Colt New Service Questions

[younggun22]

Gents,

I was at the local shop this afternoon and they had a very nice but refinished Colt New Service that was marked ".44 Russian and Special"

The gun had a 7 inch barrel (educated guess) with fixed sights and a checkered back strap and trigger.

The stocks also appeared to be very nice aftermarket service style walnut stocks that were checkered with a diamond around the escutcheon and had no colt emblem.

What is the market on the New Service? I checked gunbroker and there wasn't much in the way of the .44 Russian

Overall its a very nice gun but the refinish obviously hurts the price.

[murphydog]

They're not my area of interest, but I would guess a refinished shooter grade New Service would be in the $600-700 range here on Earth - prices on the Moon may be higher, since they are lighter there and may float away from the surface .

Edit to add: I see you changed your location from "The Moon" to "VA"...good move, more oxygen and lower surface temperatures there.

[29aholic]

44 Russian and Special marked New Services are kind of scarce, but being refinished just makes it a cool shooter and a realistic value would be closer to $500.00 unless it was refinished by Colt.

[DWalt]

You might put the question on the Colt forum. Refinishing and non-original grips diminish value, I'd also guess it should be in the $500 range as-is. Most any Colt NS in VG original condition would sell in the $800-$1000 range.

[iPac]

I would say $500 to $1K. I am normally always at the absolute bottom figure when it comes to price. Mainly because I am cheap, but also because I think real world tools when it comes to guns, not investment portfolio.

There are many others who care not about price and will pay anything for Colts. Those types don't help the actual hobbyist and shooter who wants to buy them for shooting and enjoying.

[younggun22]

Thanks for the input. I went back to look at it and its not really my cup of tea, especially not at $700...

[Joe Kent]

With a checkered backstrap and trigger you may be looking at a new service target. Did it have a blade rear sight or was the top grooved?

[NB4EST]

I may have seen this too late to influence your thinking, but I own a couple of New Services. One is a .45 Colt civilian New Service that was made just prior to WWII. The other is a WWI era 1917 in .45 ACP. Both are extremely accurate when loaded with their pet loads and fired deliberately, in single action mode. When fired double action at steel in the Sgt. York game we play, (a loaded gun and 3 loaded moon clips required for each stage) the big 1917 Colt is just not as easy to shoot or re-load in a hurry for me as my Brazilian S&W or my 625s.....I bought my old Colts several years ago, though, for less than $400 each.

[younggun22]

Originally Posted by Joe Kent

With a checkered backstrap and trigger you may be looking at a new service target. Did it have a blade rear sight or was the top grooved?

unfortunately not a target.