92 year old Colt M1911. Range report

C

Chris_B

New member
United States Property marked M1911, made in 1918. Winchester white box 230 gr hardball. Results from 33 feet, offhand. Last 8 rounds of 50 I fired today- the first 50 I've fired with this pistol. Barrel is pitted and dark, pistol has a rattly slide to frame fit

1911range-1.jpg
 
That's a fine little shooter you have. It looks good and shoots well it looks like. Its a really good looking gun and for 92 its in outstanding shape it looks like, even with a dark bore it shoots well.
 
That's a really nice looking M1911 you've got there and a fine group as well. Is that the original black oxide finish?

Best,
Oly
 
Thanks :)

Slide was refinished, looks like a while back. The camera was really kind to the pistol in that photo, and I had just wiped it with a silicon cloth, too

The frame appears to have the original finish- sanding marks are still present, and the stampings are all crisp and clear

here it is, as I got it, shows the finish in a much more honest light. If you shine a flashlight on it, you can see brown patina under some of the thinner areas of the blue. My info is that this one was made a little while before the 'black army' pistols. The bluing is really dark, Colt was eliminating some of the final surface polishing steps to speed up production

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Thank Chris,

That's exactly what I was wondering about.

Very very nice pistol and it's a shooter too!

Best,
Oly
 
Be nice to it.

One thing to be aware is that these WW1 M1911's were not heat treated, the metal is dead soft. So always use lots of lubricant and don't load it hot.
 
Most handgun encounters/shootings, be they breakins or tacticle, happen between 6-8 yards. Thats 18 to twenty-four feet. Judging by your picture,
your 1911 performed/performs precisely as intended, a close quarters combat weapon.
"Old warhorses never die, they just become old warhorses".
 
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