Colt M1911 39070

[George in NH]

Hi All,
Wish I could get to jouster more often but "life events" have kept me away. Anyway, I managed to "rescue" Colt M1911 39070 yesterday. Gave up a really nice C96 "red handled nine"
Versailles Treaty pistol. May I request a SRS check on my find? Colt had a number of "take off" parts that were removed yesterday, Micro rear sight, Colt (to my eye) Commander hammer, someone's beaver tail grip safety, wrap around Pachmayr grips. Still to be removed a home made "full moon" front sight that is staked on. Any tips on removing that sight? Pistol has a "S" and "P" marked barrel (SA WWI replacement?). Rest of the pistol is all there, it has no grinding, welding, filing anywhere, thankfully for me. Forgot to add that it still wears a M1911A1 MSH that is missing the lanyard loop (of course!). The finish is a very dark matte bluish/black. All lettering is present and unaltered. No rebuild marks are present. Is a good guess that the pistol was refinished in a dark parkerizing and some M1911A1 parts were added? A little bad news is that the rear sight dovetail has been opened enough to let a "flat u" rear sight slide through from one side to the other. The pistol has some finish wear mostly where it rode in a holster and on the front grip below the trigger guard.
Having some 1911 parts on hand, I installed a "no border" hammer, worn wood grips without large diamond and a grip safety. Now I am thinking that because of the finish I should use M1911A1 parts instead of M1911? (I do not have a MSH in hand). Thoughts??Advice?? Sorry that I have not learned the camera/posting thing, I am sure that would help here.
Many thanks, in advance, to all that do respond. George in NH :)

[M1Garandy]

PM sent.

[Scott Gahimer]

If the serial number is original, the pistol is a 1913 Navy and was originally shipped to the New York Naval Supply Yard.

[stan4]

George,
It might not be important to you (because of the parkerizing), but, does your 1913 Navy have the correct slide?

[George in NH]

Hi All,
The slide on my pistol does not have the circle around the rampant Colt. I was hoping for more suggestions about using A1 parts instead of the correct 1911 parts for my "restore". I am tempted to use the A1 parts as the A1 MSH that came on the pistol has a wear pattern that looks to match the rest of the wear on the frame. Also, really good A1 parts should be easier to find/trade for than the correct early parts that I would need. Ideas/Thoughts?? TIA, George in NH

[George in NH]

Any ideas on how to remove the staked front sight from my slide? Since a former owner filed the rear sight dove tail on the slide (!) instead of the Micro itself, an original flat "u" rear sight slides in and out of the dove tail. Thoughts on correcting that place? Maybe JB Weld applied to the replacement rear sight and then filed? TIA, George in NH

[ignats]

Because the tenon on the front sight is peened over with a staking tool, some light grinding with a Dremel tool using a rounded burr is the accepted way to remove enough material to allow a drift to be used to drive it out. With regards to the rear sight dove tail, it depends on how much material the filer removed from the slide. Sometimes hitting the flat area of the dovetail with a punch will raise enough metal to hold the sight in place. This a common fix for a loose rear sight. I have seen copper shims used as well. These are not jobs for the beginner to try on his own. More can go wrong than right. Pay the money to have a pro do it right is my suggestion.