1911 Arsenal parkerized question

[john_ciocca]

Did Arsenal parkerized refinished WWII 1911s include having the mainspring housing parkerized like the picture below?



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[Milsurp Collector]

All arsenal refinished metal would have been Parkerized.

[john_ciocca]

Would you say this was done by a private collector?



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[Milsurp Collector]

Would you say this was done by a private collector?

BA is a rebuild mark from Benicia Arsenal. It depends on when Benicia Arsenal applied the rebuild mark. If they stamped it before the refinish then the current finish is the arsenal finish. If they stamped it after the finish then there should be bare metal in the bottom of the BA marking.

I have a M1911 refurbished by Augusta Arsenal. They stamped AA after the refinish so there is bare metal at the bottom of the AA marking.



It can sometimes be hard to tell if the Parkerized finish on an arsenal refinished firearm is the arsenal finish or a re-refinish done by a civilian owner.

[john_ciocca]

1911 Arsenal parkerized question

I think it was applied afterwards. The BA and O/G have finish in them. The finish is second to none. How do you think it affects its value?


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[Milsurp Collector]

Here's another Benicia Arsenal rebuild from the Internet.



You haven't shown many pictures, but I don't think the value is affected much. It is an arsenal-refurbished pistol and they usually sell in the $1000-$1500 range. If it looks good it is still going to sell in that range.

[highpower]

It depends, I see it is a Colt, does the slide match the receiver number? Are all the parts Colt? Often during a arsenal rebuild the parts get mixed from gun to gun. Regardless of anything else, once a gun gets refinished, it is worth less than one in original condition. If the parts are mismatched, it is worth even less.

One way to tell if a 1911-A1 has been refinished is to look at the serial numbers. They were always applied after the gun was parkerized, so the bottom of the numbers will be burnished. On many of the older guns it is sometimes hard to see. If a gun was in good enough condition when it came into the arsenal, they were merely inspected and the arsenal stamps applied like on this Remington Rand:

[john_ciocca]

The slide and receiver don't match. My concern was that an aftermarket Parkerized finish was applied to an arsenal finish...but you are saying that does not affect the value much if done correctly . Is that a true statement?


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[highpower]

Yes. The main value in one of them is if it still has the original finish and all original parts. Once you get away from that they seem to drop down into the $1000-1500 range. Is the slide still a Colt?

[john_ciocca]

1911 Arsenal parkerized question

Yes it's all Colt and just a few scratches and wear marks which is why I question the finish.


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