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Chrome Plated .45


Ronnie
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Back in the day I would have called this a travesty. But a few years ago I started thinking that since many military personnel returning from WWII had their .45s chrome plated it looked to me that a .45 collection would not be complete without one. Made sense to me. I used to see them all the time but here lately....last 4 or 5 years I havent seen many at all. The ones I saw had a lot of chrome chipping off and rusty. I was contacted this week by a man that had one for sale. He sent me photos and I could see that it was one of the nicest I had ever seen. We met and I bought it. Here it is for you guys to see. It will fit in perfectly with my other .45s. I may change out the grips. I have a set of Ivory and a beautiful set in Catalan. Either will really dress this piece up. Hope you all enjoy the pictures.

Thanks.

Ronnie

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Not my cup of tea, but nice looking none-the-less. Your logic in adding it to your collection is perfectly sound as long as it's affordable. Adding a nice set of ivory grips or the wood grips would be good too; the faux pearl grips are a bit much.

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Thank you both....5 or 6 years ago this wasn’t my cup of tea either. But it really started to grow on me and I like the idea of adding it to a collection simply because so many GI’s, Sailors and Marines brought them home and had them chrome plated. Also agree the Pearl Grips are a bit much.... Only a pimp in a New Orleans Whore House would carry a Pearl handled pistol!

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Mild solution of muratic acid for several hours, repark it. Yea, I know, seen them for 40+ years just can't deal with chrome. Each to his own.

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... Only a pimp in a New Orleans Whore House would carry a Pearl handled pistol!

 

Or an aggressive commander of Third Army in WWII. The ivory grips do look better. As for stripping it and then going to parkerization, that kind of defeats the original purpose. I'd keep it as is; you can shoot it, it fits the collection, and at some point if you want a pistol with original finish, you can sell this and use the money as a down payment.

 

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Thanks Thorin. I have no plans to change it. However as mentioned above I had thought that it would be a pretty easy fix if I decided to bring it back. Thanks again for the comments.

Ronnie

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Patchcollector

I like it.Not as a primary example but it would be a nice variant to have in a collection.I think it would look great with some dark grips for contrast,such as piano black Ebony wood or even Carbon Fiber.

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Good show Ronnie.

 

I like the idea of how the GIs did this with german and US bring backs and will look great in your collection.

 

I like the white grips too.Even those 50s era Franzite/plastic grips sold in all the gun magazines back then would look good for a period plated pistol.

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Thank you both....5 or 6 years ago this wasnt my cup of tea either. But it really started to grow on me and I like the idea of adding it to a collection simply because so many GIs, Sailors and Marines brought them home and had them chrome plated. Also agree the Pearl Grips are a bit much.... Only a pimp in a New Orleans Whore House would carry a Pearl handled pistol!

 

 

Wonder if that pimp had a purple velvet lined A2 as well...:D

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I personally don't mind nickled, chromed, whatever bring-back pistols. They are what they are, and are part of the history. Certainly are but shooters now, but many of these ended up being farm guns, and were viewed as tools. I've seen far more plated P-38s than 1911s for some reason. As far as the grips, the 'ivory' ones look too long to me. The tapered bottom edge looks proud of the frame, and the scallop for the MSH pin looks like it almost touches the edge of the hole. I actually liked the look of the original pearl panels better - especially as they had the Colt medallion that matched the finish. Cool piece Ronnie.

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IMO a nice set of stag grips would also look great on this pistol...Ive seen a many vet bring-back 45s that were nickled or chromed that had stag grips.

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My first instructor in ROTC when I was in college had been a Military Policeman in Vietnam. I recall him telling us that the unit armorer had gotten four .45 auto pistols chromed while he was assigned to Long Binh Jail (LBJ), and that the chromed pistols were issued to the MPs standing guard at the entrance. He also mentioned that it was while he was assigned to LBJ that he saw his first spit shined .45 auto holster and leather magazine pouch. He said that every morning, the MPs would line up in formation and the MP that looked the best would get the day off. He said the same kid won day after day and that he eventually got tired of winning every day because he wanted to go out and do his job instead of hang out in the barracks. It was this young MP who spitshined all of his leather, pressed his khakis by hand, shined his collar brass and would regularly strip and repaint his helmet liner. Nobody could touch him when it came to looking sharp. I can just imagine this MP standing guard with a shiny, chromed .45 auto!

 

Allan

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I found out from Blacksmith that the Colt Pearl Grips, if real, are very valuable. That is great news. Also agree after taking a close look that the White grips I put on the gun are not fitted correctly. Gonna have to fix that if I keep them on.

Thanks Blacksmith.

Ronnie

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  • 4 weeks later...

I just sold a Chrome 1917 revolver and all original Chrome 1918 1911. The guy wants a Chrome Luger now to go with them. I gotta admit they looked sharp.

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