You can always flip a coin heads for the Ed Brown tails for the Speedy.

 

Surely if you have $3k, you have $6k. why choose?

 

Nice Jim Rose Custom I got for peanuts at a local pawn shop. Its a Series 70 Colt 1911 in 38 super. I convinced them they had a tremendous liability with the gun as it had been converted to 38 Special during the customization (it had, and they did), being that it was marked differently than its real caliber(slide says 38 super). They didn't know this and were shocked that I (expertly) knew what I was talking about. They just about gave it to me to get rid of it. Even gave me a free holster and couple boxes of 38 super (wait, what?).

Anyway, here it is and it shoots like a dream.

 

Here's a real dandy.....Colt National Match 45 Pin Gun. Called a pin gun, not for bowling pin matches, but because the bearing surface between the slide and the frame is a long horizontal pin on both sides. This way you can get very tight, smooth fitting simply by changing the diameter of the pin you use. Frame getting a little loose? Replace the pins, and tightens right up. They haven't done it this way in a long long time but it sure works.

This is the tightest AND smoothest 1911 I own. It's like buttah. Trust me, if you handled this 45, you wouldn't let it go. It is a perfect build. Have no idea who made it.

 

This Ugly Betty is THE most accurate pistol I own of any kind. Its also one of the rarest Colt 1911s ever made. Colt Super Elite National Match in 38 Super. Supposedly, serials only went to 300, but actual production was less. Collector value is dashed though due to the customization but the cool part is that this pistol was owned by Steven Seagal (yes, that one). He is a huge gun guy. He had an old frame mounted red dot on it(ie the four threaded holes up front) that broke so I stuck the ugly grip mount on it because they didn't make the other mounts anymore. Anyway, It ain't pretty but its shoots like a laser. I developed loads for it that eventually achieved sub 1/2" at 25yds. for a pistol built in the 80s. Outstanding.

Sorry for the crappy inventory pics

 

Sure, find me a 145.012-68 for $6k. and I'm all in

 

Not saying they are better, but to me there is something special with Colt 1911s.

 

Here's one with a fun story....

One of the 1st ones I built in the early 90s, 70 Series Colt with Wilson Combat parts. It's a little kludegy but lasted about 7000rds before the barrel lug broke. This was probably my fault as the linkage was likely too tight (again, these take alot of time and skill to do properly). I called Wilson Combat and told them I needed a new barrel as the old had broke. They asked me about the broken one and I told them I built it..yada yada yada..anyway they come back and say they will replace it for free.They said the barrel lug shouldn't fail, period. gee whiz, even after 7000rds and my kludgey build? Yep. That's customer service, my friends. The only catch is they will only send the new barrel to a certified gunsmith. So I found one that came recommended to me from pro shooters...Carter Custom(Ross Carter). So I send it off to Ross and figured I'd have him do a couple other things as well like replace trigger and hard chrome the whole deal. So he puts it all together and I get it back and its just super, feels fantastic. But why, was it the hard chrome maybe? So I call him and ask....he says oh I just race tuned the whole thing, tightened the frame up and checked it out all over, replaced some other parts he couldn't remember. I said it had about 7000rds on it and he said yeah he figured it had been through alot so he just redid the whole thing. Wow.

Sadly, Ross experienced a gas explosion at his shop a couple years later and received extensive burn damage.

But here's the cool part (like the above story isn't cool enough), a couple years later I'm shooting at a Springfield Armory Steel Challenge in Memphis. Guess who's sitting at a picnic table watching the action...Ross Carter. He still wrapped up from the burns he received. I sat to talk to him and he remembered my pistol, which I happened to have with me as a back up gun. I showed it to him and he said, oh yeah that was pretty messed up (gee thanks). Thankfully I had improved my craft during the subsequent years and laughed with wholehearted agreement.

Not often you get to meet one of the greats in 1911 building, and just sit and chat. Pretty cool.

Again, crappy inventory pic.

 

Mix Master
I picked this one up for the frame for another project. I wound up not using the frame. The condition is as found. All I did was put some plastic grips on her for a better grip on the pistol. And stashed the original grips. Someone polished the heck out of this Colt. I figure it's time to make it better. Since the Colt has been polished I figure no harm no foul. I would like to get the lines of the slide & frame straight, then have it re-parked. The Colt is a fair shooter for a GI pistol.
Any thoughts? Or should I leave well enough alone?

 

That's a tough call on this...certainly has had a life....orginally parkerized but then well stripped and blued, and now to point bluing is severely worn and fading, with only hints of mild corrosion. I've seen way way worse but it looks like its been kept mil parts, which is a really big plus. It is very rare these days to see a USGI that hasn't been screwed with somehow by now. Remember tons of these were sold cheap back in the day and most ended up modified in some way just playing around with available commercial parts, or for competition. If its only the finish that's been done, you're way ahead of 95% of them out there. I think since its already been refinished, its fielder's choice on whether to redo or not. If you ask me, I prefer the worn look on a USGI. Its suits its historical and utility purpose. Plus, if you refinish, you will lose a little more of the markings, which right now look quite nice with only a *hint* of smear from prior refinish and polish. If you re-refinish, and end up with smeared markings, it just won't look good at all, it will just look screwed with. My $0.02.

