Please bear with me here, as "My mind is a raging torrent, flooded with rivulets of thought cascading into a waterfall of creative alternatives. "
My dad's 65th is about half a month away, and all of us kids are trying to do something special. A local shop has a 1956 Colt Commercial 1911, LNIB with original box, bill of sale, manual, etc. They want $1000, but the price isn't really an issue, especially compared to how much it takes to raise a hard headed son. Anyway, the gun is probably the most gorgeous firearm I've ever seen, it appears to be unfired, with no discernible wear anywhere. The bluing is like nothing I've seen, its amazing. I obviously don't have much experience with guns from this area, and I've been missing out. The box and stuff are in pretty good shape for being 50 years old.
About the Man: My dad was an Army Reserve Sgt. just before Vietnam and taught pistol and rifle shooting evidently. His father spent 3 years as a Col. in the Philippines with his issued 1911 (and earned a Bronze Star while there), so the platform has great sentimental value to us. Dad has a nice collection of shooters of all types, but only a few really really nice guns, mostly shotguns. He has a Norinco 1911 that is his tinker toy, and a G21 to pound nails with.
This gift would be a safe queen (if he wanted), a really really nice piece that would hopefully mean something coming from me. While I'm pretty much a typical 24 year old, $1000 is a lot of money. I can shuffle a few things around and have the money to buy it and still pay expenses, and like I said, the price isn't the issue, its worth it to me; I don't really care about a few dollars over or under the “true value” if the gun is what I want for him. My main concern is how does one tell this piece is pretty much original? The condition fools me for sure, but if I'm spending the equivalent of more than a months rent on a 1911 for my dad for this purpose, I don't really want some cobbled together mutt. What can I look for to insure its what I want? Are there any sort of markings on the slide and frame that match or something like that? While the shop is reputable and friendly, I don't want to rely on them to tell me what I want to hear to make the sale.
Thanks for plodding through this, if you haven't figured it out by now this is a very emotional decision for me, so any thoughts, advice, or info you could share would be greatly appreciated. I have indeed searched here and on the 1911 forums, but I honestly feel more comfortable asking High Roaders.
My dad's 65th is about half a month away, and all of us kids are trying to do something special. A local shop has a 1956 Colt Commercial 1911, LNIB with original box, bill of sale, manual, etc. They want $1000, but the price isn't really an issue, especially compared to how much it takes to raise a hard headed son. Anyway, the gun is probably the most gorgeous firearm I've ever seen, it appears to be unfired, with no discernible wear anywhere. The bluing is like nothing I've seen, its amazing. I obviously don't have much experience with guns from this area, and I've been missing out. The box and stuff are in pretty good shape for being 50 years old.
About the Man: My dad was an Army Reserve Sgt. just before Vietnam and taught pistol and rifle shooting evidently. His father spent 3 years as a Col. in the Philippines with his issued 1911 (and earned a Bronze Star while there), so the platform has great sentimental value to us. Dad has a nice collection of shooters of all types, but only a few really really nice guns, mostly shotguns. He has a Norinco 1911 that is his tinker toy, and a G21 to pound nails with.
This gift would be a safe queen (if he wanted), a really really nice piece that would hopefully mean something coming from me. While I'm pretty much a typical 24 year old, $1000 is a lot of money. I can shuffle a few things around and have the money to buy it and still pay expenses, and like I said, the price isn't the issue, its worth it to me; I don't really care about a few dollars over or under the “true value” if the gun is what I want for him. My main concern is how does one tell this piece is pretty much original? The condition fools me for sure, but if I'm spending the equivalent of more than a months rent on a 1911 for my dad for this purpose, I don't really want some cobbled together mutt. What can I look for to insure its what I want? Are there any sort of markings on the slide and frame that match or something like that? While the shop is reputable and friendly, I don't want to rely on them to tell me what I want to hear to make the sale.
Thanks for plodding through this, if you haven't figured it out by now this is a very emotional decision for me, so any thoughts, advice, or info you could share would be greatly appreciated. I have indeed searched here and on the 1911 forums, but I honestly feel more comfortable asking High Roaders.
