Non-CMP USGI 1911

[rdfact]

I didn't send in an order for this first round of CMP 1911's but I still needed to fill that hole in my collection (and I may still need to fill that hole).
I found this guy on an auction site and the price seemed very reasonable so I snatched it up. Obvious flaws are the front and rear sights and the repro grips.
It's a Springfield frame made in 1914, one of the first ~1,300 ever made by Springfield. The slide is an early Colt. It has been refinished but there are no re-arsenal marks that I can find.









Rampant Colt is faint but still visible.



Flaming bomb proof:



P proof on left barrel lug:



G on underside of barrel:



G, U, and N? on center slide rail:



H in hammer recess:

[rdfact]

265 views and no comments? There's a lot on knowledge on this forum and I was hoping someone had thoughts on the finish. It's been parkerized but there are no discernible re-arsenal stamps. Could this have been a home or gunsmith refinish?
As best I can tell, the barrel is a Colt 1911A1, WWII production based on the book "The Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 Military and Commercial Pistols" by Joe Poyer.

Anyone have a correct set of front and rear sights for sale?

[Jeff L]

I'm amazed that the initial patent date says April 1897. John Browning was quite the innovator.

[sass2924]

Looks like the slide was milled larger for the rear sight so an original probably won't fit.

[highpower]

The barrel is a WWII Colt. The slide was made sometime between January 1913 and mid 1917 and has definitely been refinished as it would originally have had Colt's "brushed Blue" finish. The SA frame would have also been blued. The "H" is the inspection stamp for Francis L. Hosmer the government inspector at Colt from 1911-1919

It would have looked like this:

[SkyHawk]

Trigger and MSH are A1 style. Perhaps this gun was refinished and fitted for WW2? I have a Colt 1917 made in 1920 that was parked by the US Gov for WW2 service.

And has the ejection port been lowered? I can never spot those without a side by side comparison.

[rdfact]

Originally Posted by sass2924

Looks like the slide was milled larger for the rear sight so an original probably won't fit.

You may be right. According to my book, "The Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 Military and Commercial Pistols" by Joe Poyer, the rear sight notch was widened 0.08 for the 1911A1.

Originally Posted by SkyHawk

Trigger and MSH are A1 style. Perhaps this gun was refinished and fitted for WW2? I have a Colt 1917 made in 1920 that was parked by the US Gov for WW2 service.

And has the ejection port been lowered? I can never spot those without a side by side comparison.

I don't think so but I don't have an A1 to compare to. The book referenced above makes no mention of the ejection port being modified for the A1 or during refurbishment. I also have a Colt Government Model (commercial) made in 1924 and the ejection ports are identical. I do have a few modern 1911's and the ejection port is definitely larger.

[SkyHawk]

Originally Posted by rdfact

I don't think so but I don't have an A1 to compare to. The book referenced above makes no mention of the ejection port being modified for the A1 or during refurbishment. I also have a Colt Government Model (commercial) made in 1924 and the ejection ports are identical. I do have a few modern 1911's and the ejection port is definitely larger.

Yeah the more I think about it, the more I figure they were not milling out ejection ports during refurb. Slides were like spark plugs to the US Govt - they would change them out like nothing if they thought it needed to be done.