Colt Model 1911 Us Army
I recently obtained a Colt 1911. according to the serial number it was made in 1918 or in 1919. It has the Parkerized type finish. Although the finish is VG to EX, It has the arched main spring housing as on the later 1911A1. There seems to be no difference in the finish[color wise} that indicate the mainspring houseing has been replaced. The barrel is excellent and everything else indicates it has not been shot or handle very much. The trigger and every thing else seems to indicate all 1911. Is it possible? that prior to the changes in which the designation was changed from 1911 to 1911A1 that some of the 1911s already had the arched mainspring housings?
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Probably arsenal refinished, especially since its parked 0 -
Yup, arsenal rework at best - is there a small faint A, AA, SA, or RIA stamp on the gun?
No way a 1925 design arched mainspring housing would have been installed on a gun in 1918, and Parkerizing was not in use at the time.0 -
With the serial number we may be able to date more closely But as others have stated 99% chance it is a rebuild With the barrel removed we may also date the barrel if you give us all the marks on chamber area and lower lugs. Most all rebuilds have replacement barrels. 0 -
Thanks all for the response: Yes the RIA is very prominent as it is also on a 1944 Remington Rand I have and although I wondered about it I really did not realize the implication. On this pistol, afer the RIA is the letters F K , Does any one know what this means? I'm guessing RIA refers to Rock Island Arsenal. 0 -
Frank Krack was an inspector at RIA. 
Neal
EDIT: Colt began using parkerizing in 1941. Blue guns were intermixed up to SN 760000.0 -
The SN is 533865 and info from the internet indicates it was made between Oct 24,1918 and April 10,1919. The barrel was apparently a new replacement as suggested. It has "45 Colt Auto" on it and underneath forward of the camber has a small F . There seems to be no other letters or numbers. Also thanks for the info on the F K and all other info. Also I saw a 1942 M A1 in a gun store which was not the color of parkerization but appear to be black. Is this still considered "blueing" or a type of parkerization or is there a special name for it? thanks again. 0 -
That 1942 M1911A1 could have been refinished by anyone between the end of WWII and the time you saw it at the store, and it could have a wide variety of finishes
That said, some types of parkerizing done decades ago can appear black and shiny today; it's really hard to say what you saw0 -
Colt first Parkerized was Serial 729993 between this and serial #780000 it could be Blued or Parkerized after 780000 all were originaly parkerized but again if the pistol has been commercially been refinished it will most likely be blued as many gunsmiths did not do any parkerizing until the last 10 years or so Glass beading has been done for a much longer time and type III was the last type of Military BLUE type finish on Colt pistols. I suspect your barrel may have a P not an F the F would be a FLANNERY BOLT Co. but no Colt 45AUTO
Edit Hello Stephenwfarrell and welcome glad to have someone from the other side of the pond join us in the future it is always better to start your own post rather then what we call "high-jacking someone thread" all questions are locked after 10 post so just start a new thread. With that said colt started 1945 with serial 2244804 and ended with 2380013 so slightly over 120000 that year divided by 12 months will get you close on number per month. The service history will IMHO be impossible to trace. as the U.S.A Military did not keep records by serial numbers of where each firearm went. We in the U.S. had many kept by returning G.I.'s and the government sold pistols up to 1968 when they outlawed these sales.0 -
Hi guys, sorry to jump in on this thread. I am a new collector ( very very ) and I am going cross eyed trying to find info on my Colt 1911 A1, it's serial number is :2261298. I know it was made in 1945.
Can anyone help with a more exact date?? where can I find out about it's service history.
please forgive my ignorance.0 -
Stephen,
Some collectors have access to shipping records and can pin the date that pistol went out down to a month or two window. Maybe one will come along, or you could inquire at http://forum.m1911.org/ where several such collectors congregate.
Service history is not likely to be available. The US Army did not maintain permanent records of the issue of small arms. Only a personal memoir or a purchase record for a gun legally bought out of service would give much information.
Is this a functional firearm? If so, how did you get permission for it?0
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