Posted: 4/22/2012 9:26:29 PM EDT
I just got my inheritance from my stepmother. It was my father's Colt MK IV Series '70 Government that he used for competition.He passed away last year from colon cancer. I don't know much about the 1911's. I took these pics just after picking it up from my FFL. It looks to be in great condition except for being very dirty and some tiny rust spots on the frame. I haven"t seen my father since I was 8, but I remember him being extremely anal about cleaning his guns so I think someone else has been shooting it since his death early 2011. The only bad thing I've noticed is some DYI stippling on the front of the trigger guard and on the front of the magwell area that is under the pachymar wrap around grips. I'll post some more pics after cleaning and polishing. If anyone has info about this model please let me know.
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| If you wish to know more about 1911s in general, there are two writers you should read: Kunhausen and Hallock. I've read both of their manuals and they are quite good. Hallock was the first I read, and he gives an excellent description of how the 1911 works and how to do basic gunsmithing. Hallock's book is out of print but can be found online. |
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I'm debating on either taking it to McBride's in Austin or sending it off to Colt to be gone over with a fine tooth comb and have it refinished. Any suggestions? Also, how much are these worth and what's this one worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated. dont do that man, leave it the way it is. its a nice looking gun and 1911's are hard to screw up once you get em running |
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I'm debating on either taking it to McBride's in Austin or sending it off to Colt to be gone over with a fine tooth comb and have it refinished. Any suggestions? Also, how much are these worth and what's this one worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated. dont do that man, leave it the way it is. its a nice looking gun and 1911's are hard to screw up once you get em running What I'm concerned about is making sure it's safe. This will be my oldest daughter's when I finally head to the gun range in the sky, LoL. This will be a family heirloom and I want to be sure it will shoot for several generations. |
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If you wish to know more about 1911s in general, there are two writers you should read: Kunhausen and Hallock. I've read both of their manuals and they are quite good. Hallock was the first I read, and he gives an excellent description of how the 1911 works and how to do basic gunsmithing. Hallock's book is out of print but can be found online. Thanks for the info Frank! I'll hunt the books down ASAP. |
| It has clearly be extensively modified from it's original factory condition so mods or refinish will not make any difference value wise. With all the mods the value is primarily sentimental to you. Sending it in to a good smith for a tune up and maybe some parts fitting changes would be a good idea |
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Here is a quick rundown of a few safety/function checks
http://www.coolgunsite.com/funcheck/function.htm |
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Here is a quick rundown of a few safety/function checks http://www.coolgunsite.com/funcheck/function.htm Thanks for the link, great info! I did shoot one at the range while I was the Navy, but that was 20 years ago. I do own several pistols but this is my first 1911. |
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I'm debating on either taking it to McBride's in Austin or sending it off to Colt to be gone over with a fine tooth comb and have it refinished. Any suggestions? Also, how much are these worth and what's this one worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Don't take anything to McBrides if you value it. |
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I'm debating on either taking it to McBride's in Austin or sending it off to Colt to be gone over with a fine tooth comb and have it refinished. Any suggestions? Also, how much are these worth and what's this one worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Don't take anything to McBrides if you value it. Really? I've never heard anything but good things about them... I've never taken anything there yet. What happened? |
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McBrides is where I bought my first and favorite Series 70 back in the 70's. Paid $434.00 for it NIB. McBrides back what they sell/service. Their smiths are good general gunsmiths but not 'pistolsmiths' if you were to need anythng more 1911 specific, not that you need it.
