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What Is a 1911A1?

By
Marky
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MILSURP Collecting
What is a 1911a1?

This is sitting in Shooter’s Supply. Our local FFL. Contrary to what the name of this website might lead you to believe, I don’t actually collect or even buy MILSURP 1911s. 

Sure we run a reference collection. And yes, we have plenty of 1911s to meet that need. But this gun? This is a collectable. And with anything collectable, it’s the little details that make or break the buyer. 

So…what do we have here? A Colt 1911 obviously. Manufactured just after the end of WWI. From the hang tag, and some of the parts you see on it, this pistol was in government inventory for quite a long time. 

And for a pistol that was in service that long, the finish looks to be in pretty good shape, right? Well…looking closer at the markings, and some of the parts changes, I guess it’s safe to say it’s been “rearsenaled” at least once? Maybe twice? Or is that just a fancy way of saying it’s not original and has been “rebuilt”?  

One word denotes the changes were done by the government. The other word, while grammatically meaning the same thing, has connotations of being randomly tossed together, thus not original. 

But wait you say! Let’s introduce a third word here. This gun being a mix of 1911 & 1911A1 could be called a “transitional” model! All that and we haven’t even talked about the markings and their condition. 

Barf.

Summary: All of this talmudic jibber-jabber just turns me off, and is the best explanation as to why we don’t acquire or keep guns like this. It’s too valuable to shoot, and it’s too complicated to properly categorize. 

Yes, we occasionally take in small collections of guns to acquire certain pieces (shooter grade) that fit our model; and immediately push leftover guns like this out into the collectors market to offset those costs. 

We’re shooters, not collectors. 

 

 

Sincerely, 

Marky

www.John1911.com

“Shooting Guns & Having Fun”

Marky
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