Home 1911 Pistols WWI Colt Detail Strip

WWI Colt Detail Strip

By
Marky
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This is a 1911. Not a A1. Notice no cuts behind the trigger, long hammer, and flat MSH.

This is a belated followup to a post from last year. We rescued a WWI Colt 1911…literally a pre-WWI manufactured gun…from the “wanna-be armorer practice pile” and moved it into emeritus status.

How’s that for a $0.25 word?! Ok. We retired it, and hung it on the wall. You can see photos from the shadow-box story by CLICKING HERE.

I had promised to do a detail strip and share some photos. And while I did complete the strip last year, I neglected to post images.

The old Colt has seen better days. The list so far:

  • The original plunger-tube is intact but loose.
  • The grips are quite worn down.
  • Someone took a wire brush and stripped most of the finish off.
  • The sear nose is damaged so it sometimes falls to half-cock.
  • In the distant past, it appears someone tried to take a nail and obliterate the “U.S. Property” mark. Which isn’t uncommon since most of these original GI guns came home in duffle-bags.
  • Firing Pin Stop is cracked.
  • Ejector is loose.
  • Breech face is damaged.

But the indignity of indignities? And we’re not sure what someone was thinking, but a flat-head screwdriver was driven into the breech face leaving a 1mm deep trench that crosses over the firing pin hole.

Maybe they were trying to figure out how to remove the firing pin? Maybe they were trying some kitchen-table de-milling procedure? But considering the age of the gun. The parts needed to fix. The condition of the breech face. And that it appears to be all original, she’s on static display in my office. Or as the young, cool and hip kids call it: The Bone Yard.

The gallery of images will be many. And I am sure the 1911 aficionados will want to get down in the weeds on the subject.

Enjoy.

Marky
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“Shooting Guns & Having Gun”

Marky
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