1911 Colt help needed

[drpaul87]

I recently picked up a 1911 Colt, serial 545***. From what I can gather, manufacture date later in 1918. Came with a 1917 dated holster. Now the sucky part...at some point someone nickle plated it. Looks to have WWII grips (plastic), HS marked barrel. Shoots VERY NICE as is. I am wondering if it is worth having redone to the original WWI finish, or leave it as is. Thank you for any info and input.unnamed (2).jpgunnamed (1).jpgunnamed.jpg

[Duane Hansen]

Rarely do you come out very good monetarily when you set about redoing a 1911 to this extent. The key being " a firearm is only original once" anything that is done to it at this point will cost lots of dough and will not raise the value very much at all. If it were mine, I would leave it as is and enjoy it for what it is. Just my opinion.

If I squint just right, it looks like the pistol has an "AA" stamped on the side of the frame which would indicate that the pistol had gone through the Augusta Arsenal" sometime around WWII for a rebuild. This would account for the Keyes plastic grip panels and the HS marked High Standard barrel.

[drpaul87]

Rarely do you come out very good monetarily when you set about redoing a 1911 to this extent. The key being " a firearm is only original once" anything that is done to it at this point will cost lots of dough and will not raise the value very much at all. If it were mine, I would leave it as is and enjoy it for what it is. Just my opinion.

If I squint just right, it looks like the pistol has an "AA" stamped on the side of the frame which would indicate that the pistol had gone through the Augusta Arsenal" sometime around WWII for a rebuild. This would account for the Keyes plastic grip panels and the HS marked High Standard barrel.

Yes, it does have the "a. a" for the rebuild. Thank you for the input..

[Johnny P]

I agree. An original type finish would be very expensive plus the original type parts needed, and in the end wouldn't be worth the money invested.