colt 45 1911 value ?

I am curious to a value on this colt. markings are as follows. on the left side it says " patened apr 20,1897. sept 9,1902 dec 19,1905 feb14,1911. colt logo , colt's pt.f.a mfg co. hartford,ct. usa. on the left side of the frame next to trigger is marked s14 with a symbol. on the right side it says model of 1911 us army serial no is 392207. It does not say U S Property on it. any help would be appreciated

your colt 1911 was made in 1918 judging from your serial number ,,the finish may be a course black instead of the common blued finish and may have a flaking appearence,,barrel may be marked with an H and a P visible through the ejection port.. current values for it are in the 1000 fair to 3500 excellent range to a collector or at auction,,
bigcurt

I have a colt 45 1911 model It was patented: Apr 20 1987, Sept 9 1902, Dec 19 1905, Feb 14 1911 Aug 1913
From: Colts PT.F.A.MFG Co Hartford, CT USA
It looks nickel plated and has a ivory looking grips(Im thinking some kind of bone), gold hammer and trigger.

I havent been able to get a proper price quote on it. Very Excelent condition been locked in a safety deposite box for over 29 years! Thank you for any help!

a couple things ,,whats the serial number ???xxx ,,also is it us property marked ?the plateing was proably done later on and the grips may be mother of pearl or stag horn..also any inspectors proofs like JMG or something like that?
thanks
bigcurt

hi:

hope y´all may help me

i have a colt .45 1911, i´ve been wondering how much it´s worth and it´s year and model,it´s charcoal mate black with a two tone slide bright black over mate, the serial number is c3407 it says on the right side model of 1911 u.s. army and on the left side patented apr 20 1897, sept 9 1912 dec 19 1905 feb 14 1911 aug 19 1913 then it has the horse and next to it it says colt´s pt. f.a. mfg.co. hartford ct u.s.a. the grips are wooden and have grooves, with the colt logo on them.

hope this info helps!!!
thanks!

hello ,,first off i'd have to say that your colt has been refinished at some time ,,that will reduce the value conciderbly,,the grips sound like newer replacements ,,but it's still a colt and still a 1911 so i'll estimate the value around 400-500,,but thats an estimate only and without seeing the gun it could be a high estimate or a low one ,,but condition and originality mean the most to a colt collector and it sounds like yours would fall into a shooter grade example instead of a collectors item..
bigcurt

hi bigcurt. thanks so much for you quick reply, i just took some pics of it, please let me know what you think of them. i started to think it was custom myself, i´ve never seen this type of finish on a colt 45.

the right side

hello again it's a nice pistol and the slide looks like an original colt older slide the frame looks like an aftermarket mabey an essex,,there are some companys out ther that offer the frames stripped of parts and some that include the parts for the lower assembly ,,then all you need is the slide and barrel,,to complete a model 1911 45 pistol..thats what you have judging from the pics ,,the grips are aftermarket and proably hand made with the colt medalions were added afterwards ,,as for custom i don't see ant special features such as extended safteys or grip straps or even adjustable sites or even special trigger or hammers that are usually installed on customized guns ,,so it looks pretty much like a basic build from possibly gi parts ,,it's the basis for some cool customizing if you want to spend some cash,,hows it shoot?if no problems with feeding then it could be beefed up with some custom parts ,,and they would raise the value if done properly,,hers some suggestions on what i'd replace ,,the grips ,,i'd look for a nice set of pachmare rubber grips ,,much better feel,,id go with a skelaton hammer bobbed and an adjustable trigger,,then i'd ger an extended bevertail grip saftey and an adjustable rear site or at the very least a 3 dot site set,,if you look around on some of the auction sites you can find the parts pretty reasonable ,,or check out local gunshows and pick up peices one at a time ,,then i'd say get the slide bead blasted and reblued to match the frame unless you really like the two tone effect,,personally if i owned it i'd bead blast the entire gun and just leave it unblued bare ,,and keep a light coat of oil on it for protection,,it will make it look like a stainles model 1911 and with black grips would be really sharp..i do this with old pistols alot and they come out really sharp and hard to tell from stainless,,but those are my suggestions ..as for price and value the way it is it's not as high as i quoted earlier ,,the slide is proably worth just about as much as the entire pistol,,so i'll say aroune 300-400 +or-..so it's a great candidate for some customizing and the added features will definatly help the value if there done properly,,if you do some of them yourself be careful there a little trickey tearing apart and peices can get mixed up and you'll be ther scratching your head how this thing came apart or where this peice goes..trust me the first one i had apart about drove me goofy..lol..lol.heres a pic of a marlin 22 that i bead blasted for a friend of mine to show how the bead blasting can give the appearence of being stainless
bigcurt

