What is a good 1911 really worth?

A

AlongCameJones

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I owned a Colt Series 70/Mark IV Government Model .45, blue, I bought used at an Oklahoma pawn shop in 1990 for $420 while stationed at Fort Sill. It was in fairly good shape and shot so-so at the range. A little sloppy but so-so. In 1992 I had it re-blued. I put on new wood checkered grips. The army MP's confiscated it from me for not having it registered on post in 1994. When I left the army in 1995, they said they couldn't find it and said it probably got destroyed.

In 2000, I bought a post-war Colt Govt. Model .45, blue, from a private seller in Idaho for $1,200 in really nice shape. The seller said it was pre-64. It came with a .22 conversion kit and had a rubber Pachmayer grip. I had to dump this pistol in 2002 at a pawn shop in ID when money was tight. I'd give my two front teeth to have that gun back in the condition I had her when I parted with her today.

I discovered this new outfit called DoubleStar that makes 1911's from $,1400 to $2,200 today. Is an ordinary service-looking 45 really worth that much? DoubleStar in Kentucky also cooks up some mid-grade/mid-price AR rifles to boot. The pistol in this video is $2K+ for just a standard service-looking 45. Nice finish and stamping quality though. But 2 grand???

The new Colt M1911's and many others that I've seen from the 1990's up to about 2005 under $1K have rough-looking markings on barrel, slide and frame. I have not seen a new 1911 in person since. I would only want a classic COLT in primo shape like that pre-64 I had. What is that pre-64 now worth on today's market?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-dkjQSPQEs
 
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Pre-64 means nothing when it comes to 1911's. That only really applies to Winchester model 70's which went through a major re-design in 1964. The design was so far removed from the 1963 and older guns that it should have really had a different model designation. Although they did return to the original design in 1992 with some minor more modern tweaks then and again in 2008.

I'm no expert on Colt 1911's, but starting in the 1980's there were some internal design changes to prevent the gun from firing if dropped. Many collectors prefer the older guns.

I've owned multiple 1911's over the years and found the ones made by Colt to be over priced and over rated. If you want an original Colt 1911 just to have a Colt 1911 there is nothing wrong with that. But if you want one to shoot there are many different manufacturers now making very good guns.

There are several budget guns made in Brazil that are imported under various names that will usually out shoot the Colts I've owned. Everybody loves to hate on Kimber, but the Kimber 1911 that I used to own, and gave to my son is one of the better I've ever owned.

The BEST 1911 I've personally ever owned was made by S&W.
 
A minty, pre-Series 70 Government Model - the Colt equivalent of Winchester's pre-'64, in the eyes of many - will cost in the neighborhood of $1500, and probably more than that, if it includes the original box.
A new Colt is going to almost certainly be a more accurate gun, will shoot more reliably, the Classic model will look very much like your old gun, and can be found closer to the $1000 range in price, though everything is priced higher than "normal" right now, so you might add $100-$200 of the price of both the old and the new.
 
In the world of Colt 1911's, the desirable, and expensive, 1911's are those made pre 1970 and even more pricy are the pre WWII guns. I currently have seven Colts dating from 1917 up to 2013 and quite honestly, my 2012 vintage Government model has been the equal of any of the earlier Colts. I used to have many more, but I had to sell off a dozen or so to finance my last divorce.

To answer your question, a good 1911 is going to have a different definition to different people. I personally don't get excited about all the bells and whistles, so for me a reasonably basic Colt 1911 is fine and I personally wouldn't pay more than a grand for a standard 1911. If you want fancy sights and ambidextrous controls you are going to pay quite a bit more, especially if you want a semi custom gun by one of the better known makers.

I currently have 15 1911's made in four different countries. Most of mine are either US Property 1911/1911A1's or were made by foreign governments under Colt license. Probably the best value I have personally seen so far has been the 1911's made by Rock Island. I don't see how you could go wrong with one of them for the money. I have two, one a standard GI model and the other a compact. Both have been great guns and I would recommend RI 1911's to anyone. One of my favorite new(er) Colts is a Government Model I bought new back in 2012. It has a decent trigger and has been perfectly reliable, it was about twice the price of the Rock Island GI model though.

I will say that the Colt M45A1 I picked up a few years ago has been a heck of a good gun out of the box with a decent trigger, Truglo night sights and a Colt NM barrel. They are getting to be a bit expensive nowadays but can be found for under two grand if you shop around.
 
