Your article showed up in the May 2016 issue.
The story of the Colt Conversion Units...
- Thread starter PALADIN85020
- Start date
Yeah, John... Now that I have my own book with a lot of your earlier stories in it, I am going to start adding the ones from "The Blue Press" to it. Like Frosty, I just received and read your latest effort. Keep up the good work!!!
Regards, Les
Regards, Les
Bruce51
Member
9MM conversion slide
Since John has written another great piece on Colt conversions I though that I might add this to the thread.
Several years ago I became aware of the 9mm conversion slides for the 1911.
Wanting to have a 9mm 1911 and wanting to put one together I searched for weeks to find the slide.
Most I saw were in poor condition with fixed sights and not much included.
Finally a good example with Bomar sights complete with barrel was found and at a hefty price.
The sight was worn out and grooved to fit over the hammer in an attempt to lower the POI.
The sight was replaced with a Champion and the front sight was re-cut for a Gold Cup blade at .240" which was lowered to .120" to work with the rear sight.
It was a learning experience to get everything right. The hardest part was getting the extractor to function properly.
Shooting 9mm in a 1911 is fun as recoil is very light. Here's some slide photos for those who may have not seen this conversion. Currently the .22 conversion is on the frame.
My understanding is that these were not a popular conversion. Maybe John has some more information on this one.
BLM
Since John has written another great piece on Colt conversions I though that I might add this to the thread.
Several years ago I became aware of the 9mm conversion slides for the 1911.
Wanting to have a 9mm 1911 and wanting to put one together I searched for weeks to find the slide.
Most I saw were in poor condition with fixed sights and not much included.
Finally a good example with Bomar sights complete with barrel was found and at a hefty price.
The sight was worn out and grooved to fit over the hammer in an attempt to lower the POI.
The sight was replaced with a Champion and the front sight was re-cut for a Gold Cup blade at .240" which was lowered to .120" to work with the rear sight.
It was a learning experience to get everything right. The hardest part was getting the extractor to function properly.
Shooting 9mm in a 1911 is fun as recoil is very light. Here's some slide photos for those who may have not seen this conversion. Currently the .22 conversion is on the frame.
My understanding is that these were not a popular conversion. Maybe John has some more information on this one.
BLM
Last edited:
OP
I only researched and wrote about the .45 to .22 conversions; I developed no information on the 9mm units, which would be an interesting topic in its own right. They are quite uncommonly found.
John
DWalt
Member
"Several years ago I became aware of the 9mm conversion slides for the 1911. Wanting to have a 9mm 1911 and wanting to put one together I searched for weeks to find the slide."
That's a very simple conversion. Some years ago I bought a new Springfield Armory 9mm slide, a 9mm barrel, and also a .38 Super barrel, a 9mm ejector and a .38 Super magazine. Everything fit perfectly in my .45 Colt frame, no fitting required. And I have a 3-caliber Colt.
Donald Bady's book "Colt Automatic Pistols" provides an interesting historical treatment of the early .22 GMs and conversion units.
That's a very simple conversion. Some years ago I bought a new Springfield Armory 9mm slide, a 9mm barrel, and also a .38 Super barrel, a 9mm ejector and a .38 Super magazine. Everything fit perfectly in my .45 Colt frame, no fitting required. And I have a 3-caliber Colt.
Donald Bady's book "Colt Automatic Pistols" provides an interesting historical treatment of the early .22 GMs and conversion units.
Any idea of the value of the 1978-82 fixed sight conversions are worth? Have one, but prefer my Kart when shooting.
Here are a few shots of my Service Ace. Serial number is SM512.
The second pistol is a target gun put together with a US&S slide on an Ithaca frame. The rear sight is a Bomar.
Both of these semi-autos belonged to a good friend of my pappy's. When Jim died, he left his gun collection to Pappy. About 5 years ago, Pappy gave them to me. Pap died in 2013. And no, the Service Ace is not for sale.
The second pistol is a target gun put together with a US&S slide on an Ithaca frame. The rear sight is a Bomar.
Both of these semi-autos belonged to a good friend of my pappy's. When Jim died, he left his gun collection to Pappy. About 5 years ago, Pappy gave them to me. Pap died in 2013. And no, the Service Ace is not for sale.
Last edited:
DWalt
Member
When I was in college (Ohio State), I shot on the NROTC rifle team. We shot .22 Winchester Model 52s mainly, but occasionally the CPO who ran the team would have us fire the .22 Colt Service Ace pistols in the armory. I think there were about ten of them. As I remember, no one shot very well with them at 50 feet, and I think they had fixed sights. At present I have a .22 conversion unit sold by EAA, which I use very little. I believe EAA still sells them. I found very quickly that it is very sensitive to ammunition, but even at best it is somewhat functionally unreliable.
A couple of months ago I bought a Kimber converson unit for a 1911. I've shot it several hundred rounds, including lead as well as plated bullets, and haven't had a malfunction. Unfortunatly she's rather fussy about what frame she'll fit on. She won't fit on a very old 1911, or on the Philippine 45s, but she did fit on a WW II Rem Rand as well as a Colt Series 70. Great adjusable sights and the accuracy isn't bad.
This is all new to me and very interesting. I recently traded for Colt Service Model Ace dating to 1979 in like new condition (no box). I am still learning and becoming more interested than I was originally.
Skeetr57
Member
Back in the 1966 to 1969 period I was stationed at Picatinny Arsenal. The civilian deputy of our organization had a Colt NM and a matching service ace conversion unit that I used to borrow for the annual qualification. Both slides had adjustable rear sights that fit in the normal sight dovetail, and were adjustable for windage only, with a jeweler's screwdriver. The front sight was like the issue sight, but possibly a little taller. I practiced using the .22 conversion unit, and qualified with the .45. The complete set came in a wood case with cutouts for the pistol, conversion unit, magazines and .22 ejector. The owner knew no history of the outfit except that his brother had operated a hotel and had taken the outfit as a payment on a room bill. I always shot the .22 with issue white box wax lubricated lead bullets, and had no operating problems. I have never seen or heard of another set like this one, but it appeared to be factory all the way.
Last edited:
all5x
US Veteran
When I was stationed onboard a Navy ship out of Guam we ha 3 Colt Ace models that we used for training before handing off a .45ACP to a newbie. While at sea once I had a Gunner's Mate come to me and ask if I wanted any slides, magazines or parts from the ACE pistols. Seems the Navy sent out a directive to turn them in or throw the frame overboard. I was not wise in those years and passed. And I got to thinking that by the time the 3rd one was ready to go over the side the whole thing might have ended up I my Seabag. Regrets from long ago.
RichCapeCod
Member
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2006
- Messages
- 542
- Reaction score
- 1,073
John, well done and interesting article.
Thanks!
Rich
Thanks!
Rich
Similar threads
- Locked
