1911 advice

[guns ltd]

I would buy the springfield if I was going to shoot it. I would not trade your m1 carbine. It is worth more than the Springfield. If you are looking for a collector grade 1911 or 1911A1 I would look at prices on Gun broker. With that said. You need to look at what they brought. on the going, going, gone tab. This will show you what the "sold price" is. NOT what the asking price is. This will let you kinda know what the market will stand as far as prices are here in the USA. Norinco 1911's are made in China. ( No Longer Imported). Some are good and some are not. Auto Ordnance was made by Numrich Gun parts Corp at one time from whatever parts they could find around the world. Now Auto Ordnance is it's own company. Don't know much about their quality now. I don't sell them.
Well that is my opinion .

John

[battle gear]

another reason why I would choose the Springfield Armory, is because they are made the old fashioned way out of high quality forged steel by IMBEL in Brazil, they are a well known military arms manufacturer and also manufacture the famous FN / FAL military rifles and more

the Auto Ordnance is made from lower quality cast materials, not as authentic and not as durable

Springfield Armory is made of better steel in my opinion, I have over 8,000 rds through one of mine and it's still tight and shows little wear

[Doppelgänger]

There's also one made in Turkey (don't remember the brand) that looks pretty good and had some favorable favorable reviews by a couple local guys.

[AZPhil]

I have the US MADE Remington 1911 R1. I have several hundred round thru it and it eat everything I feed it(JHP,Ball).I have had zero problems with it and It was $735 out the door.
It does have the WW1 look and it shoots great!

[Josh Smith]

Hello,

I would also advise either the Springfield or Rock Island versions.

My personal preference would be (and is!) a Rock Island. Made in the Philippines, I just feel that they have more right to manufacture the 1911 than any other, save the United States. After all... they're the reason we went back to the .45 caliber and the ultimately the decision to adopt a semi-auto in .45!

Regards,

Josh

[Doppelgänger]

Here's a couple old pics. 1943 Ithaca 1911A1 US Property. Interesting history, the Ithaca. I think it was the 1st WWII non Colt contract, and certainly the only one awarded to another already established firearms maker, Ithaca, with a longstanding tradition of very fine shotguns. It was a large contract as can be expected, and Ithaca couldn't quite meet the demand, so Colt supplied some batches of frames early on, starting in 1943. What's interesting here is that some of the frame were WWI frames, which can be verified by heart shaped upper and lower cutouts under the grips. Some fresh WWII frames were sent as well, with Colt very much at the top of their game, these frames are exquisitely beautiful, IMHO. The actual Ithaca frames are noticeable on account of their somewhat crude appearance (at least compared to Colt manufacture), especially for their "misshapen trigger guards".

This is a Colt supplied frame (again has to be in the right serial # range) 1943 Ithaca 1911A1, original down to the last small part. It may have also seen use in Vietnam. The history is a little murky, but I got it from a Vietnam vet with a serious drinking problem who may have very well picked it up while there, that wasn't made totally clear. Interestingly, the grips had been dyed or painted black at one time (all of the WWII 1911 holsters that were put back into service for Vietnam were dyed black), most of it had worn off, but is was still visible in the checkering and I got rid of the rest of it simply by scraping it out with a common toothpick. I had no idea why it was there at the time, nor do I miss it.

Here it is in a M-1910 1942 dated Boyt holster, as well as '42 dated belt and double mag pouch, with three original mags. The mag that came with it was a Scovil (S), I don't remember what the other two are. These days, it lives in a 1942 Sears holster that was dyed black after the war, part of my Vietnam grouping. Beautiful holster, a very rich dark black brown, most of these holsters are seriously looked down on by collectors, making them very affordable ;-) I've even had a WWI holster that had been dyed black for Vietnam, a lot of history there...

One last thing about Ithaca, which some of you might have noticed have just recently got into the 1911 business, banking on their history with the pistol (not sure that this is even the original company?). After the war, even though they were tooled to keep making the .45ACP, they never made another 1911. They just quietly went back to making fine shotguns.

[AmericanKraut]

Thanks all, for your advice I am leaning towards the Springfield, but If I find an original between now and April for under a grand....

[Doppelgänger]

I hope you can wheedle your way into a real one somehow, by luck and enough wishing... you'd never regret it. Whereas the Springfield might lose some value, especially if you buy it new, the WWII 1911 will just gain in value. I almost got rid of mine once in some trade deal and (thankfully the other guy was more of a WWI collector and turning his nose up at it...) I think my lucky stars that I didn't. These pieces of history are just getting harder to come by, so the sooner you get one, the better. Other, later pieces will be just fine of course, but you're not holding that amazing piece of history in your hands...

[AmericanKraut]

COLT 1911A1 1930 Original - Best Grade
What do you gents think of these...

[AZPhil]

It's a Colt!!!!! and from a distance it would look great in any WW2 setup. How much more if you get the refinished one????