My new 1911-mixed parts

[quietman]

Good Morning to all,
I purchased a 1911 pistol last week and it is awesome, however, I hoped someone here could express opinions on how it came to be. I is a U.S. property pistol serial number 537206 which indicates a Colt frame made in 1918. The slide is a Remington UMC. The grips are plastic indicating a 1911 A1 vintage grips. On the right grip painted in yellow paint in .75" letters is the number 24. Frame and slide have the exact same color for a mismatched pistol. Pistol is in very good conditon, blueing mostly there. My thinking is it was repaired with a new slide for use in WWII before there were enough A1's and they put on new grips. I have read that numbers painted on grips could indicate a rack number. This is all just my theory, seems logical but I would appreciate forum input. It is a keeper for me but would anyone hazard a guess as to value and how does the mixed parts affect value. Thanks...Dan

[Rob Greer]

Well, I'd say you are certainly on the right track. Your pistol is refinished if the Remington UMC slide and frame are a matching blue. I was thinking it was an arsenal refinished gun - and it might have been - but it is no longer in the arsenaled condition. If this was arsenaled the parts might have been put together at that time - as stayed with the gun until now. Arsenaled guns would all be parkerized... which was the finish I was expecting to read about.

The mixed parts in a non-military blue finish kill most if not all of the collector value of this gun. Enjoy it for what it is. As far as value, we'd be talking 100's... not 1,000's. Pictures might support a different opinion...

[quietman]

Hi Rob, when I compare the finish to the finish of my Remington Rand in 98% original condition it is clear the finish is parkerized. I do have photos but cannot figure out how to put on this site. Can I email to you to look at? I understand it is important to see the finish. Any thoughts on the number on the grip? Thanks Rob...Dan

[old tanker]

Any thoughts on the number on the grip? Thanks Rob...Dan

As an old tanker, I'd lay odds it came from a rack in an Armor or Cavalry unit, yellow being the traditional branch color. Red rack number often indicated artillery, aka "Redlegs." Back in 1973 while going down the tank trail at Grafenwöhr, spotted a hip holster on the side of the road. Hollered for the driver to stop, and had the loader jump down and fetch it. When he climbed back up into the tank it was obvious what had happened. One of the brass clips on the M1916 holster had failed and allowed the holster to fall off the pistol belt. It was also a good bet was whoever was wearing that holster was sitting in the passenger seat of a jeep when it came off. The pistol in the holster had a big red 6 rack number on the grip.

We got the daily range bulletin and discretely called every artillery battalion commander on post to ask if they might personally be missing any government property. The third light colonel was able to give us the serial number and we arranged to return the pistol without any fuss. After determining we had not yet reported finding the pistol to anyone, he did feel obligated to donate a couple of cases of "flippies" from Löwenbrauerei Grafenwöhr to a thirsty tank crew from the 3rd AD.

Had it tough as a Cold Warrior. Spent many a night with nothing between me and the cold hard ground but a thin German girl.

[quietman]

Old Tanker, if you are not a writer, you missed your calling. I feel you are correct about the grip number. To Rob, I looked at a couple of 1911's of a friend this morning to compare the original finish on his 1911 to my pistol in question. My clearly had an arsenal parkerized finish. Would I then conclude this pistol was assembled with parts by arsenal, refinshed with parkerized finish and then issued with 1911 A1 grips, the grips at the time? If so, really only mystery is that of number on grips which Old Tanker has addressed. Thanks...Dan

[oldcanuck]

Pictures....pictures....pictures.

[oldcanuck]

Without pictures, it could be a legit Arsenal rebuild..... or it could have been put together and refinished by Bubba a few months ago..... thats why pictures are so important.

[noeleo]

Whoa, wait a minute, I have never refinished a 1911!!!

Referencing the signature, of course.


noeleo
Bubba saya hey

[Rob Greer]

Dan, in your first post, there was a reference to the amount of finish remaining "...blueing mostly there..." which is why I assumed the gun now has a blued finish. When guns were arsenaled, they were refinished (with very few exceptions - some were not refinished) with parkerizing. So, for the gun to be blued, it was refinished at least a second time. But, this could all be wrong... as you say the finish on the gun is parkerized.

As oldcanuck states... we can't tell much beyond this without photos. I will pm you with my e-mail address. If you want to send me a couple, I can upload them for you. Or, if you go to photobucket.com (there are other free photo web hosting web sites), you can make a free account and upload photos, you can grab the [IMG] text string, and just paste it into a new message.

[old tanker]

Except for replacing the recoil spring a few times, it's pretty much like I got it. It was Parkerized and sported M1911A1 plastic grips, which I traded to my uncle for old GI wood he had. The frame and slide are both early GI Colt, but don't know if they left the factory together or just by luck found each other at Rock Island. I carried it everywhere Army regs would let me, and possibly one or two they didn't.



All the wear to the finish, assorted bumps and bruises are my fault for carrying the gun for the better part of the past fifty years. I have always wondered how did that chunk out of the slide above the firing pin stop come to be. It went into the safe a few years ago and was replaced by a Commander for daily wear when I realized it meant too much to me to risk it ever being in an evidence locker.

It may not be collector grade, but it is the one gun I own that can never be replaced and I will never sell. If push came to shove, I'd still stake my life on it.