WWII 1911 Questions??????
- Thread starter 02-fatboy
- Start date
Register to hide this ad
Oldiron
US Veteran
Keep the Colt.
BigCityChief
Member
Oldiron is right: KEEP THE COLT!!
Harrison
US Veteran
Keep the Colt Commander. It is a much better pistol. The military 1911 has probably been rebuilt several times. If the frame is a WWI frame it is not as good a steel as a more modern pistol. It sounds like the military pistol is really a parts gun.
Your friend obviously knows a good deal when he sees it. Keep the Colt.
Grayfox
US Veteran
The mods you mention would not have been done during an arsenal rebuild. They only repaired / refinished as necessary to return the pistol to original mil spec standards. Most G.I. 1911s have been rebuilt at least once and possably several times.
Any sight or trigger work was definately done by someone else.
Any sight or trigger work was definately done by someone else.
OP
02-fatboy
Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 16
Last edited:
Hack
Member
IF it was 100% Remington Rand, you might have an even swap. 100% Colt would be close (with a few $$$ tossed in), but not as valuable as a 100% RR. Since it isn't, keep your Colt.
I have a '*******ized' WWII era 1911: Remington Rand frame with Colt slide. My research found that this was common place, as pistols were often disassembled and cleaned by unit armorers, in bulk, then reassembled from the pile of parts.
Ahhhh, the hidden curse of mass production....
I have a '*******ized' WWII era 1911: Remington Rand frame with Colt slide. My research found that this was common place, as pistols were often disassembled and cleaned by unit armorers, in bulk, then reassembled from the pile of parts.
Ahhhh, the hidden curse of mass production....
Last edited:
OP
02-fatboy
Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 16
SWEET This is an old thread
Last edited:
charlie sherrill
Member
Lots of leftover 1918 receivers were fitted with other slides for WWII. I would either want a 100% !911-1918 Colt or a 100% 1911A1 made by Colt, Remington-Rand, Ithaca, US&S, and especially Singer. As mentioned above, most have been rearsenaled, some more than once. An original piece is much more valuable. They served our country well for over 70 years. I would still much rather have a 1911 than a Beretta 9mm.
mkk41
US Veteran
The 13 stamp is most likely a rack number.
Ivan the Butcher
Member
The "AA" stands for Alabama Arsenal. (A pretty small operation) They were one of several arsenals that did rebuilds just before and into WWII. Often in WW I,the ordnance teams were with graves registration on the battle fields to reclaim weapons, and clean them up for re-issue. Very often weapons were missed or forgotten. Some 1911's were still in balls of rust and mud when they arrived a AA years later. The typical clean-up treatment for these was to dump them (dis assembled if possible) in a large drum tumbler with corn cob media for a few days or weeks and clean them up enough to work on. If a slide was pitted badly it was scrapped, but frames were rebuilt if at all possible. I've seen WW I frames that were so smooth they were blank when re-parkerized and had to have a SN stamped on (Starts with a five pointed star) These got fitted with whatever parts came to hand. Some of these gun look so bad they were never issued and many others went Lend/Lease, most likely to never be seen again. I doesn't sound like your friends 1911 is worth your commander in anything close to an even trade. But a good 1911 or 1911A1 but not NIB is still probably worth a lot more than a brushed nickel Commander. I did see a GI issued but not used Colt 1911A1 with papers and photos (Issued to an OCS grad in August 1945) sell in a face to face for $3000 in about summer of 2000. And you know those guns, the prices have gone way up! Ivan
OP
02-fatboy
Member
- Joined
- Jan 7, 2013
- Messages
- 86
- Reaction score
- 16
I feel very blessed. Its getting to the point where its hard to find a decent 1911 new or used for under $600 that not a *** anymore.
I have owned a few 1911's, a Llama, a Wyoming Arms Parker. None of which ever stayed very long because they had problems, needed repairs or didn't work properly and I just gave up on them.
Thank you all for posting here and giving advice. Also the info on the 1911 I'm getting is appreciated. I can't wait to post pictures.
I have owned a few 1911's, a Llama, a Wyoming Arms Parker. None of which ever stayed very long because they had problems, needed repairs or didn't work properly and I just gave up on them.
Thank you all for posting here and giving advice. Also the info on the 1911 I'm getting is appreciated. I can't wait to post pictures.
Last edited:
Mickey D
Member
AA is for Augusta Arsenal .
From the mid 1920s to the mid 1950s thousands of 1911s and 1911A1s where refurbished at U.S. Arsenals and Service depots. These refurbishes could be minor inspections to major overhauls. Pistols that were refurbished at Government arsenals will usually be marked on the frame/receiver with the arsenals initials.
Arsenal overhaul and inspection stamps:
AA = Augusta Arsenal
AN/ANAD = Anniston Army Depot (Anniston, Alabama) observed with a date stamp following it (MM YY) in 1975 and 1977
BA = Benecia Arsenal
MR = Mt Rainer Ordnance Depot
OG = Ogden Arsenal
RA = Raritan Arsenal
RIA = Rock Island Arsenal
RRA = Red River Arsenal
SA = Springfield Arsenal
SAA = San Antonio Arsenal
EB: Elmer Bjerke was promoted on January 6th, 1947 to Forman of small arms inspection at Rock Island Arsenal. He was responsible for the final inspection of new and overhauled small arms. He served in that capacity until 1958. All small arms inspected under his supervision bear the markings "RIA" for Rock Island Arsenal and "EB" for Elmer Bjerke.
FK: Frank Krack was Assistant Foreman of the Inspection Division at Rock Island Arsenal from September 17, 1941 until he retired on July 19th, 1946. During that period all small arms inspected under his supervision would be stamped with his initials "FK" as well as those of the Rock Island Arsenal "RIA".
Mickey D
Member
Hack
Member
Well... We might just be able to work out a parts swap. Since the frames are considered the 'firearm', we could swap slides without going through a FFL. We would want to take apart the slides to see what mixture of parts was assembled. But a 100% Colt and a 100% RR would be upgrades.
I really need to take it all apart for a serious cleaning anyway. That'll give me a good time to catalog all the parts. The pistol belonged to my wife's dad, who was in WWII and was part of the occupying force in Japan.
Last edited:
"The" Elmer Keith?
What's the short story on that, if it's not too much trouble, and if I'm not getting my leg pulled?
Similar threads
