Mixmaster Value Question for WWII 1911 A1 Collectors

22lrfan · Jan 30, 2022

This is a photo of a World War II Pacific Theater small arms repair shop in a jungle hut. Note the large stack of rifles at the left side by the kneeling soldier, and the pile of mortars and machine guns in front of him. Are you surprised that most military guns have some "mixed parts"? I had a similar photo of a European Theater field repair tent but can't find it right now.

JH1951 · Jan 30, 2022

I would not run away too quickly from that piece. The market today is quite different than it was even five years ago. If the piece has a decent appearance and is 100% functional, ......and you really want one, the price is not outrageous. It's about what you have to pay for a decent 1911A1 these days. Look at the large auction sites and check out sales history for something close to what you are looking at, and with that information make a decision. There was a day when I would likely have turned it down at $500., but that day is long past and not going to return. Part of the "magic" with the 1911 / 1911A1 (as well as the Garand, and carbine) is the interchangeability of parts. The vast majority of 1911's have gone through at least one arsenal rebuild. Many have gone through several rebuilds. There has been a cottage industry for decades where people will scrounge for parts and assemble a 'correct' piece (and sell at premium prices). There are really few 'correct' pieces out there. But, the question lingers, just how 'incorrect' is a USGI arsenal rebuild (assuming it is an arsenal rebuild)? Actually, correctly marked arsenal rebuilds have been becoming a sub-category collectible as well.
Do your research on past sales and see what kind of a USGI 1911 / 1911A1 $1300. will put in your gun safe these days, and be prepared to spend accordingly.

moralem · Jan 30, 2022

You are in the wrong place……head over to the 1911 or colt forum and you will get a lot of enabling over there. I am a colt fan and S&W ‘accumulater’.
The price is on the verge of being a bit high but they aren’t coming down. Yes you can get better shooters for the money but you can’t get the nostalgia. I have an Augusta Arsenal rebuild just for the purpose of the journey the gun has taken…..it is a colt with a Remington Rand type III slide. Just see if they will come down on price.

AJ · Jan 30, 2022

To me the $1300 price tag is high. But I think back to me buying M1911's over the years. The first M1911A1 that I bought was brand new in 1975 and I paid $175.00 for it. In the mid to late 1980's, I was hot and heavy in M1911A1's, had and built about 50 or so during this time frame. I bought 10 Colt Series 70 Government Models from the local PD for $200 a piece. They were trading them in on Series 80's, and that is what the dealer would give them. Paid $1000.00 for a Colt Series 70 National Match Gold Cup in .45 ACP and a Colt Conversion Unit in .22 LR about 10 years ago. Last year bought a beat up Colt at the LGS for $500 and it shoots great. So yes, $1300 seems high to me. But looking at the prices at the shops now and the gun shows now, I guess it isn't bad.

AJ

bob in texas · Jan 30, 2022

My feelings are this, make an offer if they accept it you can find a US&S slide and turn that into a 1911-a1 worth more than double the $1300.00 asking price. Have you priced a correct US&S lately?

Bob

VaTom · Jan 30, 2022

Buick said:
1300.00 is about right, honestly. Matching slide/frame pistols are running over 2k. And since its a mixmaster, run with that theme and mix a US&S slide and HS barrel back onto it, and see how that treats your value.

Correct on the prices of all original (non arsenal rebuild) GI 1911A1. I feel very fortunate to have bought my original 1943 Ithaca 15 years ago. I paid $1,150. I wanted one and dug deep in my pocket for it. I would value it at least $2,500+ now. Plan to pass it on to someone in the family when I am gone. (The box in the picture is a reproduction box.)

AJ · Jan 30, 2022

bob in texas said:
My feelings are this, make an offer if they accept it you can find a US&S slide and turn that into a 1911-a1 worth more than double the $1300.00 asking price. Have you priced a correct US&S lately?

Bob

Quite a few years ago the LGS got in a US&S in nice condition. I evaluated the gun for them. Also talked with a friend that is a collector/dealer. We decided it was all original. The LGS put the gun up for auction and it went for $6500.00.

