Special Edition Commander???

G

GunLover

Inactive
Hello all, I purchaced this commander a few days ago, and I noticed that it does'nt have the usual MKIV "series 80" markings on the slide. Instead, it just says "Colt's L.W. Commander S.S.". I took the gun to my local gun dealer and he looked at the model number (04840BAN) and serial number (COP0295) and he told me that it was some kind of special edition Commander (he said something about the last 3 letters "BAN" in the Model#). Is this true? Can anyone here give me some more info on this gun? Maybe he's full of it, and its just a regular old LW commander...I dunno. Any help is appretiated...

Thanks,

Model: 04840BAN
serial: COP0295
colt.jpg


[This message has been edited by GunLover (edited January 15, 2000).]
 
You might want to contact Colt directly. You can also check guides to firearms' values.

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So many pistols, so little money.
 
GunLover, your gun is one of many versions of the Commander (or 1911 for that matter) that was produced by the Colt Custom Shop. For years, the Commander and Officer's Model was available in "lightweight" in the blue version. Around the late eighties or early nineties, Colt produced the Lightweight Commander with a stainless frame, but in an aluminum alloy frame (as was the blue Lightweight version). Since that initial offering, Colt has produced several runs of the gun in stainless Commander and Officer's size. I believe Colt doesn't recommend shooting +P loads in their alloy frames...
 
Thanks... Any idea why he (the gun dealer) told me that the gun was a "special edition" due to the last 3 letters (BAN) in the model#? I think he said something about it stood for the name of some colt destributer in Birmingham AL. ... Banger, or something like that. He said my gun was one of five hundred produced for that destributor.
 
Distributors request runs from manufacturers on a routine basis. The only prereqisite is that a minimum number has to be ordered (in the area of 300 or 500). The departments that handle these special custom orders are the Custom Shop of Colt, or the Performance Center of Smith and Wesson (which I'm a huge fan of); even Springfield has a custom department. Some of the more well-known distributors that do such orders are Lew Horton and RSR. You can visit their websites to see what they're curently offering...
 
gunlover,

nice gun!

BTW, posters commonly "X" out the last couple digits of serial numbers when asking questions on the internet. I recommend it.

HTH!
 
Hehe, thanks, and thanks for the advise on the serial numbers.. I'll put that advise to use next time I post a pic...Later fellas
 
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