My objective is to have the genuine COLT name on a standard Government Model, or even a 4" Trooper/Lawman revolver, with impeccable marking stamping quality that was found on common firearms before 1980. I've had two already and love their cosmetics. I want nothing newer from COLT and nothing past 1979. The company now stinks to high heaven. All the new Colt Commanders and Government Models I've seen in the 1990's as well as the Anaconda revolver had rough roll stamping. YUCK!!

I lost my nice 1971 Colt Lawman (.357 4") Mark III in a 1999 home burglary. So I've had a couple vintage Colt pistols I'd love to have back again.

I'm a stickler for firearms cosmetics. I HATE sloppy ugly stamping with the hellish of passions.

Do you want a mint '57 Chevy or a Yugo?

At some point in time, many commercial products manufacturers stopped giving a hoot about neatness of appearance.
 
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Well, what other people may value might be different from what I value. I'm just curious what others like in a 1911.

But I don't want to argue with others. To each his own 45. So be it.
 
AlongCameJones said:
My objective is to have the genuine COLT name on a standard Government Model, ...
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If what you want is a Colt, why are you asking about DoubleStar?

DoubleStar has been around for a few years. I haven't tested one but my recollection is that when they showed up on the market they didn't have a reputation for being worth nearly what they thought they were worth. Are some 1911s worth $2,000 and up? Sure. A 1911 from Guncrafter Industries, for example, IMHO is easily worth $3,000 or more. (Too bad I can't afford to buy one.) Cabot Guns start at around $5,000 and go up from there. Are they worth it? They sell all they can make, so some people obviously think so.
 
AlongCameJones said:
I don't trust anything new from Colt.
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That's interesting, considering that virtually all 1911 aficionados agree that the pistols Colt is producing now are better than anything they've made since the 1950s or 1960s. However, your concern seems to be whether the gun has crisp rollmarks rather than whether or not it shoots reliably and accurately, so your priorities are different from mine.
 
I don't trust anything new from Colt.
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Colt Series 70 ... Don't know if you're old enough to have heard of those. Pros in the Know really chase after them. You can watch the hot bidding wars for S70s all the time on GB.

No better made 1911 since at least the 1950s, unless you went custom and had one built for you by a Master Pistolsmith, like Swensen or such.
 
I was asking about DoubleStar because of the shocking retail price I saw at their website. I was wondering who in their right mind would pay that much for what looks to me more or less like a plain Jane service pistol. I would pay $2K for a super primo original pre-70 COLT Govt. Model before I'd pay that much for any new 45 off the shelf.
 
I have a Remington 1911 R1s Remington manufactured the 1911 for Colt under license in Ww1 as did Singer. Great gun looks like a Kimber, I got mine for $600, before the madness when I became an American citizen 2018..

Thewelshm
 
JustJake, I'm 57 and did actually buy a second-hand Series 70 in 1990. Mine did malfunction a couple of times at the range, the firing pin fell out once while firing and it tended to shoot left on a silhouette target. The rear sight probably need to be drifted right. The spring collet barrel bushing probably needed professional gunsmithing adjustment as the occasional stoppages were always failure of the slide to move into battery to lock the breech up. A feed ramp job would have been a nice addition too. These pistols may need a little tweaking to get decent accuracy, shot placement and reliability. I did like the arched mainspring housing of my former Series 70 .45 ACP. I felt comfy in my hand. The gun would not generally experience stoppages until 25+ rounds were fired at the range. As the gun got fouled with soot during a shooting session, it would then balk at going into battery. The firing pin fell out because the retaining plate where the hammer rested had a loose fit. My Series 70 had nice outer cosmetics but wasn't in the most perfect state of tune.
 
THEWELSHM said:
I have a Remington 1911 R1s Remington manufactured the 1911 for Colt under license in Ww1 as did Singer. Great gun looks like a Kimber, I got mine for $600, before the madness when I became an American citizen 2018..
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Not really.

Remington did make some M1911s during WW1, but under license from the United States Government, not under license from Colt. Singer made 500 M1911A1s as a pilot project during WW2, not WW1.
 
DoubleStar has been around for a few years.
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One of several outfits in the same predicament.
Startups, but by the time they get equipment, parts in the white, and somebody who knows how to put them together, they have to price their guns close to what better known boutique manufacturers charge.
How to get established in the business? I don't know.
 
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