Or anybody else with a clue!! It's like this; in 1983 I bought a limited edition Colt Government Model .45 auto from the Colt Custom Gun Shop, 200 units made, the Vietnam Special Edition. It has a slide described in the accompanying letter as "photo-engraved, chemically etched and selectively gold plated.", and cocobolo grips with Custom Shop medallions. I recieved it in the original shipping box, unopened, with the rosewood (I think) presentation case topped by a glass plate etched with a map of Vietnam.
In the 16 years since, the magazine has been removed and the action worked exactly once, because I could somehow just not allow a firearm in the house which I had not personally confirmed was either loaded or unloaded. Otherwise it sat in its case.
I have never owned a bullet which would fit it.
I did not buy it for its value to anyone else, it was never an investment. But now I have to consider that someday my children will own it, and they might care. My thought has been in the past that with 3 million vets of that war and 200 copies of this special edition, its value just might have escalated into the seriously stupid region. Also might not. I bought it as a memory for my big brother and myself, both of us having served, and I never intended to shoot it. But that was then, and this is now.
My problem is twofold; first, I obviously need to disassemble and clean this lovely thing (I have no idea how) before it rusts away; but more to the point, I've realized that in about a year now, on 14 June 2000, it will be 30 years since my brother took one in the chest from a sniper in what is described in an upcoming book as "the last major battle of the Vietnam war", Firebase Ripcord, and died in the arms of the wounded man he had gone to rescue, within minutes. On that day I want to shoot this gun. If anybody has to ask why, they wouldn't understand. After that I may just use it as an occasional carry gun (how stupid is THAT?)
I think I already know what I'm going to do, but I do have some interest in how much it will cost my kids. Won't cost me but the price of the ammo, since I will have it for my lifetime.
Also, being .45 challenged, what kind of ammo do I want, kick-ass brutal stuff, teach that paper target a LESSON!? I have no interest in target ammo, I would really prefer for it to HURT when I shoot it. A lot.
Thanx a bunch for any help you can give me, I'd rather go into just about anything with a bit of knowledge of the potential cost.
Larry P.
[This message has been edited by Larry P. (edited June 16, 1999).]
In the 16 years since, the magazine has been removed and the action worked exactly once, because I could somehow just not allow a firearm in the house which I had not personally confirmed was either loaded or unloaded. Otherwise it sat in its case.
I have never owned a bullet which would fit it.
I did not buy it for its value to anyone else, it was never an investment. But now I have to consider that someday my children will own it, and they might care. My thought has been in the past that with 3 million vets of that war and 200 copies of this special edition, its value just might have escalated into the seriously stupid region. Also might not. I bought it as a memory for my big brother and myself, both of us having served, and I never intended to shoot it. But that was then, and this is now.
My problem is twofold; first, I obviously need to disassemble and clean this lovely thing (I have no idea how) before it rusts away; but more to the point, I've realized that in about a year now, on 14 June 2000, it will be 30 years since my brother took one in the chest from a sniper in what is described in an upcoming book as "the last major battle of the Vietnam war", Firebase Ripcord, and died in the arms of the wounded man he had gone to rescue, within minutes. On that day I want to shoot this gun. If anybody has to ask why, they wouldn't understand. After that I may just use it as an occasional carry gun (how stupid is THAT?)
I think I already know what I'm going to do, but I do have some interest in how much it will cost my kids. Won't cost me but the price of the ammo, since I will have it for my lifetime.
Also, being .45 challenged, what kind of ammo do I want, kick-ass brutal stuff, teach that paper target a LESSON!? I have no interest in target ammo, I would really prefer for it to HURT when I shoot it. A lot.
Thanx a bunch for any help you can give me, I'd rather go into just about anything with a bit of knowledge of the potential cost.
Larry P.
[This message has been edited by Larry P. (edited June 16, 1999).]