These days, anything all USGI (regardless of era) is worth quite a bit on its own. Saw a mixmaster at a gun show last weekend, WWI frame, WWII slide. I made a fair offer (I thought), 10 minutes later it was gone. I asked what he got for it, he said $1300. Well that's a pip.

 

Does this mean that it also took a few bad lives

 

This is of my prettiest though it is just a simple USGI contract gun. It has been refinished in the most gorgeous deep royal blue you've ever seen. The color rendering of my phone doesn't even begin to show the true shade and depth. Smooth in the hands and looks like you could dip your fingers into the finish. Its the kind of deep blue that Browning used to do such an amazing job with many years ago.

Plus, kinda cool that's its an Ithaca. Not alot of those around and they have the simplest markings so the blue really shows off even better. To smooth out the slide you can see they really did a job on polishing, most evident by the Ithaca markings being worn down.

To Voere, This is why I don't think you want to refinish yours. My Ithaca markings are simple(and deep to begin with). You're Colt markings are so extensive and *relatively* shallow, I'd be concerned about losing them.

BTW, in the pics the white lines and such you see on the metal are from light reflections. This puppy is 100% gorgeous deep blue.

 

Here's my own mixmaster, WWI frame(1918), WWII contract slide(Remington Rand), Post War Gov't National Match parts. Just a great shooter. Got it a couple years ago, thought I stole it at $450 but it was at a gun shop that didn't seem to care about it. They sell new guns and probably got it on trade....clearly wanted to get rid of it. Fine with me.

I would say, of my 1911s, I enjoy shooting this one more than the rest. Probably 40yrs of govt use through two world wars, then maybe some bullseye shooting in 60s and 70s before better parts came along.

My dad wore one (late 50s) as a courier transporting secret documents for the Navy. Carried a briefcase with chain and handcuff to wear during travel.

 

Anyone else been watching the Biathlon? I find it fascinating. Prone shooting is target about size of a golf ball(1.8") at 50meters. Standing shooting is target about size of a softball(4.5") at 50 meters. That's darn tough when your heart rate is 180. Its only 22lr so wind wreaks havoc too.

 

Biathalon is my favorite Olympic sport. Sadly I no longer have cable so I haven't seen it this year.

 

I also like the well used look of these USGI 1911's. What bugs me on this one is the sharp lines are gone from not being properly prepped for the refinishing. Probably a home workshop deal. As you say these at one time were dirt cheap by todays standards. Today these old USGI mixmasters bring more $$ than I'm willing to spend on one.
I'm able to refinish this one myself but as you mention I would lose some of the detail on the stampings. If I stay away from the stampings the refinish will be not that good just better than it is now. My best bet is just leave well enough alone. And enjoy the 1911 as is.
Someplace in my home or garage I have a couple new colt wwII slides. As of today I'm unable to find them. However my wife could have thrown them out with her spring cleaning ordeals.
She goes through the house and garage like a crazy person. She figures if she does not know what's in the box it's goes into the trash. I know those slides were in the bottom of a box of junk stuff.
I was at a gun show a couple months ago. One dealer had a gold plated USGI 1911 wearing mop grips that 1911 was hideous the 1911 sold that day for $3500. Go figure!

 

Yes

 

That's a very nice Ithaca

 

Oh the Horror!!!

Thank god I am the neat one in the family. I'm the one that has to clean out the closets and such, begging my wife to donate stuff for charity. Then I go through it myself to make sure its not something we should keep. Lots of old socks and t-shirts, etc make great shop rags.

Plus if I let her go through the closets she'd find all the guns I told her I sold. ...

 

Colt 1911 Manual, circa 1920. Check out last pic, which is the inside back cover, talking about accuracy after 10,000rds. Pretty cool.

Making some assumptions about target (Std 25ft Slow Fire Pistol), and interpolating the group size based on 45 cal bullet holes, it looks to be right at 2" group for 7 shots at 25ft (5yds), off-hand.

So that would be equal to approx 8" at 25yds, off-hand (I assume they mean bullseye style free hand, meaning one hand outstretched in standing position), after 10,000rds fired. "off-hand" being the most difficult shooting position, 8" would be pretty darn good for 100yrs ago, with loose tolerances and variances in ammunition. Most everyday modern pistols are around 4"+or- from a bench at 25yds, let alone standing off-hand shooting, which would likely result in the same 8" grouping. So how great is a 1911 again? That's right, pretty awesome.