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your colt was proably rebuilt possibly a couple times after being made in the early part of ww1..if your dad got it in japan during the korean war years,,the grips should have been checkered wood or plastic ,,the serial number you gave puts it in a serial number block issued to Springfield in 1914 ..so it should be a springfield version ,,with a mix of S marked parts,,these are very desirable to 1911 collectors if original with original parts,,
..i've seen many 1911's with unusual grips that gi's added as a personal touch ,,1 that comes to mind had a pic of a geshia girl underneith a peice of airplane cockpit plastic cut to cover the pic ..a very intresting set of grips none the less and sometimes these theater made grips will enhance the value to collectors if done in the era style,,so the pearl grips were proably added by a gi and sold in japan or possibly was something that was captured from a soilder and brought back as a souivenere by a japanese solider and sold after the war,,another possibility could have been it may have been a special presentation model presented to a high ranking official ,,i believe in the movie "letters from Iwo Jima the japanese general had a 1911 that was presented to him with pearl grips before the war and that movie is suppose to be a true story..wouldn't that be super cool to have that pistol!! ,,i guess you could write your own story how the grips got there..and may never know exactly the true story..still a pretty cool story behind the pistol and if mostly correct would still proably bring around 2000- 5000 at auction or to a 1911 collector with the history behind it,,wow if it could only talk i bet it would have some intresting stories to tell! very cool and thanks for shareing the history with us,,
bigcurt
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