Early Commercial Colt 1911

[cxm]

Restoring a really early 1911 Commercial can be a challenge... one always worries about the ability of a person we trust to work on such an old and unusual gun...

I recently purchased an early commercial 1911 made I think, in 1912. It came with only two magazines, but the magazine it came with is one of the very early ones with the cut in the side. The other has a lanyard loop. I believe the first one is the correct original type.

The bad news here is it has been either nickeled or chromed at some point in it's life... The roll marks are thin but that may be a result of the chrome/nickel roughly applied. It is possible just removing the plating will solve the problem of thin roll marks... but they also may need re-cutting.

I would appreciate any advice y'all might offer on having the gun restored. I talked to Turnbull who quoted about $4,500 to $6,000 (send it in for firm quote) and quite a long delay. I understand the delay, but the price is about what I'd pay to buy such a gun in original condition... so more than I want to pay. It may be they believe it best to quote high and then come in lower... Having not used Turnbull I don't know...

The plus to Turnbull's is they have the correct roll marks for the old Colts... other outfits have to have the marks re-cut by an engraver...which can look good too but takes some little skill.

So I thought I'd ask... does anyone have any suggestions on others who are known to do quality restoration beyond Turnbull...

I have been told Fords does good work... (and they have the advantage of being near me) Has anyone tried them?

Thanks in advance...

V/r

Chuck
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[tark]

For 4-6000 you can get a very nice original 1911, I see them all the time at RIA Auction co. And being original, it will be worth more than the restored gun. . But if restoration is your decision, Turnbull is about as good as they get.

Just expensive. I know that RIA has Turnbull do a lot of their restorations, and they are spectacular.

Sorry I cant be of more help.

 

[Tirod]

It's like restoring a car - the better choice is the least modified and altered. A gun that's been chromed in the old fashioned way was likely run on a buffer for an extensive amount of time for polishing, then nickeled first, lastly chromed. Removing the plating isn't as hard as accepting what is left underneath. Those shallow roll marks won't be as deep because the surface was probably buffed down "improving" the finish.

There's no fixing that other than the painstaking reengraving. What you have is a 1911 that's been run thru the Kustom Kar mill and now you are left with it in a highly altered surface state trying to get it back. It's your money but it's not going to be an project you can economically recover costs on. It's quite literally the opposite of an old barn find - but equally as difficult to restore because of all the lipstick applied.

For $6,000 I'd be trolling Gunbroker for a more original gun and just shoot the one you have. That would be a win win - you get to own and have the one gun, you get to find and buy the other which may take as long as it would to restore the one you have. You enjoy the one and eventually own the better gun which would me much more original all said and done.

Old guns in original condition are what bring the price up - you can literally see and know it's the same as the factory finish made 100 years ago. At least, by provenance and evidence of such, as there are a host of fakers out there. Sometimes a gun is just "too good." Buyer beware.

 

[DDDWho]

I bought this old warhorse from a woman friend who's late husband brought it back from WW2. The last thing I would ever do is have an original reconditioned regardless of its condition. This one however had an old restoration with a few rust spots and scratches. I figured as long as I'm going to live with a reconditioned gun its going to be as pristine as I can make it. I had it bead blasted and re-blacked. The serial number tells me it was made in 1918 (a reissue no doubt). I gave her $1K for it and the refinish was another $1C. Its an excellent shooter with a great trigger

 

[bannockburn]

cxm

I had an old Springfield Model 1898 that an old friend of my Dad gave me. It had been refinished in bright chrome and used for years as a parade/drill rifle by one of the local veteran's organizations. I decided to refinish it myself and started by stripping off the chrome plating by soaking it in Hoppe's No.9 gun cleaning solvent. It worked great at removing the copper plating that was applied to the metal before the chrome plating was put on top of it. There was only one spot on the receiver where the plating was too thick to come off with the Hoppe's so I sent it out to a gun shop that could deplate it and refinish it too. Turned out pretty decent after I refinished the wood stock and handguard and got it all back together.