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colt 1911 transition ???

stirrat
i just recieved a gold plated (supposedly sent to colt to plate) 1911 gun. i do not know much about old 1911. the owner thinks it is worth alot of money. hopefully someone here can let me know what we have and a possible value range.

gun is supposedly a transitional gun from a colt 1911 to a colt 1911a1. supposedly one of a kind prototype.

guns says (model 1911 us army)
colt hartford, ct
pat 4/20/1892
9/9/1902
12/19/1905
2/14/1911
8/19/1913

can anyone tell me if this thing is anything extra ordinarily special? supposedly was owned by some general who sent it to colt to gold plate it. of coarse i have no documentation of that. sorry pic is so bad.
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Comments

11 comments

Date Votes
  • 1KYDSTR
    No pics...
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  • stirrat
    [img][/img]1911.jpg
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  • stirrat
    sorry serial number 527621
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  • Spider7115
    If Colt did the plating, you DEFINITELY need a factory letter to authenticate it. If it was a special factory order for a named General, it could have significant value.

    http://www.coltsmfg.com/CustomerServices/ArchiveServices.aspx
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  • rufe-snow
    No offense, but sounds like BS. The 11th commandment as far as buying collector quality guns are concerned, is to buy the gun based on what it is, not on some fantasy story.

    If you can't provide pics, we would need at least a partial serial number to date the Colt. The transition 1911/1911AI Colts made during the 20's/30's time frame, were made in limited numbers in a very well known serial number range.


    EDIT #1, "527621" is a Colt 1911 made for the U.S. military during the First World War, in 1918. It never left the Colt factory in the condition it's in now.

    EDIT #2, The only way you could verify that the 1911 was refinished at Colt, would be for a factory letter, which doesn't come cheap. If the person who is trying to sell it to you would be willing to pay for the Colt factory letter, it would be the only way to verify that his story is on the level.
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  • stirrat
    SERIAL NUMBER 527621


    I AGREE SOUNDS LIKE ALOT OF STORY BUT HERE ARE THE NUMBERS AND WHAT I KNOW.
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  • 1KYDSTR
    I think a factory leter would be in order, but a waste of money. Since, as noted, it left the factory in 1918 as a 1911 military issue sidearm, the whole "transitional" theory falls apart. I believe the first A1 type guns were being tooled and developed starting 1921....time line just doesn't work. It is an odd thing to note that the hammer and lack of finger relief cuts behind the trigger say 1911, but the backstrap says 1911A1. The advice of buy the gun, not the story are the order of the day here as already noted...jaundiced eye time!
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  • nmyers
    It is not what collectors called a "transitional" pistol.

    It doesn't matter if it was owned by a general. It doesn't matter if it was plated at Colt or Bob's Bumper Plating. It has no collector value.

    Value is in the $400-600 range, depending on the barrel, like most other plated Colt autos.

    Neal
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  • babun
    While it is just probably an old colt plated by someone unknown, It DOES matter if you can show provenance to someone "known". If Elvis Presley sent it back to colt to have it plated in 1969, and you can prove it, it is worth a lot more $$$. Some gun snobs here, who don't deal in antiques and oddities don't realize sometimes things are MORE than the sum of the parts.
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  • stirrat
    anyone know anything more conclusive. do the serial numbers tell anytihng?
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  • perry shooter
    Bling + bogus story = [:(!][V] unless you have Factory letter. stating they plated the pistol and WHO the customer was .
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