Posted: 11/15/2010 2:30:15 PM EDT
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I have a renewed interest in 1911's. A few months ago I bought a new stainless "Rail Gun," and this weekend I bought a minty blue Series 70 at the Wannamacher show in Oklahoma. I'm truly finding them a joy to shoot. Here's my question:
I know that our service men carried 1911's from about 1913 until the mid 1980's or so. So, what were our officers carrying in say, 1978.....the year my new pistol was made. Were they parkerized? Did they have a collet bushing like mine. Are there a bunch of 1960's, 1970's, and 1980's military 1911's out there somewhere? Surely they weren't carrying the nice shiny blued Colts like I just bought. Any information would be appreciated. |
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Officers carried the same 1911a1 as everyone else. I'm sorry....I wasn't clear. I didn't mean to ask about a distinction between an officer and an enlisted man. Whatever any GI would have carried / been issued in the 1970's......is / was it available commercially? Did Colt sell 1911a1's commercially during that time? The reason I ask is that I do not see them for sale. I see old series 70's....series 80's etc. Did Colt make something different for our soldiers that what we can / could have bought commercially? I know that there are some new repros being made now, but what about 10, 20, 30 years ago? |
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Officers carried the same 1911a1 as everyone else. I'm sorry....I wasn't clear. I didn't mean to ask about a distinction between an officer and an enlisted man. Whatever any GI would have carried / been issued in the 1970's......is / was it available commercially? Did Colt sell 1911a1's commercially during that time? The reason I ask is that I do not see them for sale. I see old series 70's....series 80's etc. Did Colt make something different for our soldiers that what we can / could have bought commercially? I know that there are some new repros being made now, but what about 10, 20, 30 years ago? Yes, Colt sold a "Government" model that, other then the finish, was basically a 1911A1, They then went to the series 80 that had a firing pin safety. Remember, the last GI 1911A1 made was in 1945 or so, since then, the Military just used what had already been made. As far as the series 80s, the 1991 model would have been the closest to the GI one. It originally came with a parked finish but was changed to a blue after a short time. It was not polished out before bluing like the higher end ones so a few bucks were saved. |
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the usgi 1911s were the same ones used in WWII they may have gone through arsenal rebuilds to keep them functional so you might find an all matching colt or you find a colt/ithaca uss/rem rand etc. for the most part, they were parkerized. there were a few years where they were blued, but probably didnt remain blue if they were in service until the 60s/70s as for the commercial side you had the post wwiis then the 50s-60s models then the 70 series pistols then 80 series then current production |
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Okay....these two posts put it together for me. I appreciate the information. Now I understand what I see for sale. I didnt realize that they were basically just refurbishing since 1945. Very interesting, thank you. Thats why real GI one's are getting harder and harder to find. They are out there but while they used to go for a few hundred bucks all day long, even a grungy one will get pretty decent money as long as it was not "civilianized" and buggered up. |
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I didnt realize that they were basically just refurbishing since 1945. Hell, when you consider the MEUSOC, they still are today. They were carried often by MPs in the late eighties and early 90s when I was in Europe. My CO had one, too. I carried one until 1985 when I got out. It was loose and rattly but always went bang and I never had a problem with qualifying with it. |