Hartford Colt 1911A1 Argentine 1927

22hipower

July 20, 2012 05:35

I have the opportunity to buy one of these; one of the 10,000 made by Colt in Hartford for Argentina before Argentina contracted to build them in Argentina. The serial number is on the slide, barrel, and on the magazine and presumably under the MSH but I haven't checked that yet. Seems to be in original condition with original blue finish. Fair amount of holster wear on the slide, with scratches, and other blue loss but no pitting; maybe 70% overall. From what little I've been able to find out these guns were used a lot and most were aresenal rebuilt at least once. I'm no expert but have looked at a lot of refinished guns and this one shows no loss in the usual places; e.g. rampant colt is strong and sharp, no "dishing" around the pins. So, a couple questions, is it possible that some of these Colts made it back to the US without being rebuilt? I think the value for a 1911A1 US marked in this condition would be about $2,000. These Argentine contract Colts came from the same factory at the same time. I know pictures would be helpful but assuming my description is accurate, is $900 a reasonable price?

Edit: Thanks for the opinions so far. I called the guy who has it and he agreed to sell it with the understanding I could return it if I wasn't satisfied after further investigation. I'll post pictures later today.

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Hope the pictures are helpful; not sure how to resize them bigger. Checked the SN behind the MSH and it matches. Finish of frame and slide matches; there is pitting under both grips but not on the slide or frame. If the pictures come through large enough you can see this detail; left side of grip frame has "51" left of the top screw hole and "3" to its right with a triangular symbol below it. Barrel is marked with an oval with RA within it on left side of barrel by the toggle. Barrel is blue except for top of chamber which is in the white; inside barrel is shiny and rifling is clear and sharp. The oval with the RA appears again on the lower front of the hammer. Checkered trigger, wide checkered hammer, checkered safety. Grip panels appear to be original; tight, worn, with 28 lines of checkering between the holes. I don't have anything to compare it with but I don't see anything that doesn't look original. What am I missing or additionally need to check?

Edit 3: perry shooter and rufe-snow; thanks much for the additional information and comment. Interesting about the Swartz safety on later contracts; I'll watch for that option. I'm wondering about the grips on this one too. They seem correct for Colt for that period and the fit is tight and the wear about what I'd expect so I think they could be original. However, I found a comment on another site (no pictures) where the poster said he had a Model 27 from Hartford and it had the large diamond wood grips and on the back of one was the oval with the 'RA' marking as well as the SN of the gun. Given the other markings on this gun that description sounds right but without pictures can't be sure.

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  perry shooter

  July 20, 2012 06:11

  IMHO IFthe pistol is ALL ORIGINAL even small parts and has NOT been refinished it would be hard to go wrong on $900.00.
  EDITI believe from what I can tell from the small pictures you need to grab this pistol . I don't like pitting anywhere BUT under the grips and not anywhere else tells me it most likely HAS NOT been refinished . most people don't remove the grips when they clean and oil a pistol thus the frame under the grips may show rust and nowhere else.
  EDIT III picked up an Argentine Contract from COLT that was let in early 1942. Again this was from U.S. Civilian pistols in Stock. I like pistols that have the Swartz safety and this Argentine is less then 50 away from a Pre War National Match I own also with the Swartz safety.I find it really odd that these guns were shipped
  in 1942, to another country after we had declared war. Many of these same Swartz equipped pistols were Remarked the swartz parts removed and were issued to the U.S. military.

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  CDMead

  July 20, 2012 06:43

  Crufflers back in the day imported or sold a "bunch" of the Colt made Argentine 1911A1s and the Argentine made Sistemas.
  
  IIRC the Argentine arsenal rebuilding process included parkerizing and replacing the barrels as needed. The ones I saw looked like they tried to keep the serial numbers matching at least on the frames and slides. Replacement barrels were not serial numbered.
  
  I also remember that Crufflers had at least two grades, one of which was as issued without refinishing, so I would suggest it is possible some of these pistols were never rebuilt.
  
  I would check for an importers mark and work from there.

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  rufe-snow

  July 20, 2012 08:24

  Price is to good to be true if it's hasn't been refinished and the serial number under the main spring housing matches. Very uncommon pistols as far as collectors are concerned. The few that I have seen over the years have been rode hard and put away wet. If you can come up with one that's Colt factory original with all matching numbers including the mag, jump on it for that price.
  
  
  EDIT #1, It looks original to me also, don't know about the grips though? Considering it's over 80 years old and what it has been through in Argentina, you have made quite a acquisition. No mater it's not in pristine condition, it's a very rare and desirable Colt variation. Believe the "RA" in oval is a Argentine inspectors marking. "RA" would designate Republic of Argentina.
  
  
  
  
  

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