Looking for info on a Ballester Molina 1911

G

G-dang

New member
A local gun shop here in Nevada has two them for sale for about 280 dollars. It's built on an Essex frame. I don't have a 1911 but I'm really considering getting this one. I asked the owner about info on the gun and he didn't really know much. All he said that was he acquired those guns years ago and was lying in storage for about 8 years. The owner is a bit a old and has a bit of memory loss now and then.

Any info on these guns preferably from owners, but any helpful info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
 
If the frames are Essex, what is the Ballester-Molina part, the slide? Barrel?

I never tried it, but I am a bit surprised that the B-M slide would fit the Essex frame. Anyway, the frame is no better and no worse than any other Essex frame, which is to say they are usually pretty good. The B-M was Argentine made and based on the Spanish Star design, not on the 1911 design. They look like a 1911, but the internal mechanism is different. They originally were a pretty good guns, not in the Colt class but decent. They are not as hard as the Colts, but stand up well.

The B-M is sometimes confused with the Argentine Model 1927 (Colt "sistema"), a gun identical to the Colt M1911A1 made in Argentina under Colt license and on Colt-supplied machinery. The two guns are not the same.

IMHO, a good B-M might be worth $280 or a bit more. A mixed gun like you describe is a different story and, again IMHO, I would avoid it.

Jim
 
Hi, Mister Dinky,

Now that you mention it, I think I may have tried it too, a long time ago, but those things do tend to slip an aging mind. Anyway, even if it did, or could be made to, fit an Essex frame, the result would still be at best a shooter, and at the price mentioned, I don't think it would be worth it.

Jim
 
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