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NRA Marked M1911, 1918 date


Cwnavy1
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I inhereited this back in the 70's and have had it since.  As I recall reading the original owner's will, he purchased this from the NRA because he was a competitive schooter and it was a match grade pistol.  He did make some mods to the weapon, though I'm not sure what they were other than the rear site.  What can you all tell me about this piece?

 

1911.jpg.5c0462ed44ceb1c0fc51846f648bf5c1.jpg

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from what I see it looks to be ww1 for most part, black army. looks like the stamp on the frame is that of Gilbert H. Stewart which makes it 1918. if the top of the barrel has a P H on top then youre lucky for it is a ww1 barrel. from the pictures it seems to be a decent ww1 colt. without seeing the rear or top its a tough call to say all original. still nice---------I LIKE IT.

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Maybe one of the mod's was addition of the arched mainspring housing ?

 Because a 1911 does not have that type of MS housing. That came around in 1926.

 

Semper Fi

Phil

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that is why I mentioned the back and top. that 45 can be restored back to its original state with the barrel (if not correct) being kind of tough.

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Your pistol was made in 1915 (not a Black Army, which was late 1918).  The MSH has been changed, as noted, which may imply that other parts have been changed as well, the barrel being the most likely candidate.  How is it marked?

 

Below is a snip from Arms and the Man, which was the first publication from the NRA. 

 

I have kept a database on these pistols for many years.  The NRA marked Colts are about half as frequently encountered as examples made by Springfield Armory.

NRA_1911Purchase.jpg

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I am attaching photos of the barrel to see if this matches the period of the weapon.  Please let me know.  I'd like to take it back to all original if possible.  Take a look at the barrel and let me know.IMG_7587.jpeg.73bae220fc295e618d7b2218ae119082.jpegIMG_7590.jpeg.b0cce90e7a997cc9644ac466122166c4.jpeg

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I agree with Costa on the barrel.  Yours should have the H P but as separate letters.  They could be oriented horizontally (early) or vertically (a little later).

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Is it possible, and reasonable, to find parts to take this back to a non “A1” pistol?

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Sure.  The trigger is easy but the barrel and MSH will to hard to find and expensive.  Watch the auction sites and be patient.

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the barrel with the proper P-H is tough and costly if a nice 1 is found. main spring housing, trigger and other small parts are out there and pop up on ebay from time to time and gun broker. if you can do it --- the thing that hurts it is the NRA stamp but, still worth over 1000.00.

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IMHO, the market for authentic NRA marked guns is much stronger than the equivalent gun without the marking--2x to 3X in fact.

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Unfortunately, I do not have positive proof of ownership and origin of this pistol.  It belonged to a retired navy captain in L A from whom I received a bunch of WWI material including his Navy Cross.  I’ve mentioned this grouping in this forum before.  I remember reading Capt. Smith’s will years ago and he explained in great detail about all his stuff, but I think that copy of the will was disposed of years ago in my Dads stuff.

 

I do have some other NRA stuff from Smith, but it’s mostly membership signup literature, or shooting range info etc.  would be great if the NR A had purchase records from the 1930s, but I doubt they allow access to them even if they have them.

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Blacksmith

Long triggers in original finish are hardly “easy” to find.  Especially ones that didn’t have trigger shoes screwed onto them during the “bullseye” craze in the 70s.  Flat MSHs are easier to find.  

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