BTW, that gun shows all the earmarks of a latter 70's era Colt down to the oversize mag release button, Swenson ambi thumbsafety, Commander style hammer and Clark grip safety. That last combination was used for two, three years including by me until Brown came out with the recessed hammer groove. Whether you keep it as is or update it you've got a real treasure there. |
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McBrides is where I bought my first and favorite Series 70 back in the 70's. Paid $434.00 for it NIB. McBrides back what they sell/service. Their smiths are good general gunsmiths but not 'pistolsmiths' if you were to need anythng more 1911 specific, not that you need it. BTW, that gun shows all the hallmarks of a latter 70's era Colt down to the Commander style hammer and Clark grip safety. That combination was used for two, three years including by me until Brown came out with the recessed hammer groove. Whether you keep it as is or update it you've got a real treasure there. I plan on keeping it as original as possible. I may change out the grips for some of the wood wrap arounds. This will be a family heirloom and not a weekly shooter. Not to say it will be a safe queen, but It will be a once in awhile range pistol. Thanks alias for the comments :) |
| You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. |
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You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. What value would you put on this? Not selling it but just curious. I also need to add it to my insurance policy. |
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McBrides is where I bought my first and favorite Series 70 back in the 70's. Paid $434.00 for it NIB. McBrides back what they sell/service. Their smiths are good general gunsmiths but not 'pistolsmiths' if you were to need anythng more 1911 specific, not that you need it. BTW, that gun shows all the hallmarks of a latter 70's era Colt down to the Commander style hammer and Clark grip safety. That combination was used for two, three years including by me until Brown came out with the recessed hammer groove. Whether you keep it as is or update it you've got a real treasure there. I plan on keeping it as original as possible. I may change out the grips for some of the wood wrap arounds. This will be a family heirloom and not a weekly shooter. Not to say it will be a safe queen, but It will be a once in awhile range pistol. Thanks alias for the comments :) You might find you like shooting it . You mention your daughter , As a pistol instructor I have found quite a few women like the 1911s as the single stack grip works better for smaller hands than many of the double stacks. I believe the extra weight of the all steel goodness and the nature of the 45 cartridge gives you a big slow shove instead of the sharp snap of a 40 S&W or a 9. Full house 45acp can be a bit more than many inexperienced shooters are comfortable with but a mild target load with a 200gr lead bullet can be lots of fun. My point is you might find yourself running lots of loads through it in years to come , the family connection is a plus . Great gun . As others have said , once a 1911 has been tuned up and running is well they tend to just keep chugging along for ever . Mags get beat up (mostly by dropping) and the recoil spring should get replaced now and then. Seems like the numbers for the recoil spring I recall are 3000 rounds of ball or full factory and 5 or 6000 rounds of lighter target loads. I also agree that other than a safety check there is no reason to change the gun from how your father had it configured . If you want a brand new looking Colt ,go buy one , don't try and make this one into new gun |
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[/quote] I also agree that other than a safety check there is no reason to change the gun from how your father had it configured . If you want a brand new looking Colt ,go buy one , don't try and make this one into new gun [/quote] That's exactly what I was thinking. I thought about getting the bluing fixed on the slide from holster wear but I'm feeling like it just adds to it's character and will leave it as it is. |
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I'm debating on either taking it to McBride's in Austin or sending it off to Colt to be gone over with a fine tooth comb and have it refinished. Any suggestions? Also, how much are these worth and what's this one worth? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Don't take anything to McBrides if you value it. This. Their gunsmiths are sloppy and there's too much general good-ole-boyness about their attitude toward customers. Maybe it's just me, though. I am a little on the brown side. 
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You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. What value would you put on this? Not selling it but just curious. I also need to add it to my insurance policy. Now that it's been modded it's not going to bring what it'd be worth stock, as I'm sure you know, but the fact it's an original Series 70 it would still fetch some good money. If you tried to find another one I'd be surprised if you could, even used, modded for less than a k. I wonder if he had a reliabilty job done and if it's got a Commander ejector in place of the Gov. ejector, something else a lot of people did then. |
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You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. What value would you put on this? Not selling it but just curious. I also need to add it to my insurance policy. Now that it's been modded it's not going to bring what it'd be worth stock, as I'm sure you know, but the fact it's an original Series 70 it would still fetch some good money. If you tried to find another one I'd be surprised if you could, even used, modded for less than a k. I wonder if he had a reliabilty job done and if it's got a Commander ejector in place of the Gov. ejector, something else a lot of people did then. I'll post pics of the ejector. How would I determine if its had a reliability job? |
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You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. What value would you put on this? Not selling it but just curious. I also need to add it to my insurance policy. Now that it's been modded it's not going to bring what it'd be worth stock, as I'm sure you know, but the fact it's an original Series 70 it would still fetch some good money. If you tried to find another one I'd be surprised if you could, even used, modded for less than a k. I wonder if he had a reliabilty job done and if it's got a Commander ejector in place of the Gov. ejector, something else a lot of people did then. Here's pics of the ejector and firing pin. 