another pic

like i said i think your pistol would really look sharp with this finish and an occasional wipe down with light oil keeps them looking great for years,,i've got a couple rifles i did like this and still look as good as the day i did them..i call it my poor mans stainless rifles..lol..and have fooled alot of people and dealers alike that they thought was actually stainless ..lol..
bigcurt

those are some fine ideas, i always wanted a stainless steel one anyway, so i think i´m having my piece sandblasted, it was kindoff sad to learn the frame is aftermarket, but it does shoot great, no jamming whatsoever, so i think afterall this one is a keeper. thanks so much for your advice, sorry i took a bit to answer

I'm glad I found this thread, you seem to be a good source for M1911 valuation. I just bought a presentation box for my (late) father's WWI .45, which I will need to do some cleaning on. Did some online research to identify the markings....

Its serial number is 184xxx, marked "US Property," has Maj Gilbert Smith's inspection stamp (very clear), Francis Hosmer's provisional inspection stamp. Original walnut (?) grips with what looks like 13 lines between the diamonds (Remington-Rand). Ideas on valuation? Thanks,

David

your pistol has some problems ,,first off Remington Rand was a ww2 manufacture and your serial number is wrong for a ww2 pistol..it could be a rework for ww2 of a ww1 frame and a Remington slide..you may have read the number wrong and missed a digit and then it would be correct if the serial is above 916,405 or above,,emington had 5 sets of lot numbers up to serial number 2619013..
recheck the number and let us know if it's correct then i can give ya a value
bigcurt

Oh, I got the Remington lead off a page which asserted that 13 lines of checks between the diamonds on the grip indicated it was manufactured by them. Ignore that, then. The serial number is correct, as well as the amourer's stamp.

Having a gunsmith cleaning it and preparing it for vaulting.

I has misread this page.
http://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/grips_stocks.htm

Still, I'm not sure I was counting properly between the uncheckered diamonds.

that sounds better ,,lol,,well it was made in 1917 by colt and the value would proably be between 1500-2500 depending on whos looking at it and how nice it turns out after the cleaning,,if it's as issued and cleans up nice it may even bring more at a good auction..
bigcurt

Wow. Might auction it someday, but for now, I'm hoping it "cleans up good" and makes a good family heirloom.

Many thanks.

I have a cold 45 1911 and i was curious to the date that it was made and if there was anyway to track its history? the markings on the left are " Patented Apr.2,1898. Sept.9,1902. Dec.19,1905. Feb.14,1911. Aug.19,1913 Colt's PT.F.A.MFG.CO. Hartford,CT. U.S.A. United States Property" on the right it says "Model of 1911.U.S.ARMY" Serial Number 431540. if the date is based off the serial number could you please let me know how you know the date based off of the serial number. thanks

there are sites with serial number data and alot of good refrence books ,,for military firearms i use the standard catalog of military firearms,,deals with only military weapons and bayonets ,,
your 1911 was made in 1918 and falls into a group with serial numbers alotted to colt,,and sometimes refered to as the black army because of the black type finish that was used on models in these serial number ranges ,,the finish is very commonly found flaking off and drops the price some,,it may have an eagle head with a small number just above the mag release ,,there shouldn't be inspectors proofs,,the barrel should be marked with a HP squeezed together visable thru the ejection port