ACORN · Jan 30, 2022

If I had the jing I'd buy it for it's local to me connection.
I grew up across the river from Swissvale.

VaTom · Jan 30, 2022

AJ said:
Quite a few years ago the LGS got in a US&S in nice condition. A evaluated the gun for them. Also talked with a friend that is a collector/dealer. We decided it was all original. The LGS put the gun up for auction and it went for $6500.00.

If I recall my numbers correctly, here is the estimated WWII war time production numbers for the various contracts. The military did not buy any more after 1945 as they had enough in inventory and rebuilds to carry them through 1985 when they switched to the Beretta.

Remington Rand 1,000,000
Colt 350,000
Ithaca 350,000
USS&S 35,000
Singer 500

LostintheOzone · Jan 30, 2022

Why do people look at guns as a commodity where they feel a need to recover the initial cost when they sell them. I've sold a dozen and I maybe got my money out of one or two recently. A few years isn't going to give you enough time to resell a gun for what you paid for it, especially if you bought it from a dealer. Only recently with the shortages has one been able to do that but that's not a normal situation and likely won't exist for very long. That would also require that you purchased before the pandemic and election.

What other commodity can you sell in a few years and recoup your initial cost? You can't do it with tools, a washing machine, a pair of skies or a camera.

Right now isn't a good time to buy anything except the essentials like food and clothes because prices are inflated on almost everything new, including guns and ammo.

If you're buying a mixmaster 1911 look at the CMP prices. I bought one for about $1050 in good condition so that's probably a good indicator for price. Those will be hitting the market for years to come and keeping the prices in check. If you can't get one through the CMP (takes forever) $1200-$1300 is a fair price for the unwashed masses in the wild.

AJ · Jan 30, 2022

AJ said:
Quite a few years ago the LGS got in a US&S in nice condition. A evaluated the gun for them. Also talked with a friend that is a collector/dealer. We decided it was all original. The LGS put the gun up for auction and it went for $6500.00.

ACORN said:
If I had the jing I'd buy it for it's local to me connection.
I grew up across the river from Swissvale.

The buyer of the one I mentioned was from Pittsburgh (Picksburg).

I use to live in Monroeville. Drove across the bridge that collapsed everyday on my way to work. Our offices were on CMU's Campus on Forbes Ave.

AJ

AJ · Jan 30, 2022

LostintheOzone said:
Why do people look at guns as a commodity where they feel a need to recover the initial cost when they sell them. I've sold a dozen and I maybe got my money out of one or two recently. A few years isn't going to give you enough time to resell a gun for what you paid for it, especially if you bought it from a dealer. Only recently with the shortages has one been able to do that but that's not a normal situation and likely won't exist for very long. That would also require that you purchased before the pandemic and election.

What other commodity can you sell in a few years and recoup your initial cost? You can't do it with tools, a washing machine, a pair of skies or a camera.

Right now isn't a good time to buy anything except the essentials like food and clothes because prices are inflated on almost everything, including guns and ammo.

If you're buying a mixmaster 1911 look at the CMP prices. I bought one for about $1050 in good condition so that's probably a good indicator for price. Those will be hitting the market for years to come and keeping the prices in check. If you can't get one through the CMP $1200-$1300 is a fair price for the unwashed masses.

Everything that is purchased through CMP is market up by folks looking to make money. Look at the Garands out there for sale. A good example was the USMC marked Remington 40X .22 target rifles. CMP sold them for $600 and when they immediately hit the market for as much as $1400 and sold like hot cakes!

ACORN · Jan 30, 2022

AJ said:
The buyer of the one I mentioned was from Pittsburgh (Picksburg).

I use to live in Monroeville. Drove across the bridge that collapsed everyday on my way to work. Our offices were on CMU's Campus on Forbes Ave.

AJ

I had friends that worked at Union Switch. A bunch of us applied but I never got the call. All gone now. Just A shopping center now.

LostintheOzone · Jan 30, 2022

AJ said:
Everything that is purchased through CMP is market up by folks looking to make money. Look at the Garands out there for sale. A good example was the USMC marked Remington 40X .22 target rifles. CMP sold them for $600 and when they immediately hit the market for as much as $1400 and sold like hot cakes!