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nice pistol sir
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You're welcome. Looking at that gun I can pretty much do a forensic tracking on when he built it because stuff was evolving so fast back then in the IPSC crowd and I can pinpoint it. Even the fact he stippled the front of the guard shows me when he was shooting because people were using the finger on the trigger guard grip then like Mickey Fowler and Ross Seifried. Some customoized frames even had a finger hook welded into them. I still use that grip. What value would you put on this? Not selling it but just curious. I also need to add it to my insurance policy. Now that it's been modded it's not going to bring what it'd be worth stock, as I'm sure you know, but the fact it's an original Series 70 it would still fetch some good money. If you tried to find another one I'd be surprised if you could, even used, modded for less than a k. I wonder if he had a reliabilty job done and if it's got a Commander ejector in place of the Gov. ejector, something else a lot of people did then. I'll post pics of the ejector. How would I determine if its had a reliability job? It's very subtle little things including a deburring of the inside contact areas; buffing the breech face, adjusting the extractor and maybe recutting the hook, opening the barrel throat, taking a little off and smoothing the bottom of the firing pin stop where it rides over the hammer, polishing the MSH spring tunnel, slicking up the rails and maybe tightening the slide to frame plus other tweaks and tricks I can longer recall as it's been twenty five years since it was done on mine. All these little things add up so when you get the gun back it cycles way more smoothly instead of a gritty recoil of springs and parts moving over unbuffed surfaces that you didn't realize until you shoot it again. It may take the expert eye of a good 1911 smith looking at it to determine this. |
| I'm curious what that rear sight is. People begin that era using S&W revolver and other adjustable sights from other models until Bo Mar adjustable and Millet fixed rear sights were predominant on 1911 combat competition guns. It may show he started or built that gun in 76, 77 at the very onset of the IPSC / 1911 boom, which continues today. |
| The barrel bushing compensator won't help reduce recoil because the bullet outlet on a compensator has to be just a little more than the bullet diameter to trap gas and force it out the ports. The type on this gun were installed for looks only. That's fine if you like the way it looks, but since they usually were a "drop-in" part, you can probably improve accuracy by having a good smith properly fit a new barrel bushing. Great gun, though, something everyone should have. |
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I'm curious what that rear sight is. People begin that era using S&W revolver and other adjustable sights from other models until Bo Mar adjustable and Millet fixed rear sights were predominant on 1911 combat competition guns. It may show he started or built that gun in 76, 77 at the very onset of the IPSC / 1911 boom, which continues today. From what I can tell it looks like it says "Micro" in a cursive type script. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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The barrel bushing compensator won't help reduce recoil because the bullet outlet on a compensator has to be just a little more than the bullet diameter to trap gas and force it out the ports. The type on this gun were installed for looks only. That's fine if you like the way it looks, but since they usually were a "drop-in" part, you can probably improve accuracy by having a good smith properly fit a new barrel bushing. Great gun, though, something everyone should have. That's what I figured too. I've decided to leave it the way it was handed down to me. I guess its some 70's era "bling", lol. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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I'm curious what that rear sight is. People begin that era using S&W revolver and other adjustable sights from other models until Bo Mar adjustable and Millet fixed rear sights were predominant on 1911 combat competition guns. It may show he started or built that gun in 76, 77 at the very onset of the IPSC / 1911 boom, which continues today. From what I can tell it looks like it says "Micro" in a cursive type script. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile Thats what I was thinking as it looks like the Micro on my Colt .22 Conversion. |