,,value for it would range from 800poor-around 2500 vg,,but these are very condition and correctness items that collectors look for before they pay the preimum prices,,1911's have gone thru the roof in the past 5 years and are one of the most sought after pistols from ww1+2,,but again condition and correctness mean the most when thinking about purchasing one or selling one
bigcurt

I have just found in my deceased parents' belongings my grandfather's (father's side) 1911 Colt. He served as an officer in the AEF in WWI. I have done some checking online, and the serial number (W102357), plus other markings, like "Colt Automatic Calibre 455," indicate that it was one of a batch made by Colt on contract to the RAF in 1918, and chambered for the .455 Webley instead of the American .45 ACP. There was no original magazine with the pistol. However, as an experiment, I put a .45 ACP magazine into the pistol, and it seemed to fit fine. I was also able to work the action to eject the bullets, and they all fed correctly. I did not try to fire the pistol. Some other info I found online indicated that some of these pistol were re-chambered for .45 ACP in 1919. The pistol is in absolutely pristine condition--in fact, I don't believe it's ever been fired, though I don't have a bore sight to determine that. There are no scratches on the metal at all, however, and there are even some faint traces of Cosmoline on near the muzzle. Could you give me some idea of what this could be worth? Thanks.

hello,,it does sound like you have a british contract 1911 made in 1918,,the pistols were chambered for 455 and the mag wells are larger than a standard model 1911,,the 45 acp mag will fit and work in it but will not hold the fatter 455 cartridge ,,as you stated some were changed back to 45 acp by simply changing the barrel and bushing and useing the 45acp mags ,,but it's not possible to use the 455 mag in 45acp guns,,, the 45 acp will as you know fit but should not be fired in it because the british 455 cartridge is fatter than the45acp and could damage the pistol with excessive chamber space ,,a original mag may be hard and expencive to find ,,but would increase the value with original mag,,if it is RAF marked this does add a preimium of 30% to the below prices and if the finish condition is 100% also add 20% to the below prices,,

,, as for value these are a hard to find 1911 example these days and values in good original condition and not refinished or altered would range from around 800 fair,,1200 good,,2000 vg to possibly 3000+ EXC to a 1911 colt collector or british collector who doesn't have this variation in his collection ,,or these prices may be even obtainable at a good online auction with other hard to find 1911's listed ,,without the original mag your prices may be lower by possibly 150+or-


,,very nice thing to find while sorting thru an estate ,,but no-one want to find something like this after the original owner has passed away!! ,, but he's smiling with the prices i bet for his old 45 service pistols values!!
bigcurt

Thanks for the prompt reply, Curt. My grandfather, wherever he is, may be smiling at the notion that his old pistol could bring those kind of prices, but since he passed away several years before I was born, I suppose I'll never know....

Without exaggerating, I can say that the finish on this piece is perfect, from the blueing (it's not Parkerized) to the checkered wood grips. The British "broad arrow" acceptance mark is visible just where it should be, beneath the slide relead notch on the left side of the pistol. I found it in a brown U.S. Army World War II holster, dated 1943, but there are absolutely no holster wear marks on the pistol, so far as I can see. Too bad there's no magazine, though.

hello again,,just for your information the brown dated holster will value between 100-150 usually to ww2 collectors,,many of these were dyed black post war and brown holsters are very collectable ,,as for the mag i't proably laying around somewhere i'd be on the lookout for it !you ma be able to find one online if you try searching for 1911 455 mag,,or something like that,,sounds like the condition definatly puts it in the high range of the values .. can ya psot a pic when ya get a chance ,,i'd like to see it if ya get a chance ,,thanks
bigcurt
curt