The CMP 1911's were pretty hot on the market for awhile when they first released those. What's that been, 2-3 years now? Many of those are creeping into the secondary market now and not so sought after. Almost like the M1 carbines that you could buy for a song in the 60's. My thought is these 1911's will go that same direction and in 10 years people will be saying the same thing. I wish I had bought one of those when I had the chance.

In 10 years if we use the rate of inflation for the last 10 years that $1300 pistol will cost $1600. Except now our rate of inflation is much higher so who knows what it might cost in 10 years, or even 5.

bill-in-texas · Jan 30, 2022

Thanks everyone.
This has turned into quite the lively discussion -and I really appreciate it!

I “get it” that many fine folks don’t see the value (at $1,300) for an example such as this. I can only speak for me. The Berettas came to my unit in 1988. It was bittersweet for most of us young (81mm) mortar maggots (light infantry). I was selected to attend a division level unit armorer course while we still had JMB’s magnum opus. Those of us carrying the sidearm, did so in old leather “US” flap holsters. We really felt like John Wayne. I miss those days. This example looks like it was there with me in the Panamanian jungle, or high-tailing it off Sicily DZ on Ft. Bragg. For all I know, it was there!
As I mentioned earlier, I can back out but, I probably won’t.

Good information and personal experiences shared here!

-Bill

VaTom · Jan 30, 2022

The short stamped "Yarman" trigger was developed by Ithaca in 1943 and reduced the cost of the pistol by 5%. By late 1944 into 1945 all manufacturers were using it. A good on line source for identifying small parts used by the different makers for 1911a1s is Tyscoolgunsite.com.

LVSteve · Jan 30, 2022

6string said:
I've never understood the appeal of these WWII mixmasters. There's zero originality and little military history/provenance since their just an assembly of parts. The parkerized finishes are, frankly, pretty ugly. Now, a WWI era 1911 (pre 1911a1) as issued and with the nice commercial quality high polish bluing? That's a different matter!
Additionally, those older WWI era 1911s oftenshoot pretty good. The WWII parkerized mixmasters usually shoot very poorly.

One other big factor to consider is that all these parts have been picked over, over, and over again by all the various military marksmanship armorers and gunsmiths. The parts that are left that they are assembling these "stray dogs" from is basically picked over junk.

I must vehemently disagree with you on the point I have highlighted in bold. The rebuild and mixing is part of the overall history of the gun. That it often results in a gun that doesn't necessarily shoot well is unfortunate, but immaterial to the fact that it all happened during the military lifetime of the weapon.

Now, as to the OP's question, I would not pay $1300 for that gun, simply because they are relatively common and I am not a consumer of the 1911 Kool-Aid. YMMV.

Golddollar · Jan 30, 2022

LostintheOzone said:
If you're buying a mixmaster 1911 look at the CMP prices. I bought one for about $1050 in good condition so that's probably a good indicator for price. Those will be hitting the market for years to come and keeping the prices in check. If you can't get one through the CMP (takes forever) $1200-$1300 is a fair price for the unwashed masses in the wild.

What he said.

From my experience going through CMP will take at least a year. Factor in inflation after 1-2 years to the price of a similar gun from CMP and compare it to the price of the gun you can look at and hold in your hand right now and buy right now.

And for what it's worth, my mixmaster will shoot at least as well as I can hold it and see the sights.

alwslate · Jan 30, 2022

Be careful Bill. Vicarious participation in other’s buying experiences. People just love to spend other people’s money. Doesn’t cost them a dime to participate. Those who say they would jump on it for $1300 if they had the chance know they don’t have to put their money where their mouth is

AJ · Jan 30, 2022

alwslate said:
Be careful Bill. Vicarious participation in other’s buying experiences. People just love to spend other people’s money. Doesn’t cost them a dime to participate. Those who say they would jump on it for $1300 if they had the chance know they don’t have to put their money where their mouth is

That is a good point........

.

Mixmaster Value Question for WWII 1911 A1 Collectors

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