This is how all original M1911A1 barrels looked: You can see matte finish on this original US&S with the smooth barrel hood showing threw the injection port. The barrels however WERE NOT sand blasted, and you can see the difference in appearance on strong condition original pistols threw the ejection port. This is often referred to as the 'du-lite' finish by collectors. A search of the forum will provide a lot more info on these books, they will give you a good starting point.Įarly Remington Rands, early Ithaca's, and all US&S M1911A1's were lightly sand blasted and blued to be given a 'matte' appearance prior to parkerizing becoming the standard military finish for WWII production. If you can't find a copy of Clawson's small book, I've heard Joe Poyer's publication is pretty decent and still available. If you're interested in learning more about original 1911's there's a lot of good books on the market these days, I would try to find a used copy of Clawson's small collectors guide to M1911 and M1911A1's. The top barrel you posted is definitely re-finished without any doubt. This is a long accepted basic fact about period 1911 barrels. No original 1911, M1911, or M1911A1 barrels were factory bead-blasted or given a 'matte' appearance. Hooray for the Colts, Remington Rands, Ithaca's, and other company's who built a pistol that defines reliability, power, accuracy, and the personality of the nation who designed, improved, and provided it's soldiers and citizens with a weapon that says 'America' whether they are in a safe, holster, or competition. Thank God Colt built it, and other company's produced enough of them that even after more than 70 years anyone owning one of them can be recognized as a shooter of discriminating, appreciative, and patriotic values. Modern may be better, more reliable, better engineered, and less expensive.īut no other pistol will have been carried in FOUR wars, brought back from wars by Grandad's and Grandfather's, passed down from father to son, to grandson, and great-grandson, and be recognized by any collector, enthusiast, shooter, or historian as being the definition of military sidearm. I have fired other pistols for thousands of rounds, and despite shooting them more, I like them less. They are fantastic looking pistols, a joy to shoot, and exciting to handle. I own several pistols and only two of them are WWII M1911A1's, yet they are my favorites despite rarely shooting them, and NEVER carrying them. Why knock anyone who has decided to spend their money on 'THE' pistol of the last two centuries? The 1911A1, and it's fans have taken a whipping for years, since many new shooters have arrived and accepted the GLOCKS, and other plastic guns. Family lore has it that it was mostly over and he mainly remembered the French girls.Isn't the fact that this man owns a WWII M1911A1 enough? Only time he left the farm - was in the 81st 'Wildcat Division' and hied forth to France to fight the Kaiser, 1917. The US Army WWI 'Doughboy' tunic was my maternal Grandfather's. The S/N of the Colt dates it to a manufacture date of 1917. I acquired several rounds of military ball ammo marked 'FA 17'. SIL gave me the pistol and several old mags, some of which have the lanyard loop.

Very little of the original blued finish left. The pistol has been all over the world, and looks it. He went on to be a Navy lifer, retiring as an officer in the 1960's. He was blown off the deck and kept swimming until he could clear the burning oil/diesel on the top of the water. The Colt was being worn by my SIL's Dad, who was a Ensign on the USS West Virginia at Pearl Harbor on the morning of Dec. This Colt 1911 is in a shadowbox I put together some years back.the pistol and the WWI tunic are only related by year, really - 1917.

1943 remington rand 1911a1