didn't think it was worth it and never had it done.

Good luck.:)
 
"Colt M1911 Canadian Contract: S/N C5400 to C16599 = Sept. to Nov., 1914 ( Only 5000 pistols in this serial number range were shipped to Canada.) Caliber .45 ACP"
 
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