Essex 1911a1 bought today...Info and age help?

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triumph666

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Bought a 1911a1 custom build at a giant firearms auction today...

It was a 1911a1 with a Colt barrel, Match grade barrel bushing, Match adjustable trigger, Pachmayr wrap around grips and a jeweling job on hammer/trigger/an barrel and Nice target sights

Cursive etching on side says Essex Island Pond VT

I paid 360$ OTD...How good a deal did i get? How old is it? Whats the resale value?

Serial number is in the 50,000 mark



Oh and funnily enough this is the only 1911 i've ever owned that chambers hollowpoints super smooth with ANY magazine...all my other 1911's are only reliable with Hp's with high end new mags
 

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Essex has been making slides and frames for 40 years, and the contours have evolved over time, to the extent that they look like ringers for real USGI frames today. Yours has enough variations from G.I. appearance that I'd guess it's possibly 30 years old. Since Essex makes only parts, and not complete guns, the quality is only as good as the skill of the person who built the gun. It runs reliably; how's the accuracy?
 
Cool score! I love franken-1911's! I have one that's my favorite of all the 1911's I have ever owned : Colt series 70 slide milled down for an adjustable millet sight on an old Randall frame. Funky stippling on the frame, after-market non-matching slide release and safety, ground down frame to accept a high curved grip safety, etc. I bought it cheap and it's more reliable and feeds better than the two stock Colt's and the Springfield I had before it. I have owned a couple Essex framed parts guns and had good luck with them too.
 
sunday i'm gonna test fire it for accuracy not just for function....i have a feeling i'm gonna see one ragged hole

But anyway i look at it the Jewelling job and the colt barrel are worth what i paid for the whole gun
 
Think of the brand 'Essex' in the same frame your would 'short block'. The engine is just as good or bad as what you add during the build.

Essex frames are good starting points and the Colt parts are a plus.
 
Range report on the Essex build

12 yds accuracy was impressive......all shots touching dead center on a 6 inch bullseye target

Smooth shooting and this gun fed my JHP +p's flawlessly...I love it!!!


Next test i wanna do is 50 yd accuracy :)
 
Good deal! That looks like an older one by the looks of the frame. I would leave it alone except for that grip safety, it looks kinda funky not quite being a GI and not being a beavertail.
 
My kid has a 1911 based on an Essex frame my buddy bought at the factory back in the early 90's. Its serial number is in the 4700 range.
 
I think it would be hard to go wrong with that price.

I have a 1911 parts gun built up by the German MFR Peters-Stahl, on an Essex frame. It's a 10mm and it functions flawlessly and is a precision shooter (note the adjustable Peters-Stahl sights). I think it's great:

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Ya done good. I think it would be difficult to determine age w/o knowing who built it. Someone will likely be able to tell you approximately when the Essex frame was made.

Best,

Will
 

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I'm extremely happy with this essex built custom...it shoots beautifully and feeds everything

This makes my second 1911 now and i'm getting the itch for another one already :)
 
50,000 range puts it in the mid 1980's. I ordered a bunch then to build guns and they were all in the 50k s/n range.
 
I can't comment much on the age - but that gun is a dead-ringer for an Essex I used to own back in the 90's. I traded it in, to the gun shop I bought it from, on a Mini-14 Ranch purchase.

Mine was dead accurate with a nice, light trigger pull.

Enjoy! :D
 
If the 50,000 range puts it in the 80's, they must have gone waaaay in the back and got my buddy the real old stock. :D
 
If the 50,000 range puts it in the 80's, they must have gone waaaay in the back and got my buddy the real old stock.
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Anything is possible. In the mid '80s when I was working in Miami, like I said above, I ordered an even dozen and they were all consecutive numbers in the 50k range.

If you got one in the 4700 range, I think you got one of the better cast examples. The first one I ever built on an Essex was ca. 26,000, and it was vastly superior compared to the ones I received in the 50k range. In fact, I still have it.
 
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