Help identify my Colt 1911

nate-dogg

nate-dogg

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Hey guys so I did some selling and trading and ended up with a Colt Commander 1911. It is my first ever 1911 and only my 2nd Colt. I briefly owned a Colt Trooper MKIII 6" blued 357 mag revolver, but traded it straight across for my S&W 57-1 8 3/8" that I still have. I know absolutely nothing about Colts OR 1911's, so I'm not sure what I have. Obviously I know it's a Colt Commander, but what can you tell me about it? Anything I should know? It is allegedly mid-late 1970's, but I have no clue. I probably got taken advantage of price wise because I was so clueless of what it was worth. I think it was the Stag grips that made me buy it! Can someone help me date it? It didn't come with box or original grips, but does have original magazine. The guy told me it was brushed nickel finish. A rough value would also be nice if someone knows what they go for. Thanks guys!

Edit to add that serial # is confirmed 1977 and that it is a Combat Commander rather than a Commander
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First off, it is a Combat Commander, not a Commander. Combat Commanders have a steel frame. Commanders have an aluminum alloy frame. It looks like it is a 70 Series gun (no firing pin safety) which is worth a premium to most 1911 guys. It appears to be in great shape so it is about a thousand dollar gun and those very nice stag grips add another $150-$250. Congratulations. That is a nice one.
 
For basic-easy, you have a "Combat Commander"
(steel frame), vs. "Commander" (aluminum alloy
frame).

I'll go out on a limb and say, based only on my
knowledge of my own Combat Commander, that
the serial number suggests it was built in 1970.

What's the barrel bushing look like, removed from
slide?
 
nate-dogg said:
Help identify my Colt 1911


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Click to expand...

Your Combat Commander was manufactured in 1977.

Looking at the dark spots in the finish, they look typical of wear seen on a lot of the Combat Commanders with Colt's satin nickel finish.

That pistol would go for $1100 easy around here, maybe more with those grips. They look fantastic on that pistol. A Combat Commander is sort of a grail gun for me, except I'm looking for the blued version.

I wouldn't worry that you may have come out on the short end of that deal. Far as I'm concerned, you didn't.

You wouldn't have a bit of trouble selling that pistol.
 
The guy said it is brushed nickel. And based on the above prices I didn't get taken advantage of. Apparently got a pretty good deal. So some people are saying 1970 and some are saying 1977. How can I narrow down the year?

Arjay, What makes you think it is hard chromed instead of the brushed nickel?
 
I may be wrong (I often am), but I don't believe the Combat Commanders came from the factory with a blued magazine. That may be an original Colt magazine, but every satin nickel Combat Commander I've seen NIB or ANIB had the nickel magazine.

When the Combat Commander came out, it seemed lots of people couldn't wait to start complaining about it. It was all like "The steel framed one weighs almost as much as a full size 1911" or "It's only .75-inches shorter than the Government Model" and blah blah blah boo hoo hoo along with the usual Colt bashing.

The main problem is shooters are always trying to turn the Commanders and full size 1911s into target pistols. And when that doesn't work, they cry even louder.

Far as I'm concerned, the only thing I'd change out on the OP's pistol would be the addition of a checkered flat mainspring housing. That's just a personal preference.

What does interest me about the 70-Series Satin Nickel Combat Commanders is you see them for sale on the auction sites, right? And a lot of times, the ad will include the word "rare" or "hard to find" or "seldom seen" maybe. Fact is, in my years of looking at them and looking for them, it's the blued ones that are hard to find in good shape.

One of these days, everything will come together...I'll have the money and find the one I truly want...and then I'll have one of my grail guns.

I kinda envy the OP. If I had that pistol, I'd probably already be looking to find some custom leather for it.
 
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nate-dogg said:
Just found on Colts website a place you can look up serial number and it said it is indeed 1977. Smith and Wesson needs to make it that easy!
Click to expand...

Click here, then start scrolling down to find a lot of S&W serial numbers and production years. Just keep scrolling down until you find what you're looking for. Also information on engineering/mechanical changes to various models and so on and so forth. Pretty informative.
 
Watchdog said:
I may be wrong (I often am), but I don't believe the Combat Commanders came from the factory with a blued magazine. That may be an original Colt magazine, but every satin nickel Combat Commander I've seen NIB or ANIB had the nickel magazine.
Click to expand...

It is not a blued magazine. That is just the lighting. Here is a better picture of the magazine. And I hope you find your Grail gun!
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Great gun that you ended up with! Technically, your Commander is called a pre-Series 80 Combat Commander. The Combat Commanders don’t have a firing pin safety, just like a 70s Series Colt, but it doesn’t have the split fingered collet bushing like the 70s Series (full size) 1911 Colts.

Your example has what Colt referred to as the Electroless Nickel finish, in later guns they called it “Coltguard.” It’s a good looking finish, rust resistant when intact, but does show a lot of wear/discoloration if your not careful with the gun...

I’ve got a blued Pre-Series 80 Combat Commander that’s in great shape, one of my favorite 1911s. These are definitely desirable guns; congrats!
 
As others have said, you have an early production Colt Combat Commander. It's all carbon steel construction with Colt's electroless nickel plating, which they called "Coltguard". Yours does show some wear and oxidation of the finish. Your magazine is a Colt stainless magazine made for them by Checkmate Industries. I doubt you could touch an early Combat Commander with the Coltguard finish in good condition for anything less than $1000 and more likely it will be $1100-$1200. Colt's hold their value, especially old Colt's that have not been abused.
 
The original 70's series are being sold for a premium. Colt started the 80's series, which most collectors hate, around 1983 IIRC. Only recently, say about 5 years ago, did they make the 70 series available again. The reason, the 70 S is/was more desirable.

Anything built in the 70's is collectable. Nice gat. Hold onto it.;)
 
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