![]() A few more rebuilt pieces that also remained unmolested, and begin to develop small cult followings of their own.Īt the end of the day folks should do what they want with their guns. A few factory original correct pieces that got "liberated" early on and remained unmolested.ī. Given enough time, the field ends up with:Ī. The weapons in that final arsenal-rebuilt configuration in the military eventually start drying up, as they get torn apart as organ donors in the correcting process.ĥ. A few bucks, some pleasant evenings on Ebay, some time with references that may or may not be accurate, and voila! A crappy mixmaster becomes a valuable, rare, and desired "correct" (actually "corrected") example!Ĥ. Realizing that collectors want "correct" pieces, a great deal of effort is then expended in "correcting" guns. Collectors, shooters, and everyone in between gets ahold of them.ģ. When the military is finally done with it, it gets out into the wild, still presumably in the final configuration in which the military had it. This results in the rarity of the "factory original/correct" piece that collectors drool over.Ģ. The military squeezes every bit of use they can get out of the weapon, including upgrading it to later specifications, refinishing, rebuilding, mixing parts. The Circle of Life of collecting seems to follow some typical steps:ġ. The only logical reason for Vulcan to sand blast the barrel would be to remove rust/pitting/corrosion.Collectors historically turn their noses up at arsenal rebuilds, but collecting sentiments can change. Arsenal refurbished barrels would be parkerized. The sand-blasted and then blued barrels being offered by Vulcan are not a correct finish for any original or arsenal refurbished barrel. This is how all original M1911A1 barrels looked: You can see matte finish on this original US&S with the smooth barrel hood showing threw the injection port. The barrels however WERE NOT sand blasted, and you can see the difference in appearance on strong condition original pistols threw the ejection port. This is often referred to as the 'du-lite' finish by collectors. A search of the forum will provide a lot more info on these books, they will give you a good starting point.Įarly Remington Rands, early Ithaca's, and all US&S M1911A1's were lightly sand blasted and blued to be given a 'matte' appearance prior to parkerizing becoming the standard military finish for WWII production. If you can't find a copy of Clawson's small book, I've heard Joe Poyer's publication is pretty decent and still available. If you're interested in learning more about original 1911's there's a lot of good books on the market these days, I would try to find a used copy of Clawson's small collectors guide to M1911 and M1911A1's. The top barrel you posted is definitely re-finished without any doubt. This is a long accepted basic fact about period 1911 barrels. ![]() No original 1911, M1911, or M1911A1 barrels were factory bead-blasted or given a 'matte' appearance. Hooray for the Colts, Remington Rands, Ithaca's, and other company's who built a pistol that defines reliability, power, accuracy, and the personality of the nation who designed, improved, and provided it's soldiers and citizens with a weapon that says "America" whether they are in a safe, holster, or competition. Thank God Colt built it, and other company's produced enough of them that even after more than 70 years anyone owning one of them can be recognized as a shooter of discriminating, appreciative, and patriotic values. Modern may be better, more reliable, better engineered, and less expensive.īut no other pistol will have been carried in FOUR wars, brought back from wars by Grandad's and Grandfather's, passed down from father to son, to grandson, and great-grandson, and be recognized by any collector, enthusiast, shooter, or historian as being the definition of military sidearm. I have fired other pistols for thousands of rounds, and despite shooting them more, I like them less. They are fantastic looking pistols, a joy to shoot, and exciting to handle. I own several pistols and only two of them are WWII M1911A1's, yet they are my favorites despite rarely shooting them, and NEVER carrying them. Why knock anyone who has decided to spend their money on "THE" pistol of the last two centuries? The 1911A1, and it's fans have taken a whipping for years, since many new shooters have arrived and accepted the GLOCKS, and other plastic guns. Isn't the fact that this man owns a WWII M1911A1 enough?
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