I decided today to get it off layaway, and found some interesting markings on it.
It's marked US Property, and the serial number (125XXX) puts it made in 1915, according to this site. When I got it home, I took it down and it looks very okay. The rifling is sharp and clear, the interior of the pistol looks very good, and while I don't know when the springs were last changed, the function check came out okay.
Somebody put a trigger shoe on it, and it's got those horrible Hogue wraparound grips on it. But, the more I handle it, the more I realize how sticky those grips are, plus, they fit my hand. It'll be interesting to see how it shoots.
It's an interesting pistol and I wish that it could tell me it's history. The slide is marked Property of US Army. I imagine that it was sold as surplus, probably sometime after WWII or Korea, and it was chromed shortly thereafter. It's an interesting piece and I hope that it shoots. I've never had a 1911 with a hard chrome job, and it might make a pretty barbecue gun.
6 comments:
We need to shoot our 3 1911's side-by-side, and do an accuracy comparison...
Yep, real 1911, not a 1911A1. And that 'is' an interesting chrome job!
PawPaw.
Sorry to comment off post but are you watching the situation with the Eastern Sport and Outdoors Show in Pennsylvania. Huge boycott by vendors and potential attendees due to organizer's ban on "black rifles" and all to do with them at show.
Jerry Harper
Mindoro, WI
PawPaw, does GEN. Patton's remark about pearl grips also apply to chome-plating on guns?
The provenance of ownership here may well have included a Field Supervisor from the French Quarter.
I'll take Hogue grips over Pachmayr any day of the week. They are a bit bulky, true, but they turn my Ruger Speed Six .357 from a hand-biter to something that's almost comfortable to shoot!
OOOh, I can feel the hammer bite from here.
Nice purchase though.
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