Wednesday, October 08, 2008

Model of 1911 U.S. Army

Talking with "My Gunsmith Guy" (MGG) , I suggested that it would be kewl to try the detail-stripping without tools experiment with using a genuine M1911 (not 1911A1 ... the original 1911) as the experimental gun.



This is a pistol marked "Model of 1911 U.S. Army". The SN is 3131** (obscured for privacy) which, according to references, was built sometime in 1918.


MGG retorted: "Do you know what a 1918 is worth?"

That one set me to thinking.


It sounds as if he is astonished that I would be willing to risk a valuable collectible firearm in an experiment. Fooled me, I thought it was 'just another gun', not thinking of the historic value. If, in fact, there is any collector value associated with this pistol.


As far as I know, a 1911 Colt built in 1918 (SN=3131**) is worth what you can get someone to pay you for it. My best information is that it's worth something in the $600 -$1000 range, if you can find a buyer. (There were 347,000 build during that period.)

Is that accurate?

Researching the question, I have found (no surprise here) that there are no obvious resources on the Internet representing a legitimate buyer or authority which is willing to put a price on an unseen gun except for gun dealers who own it. If there is a record of a sale of a pistol in this category, they are keeping a mighty low profile.

If you have more information about the value of this pistol, please write.

I'm not looking for a buyer. I just want to confirm the information I have already received from other (deliberately uncited) sources.

Note: click on the photos to see full-size images. I have deliberately obscured the last two digits of the serial numbers. The white or black blurs represented there are not blemishes. They are nil-value pixels artificially imposed on the image for the sake of privacy. All serial numbers are as clearly cut as those remaining in the image.

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