Inherited my Great Grandfather's 1911 from WWI

Machodoc · Dec 28, 2014

The final ordnance dept. inspection was done by John M. Gilbert. Most of the wear on that one appears to have been from the holster it was carried in.

(P.S. - Grandma likes you best!)

engineerbrian · Dec 28, 2014

WOW!

nobis1 · Dec 28, 2014

That is an amazing gift. Keep it safe a pass it on.

KH195 · Dec 28, 2014

Machodoc said:
The final ordnance dept. inspection was done by John M. Gilbert.
(Grandma likes you best!)

Haha she actually did it in a very fair manner, everyone interested in having one of the guns picked a number from a hat that corresponded to numbers already assigned to the guns. I was just very fortunate to get this one! The nice thing though is that everyone in my family appreciates the history they all represent so they will all definitely stay in the family for generations to come.

Maxsplat · Dec 28, 2014

I always love it when you get the history and/or know more about a piece than "carried in WWII". The fact that you are related to the person that carried it makes that one extra special in my book. Congrats on the 1911!

wreckdiver · Dec 28, 2014

Best Christmas gift ever. Glad to see history like that staying in the family. My father in law gave away the musket that his relative fought with in the Civil War. Luckily he gave me me his old service revolver so all history wasn't lost.

KH195 · Dec 28, 2014

Machodoc said:
The final ordnance dept. inspection was done by John M. Gilbert. Most of the wear on that one appears to have been from the holster it was carried in.

(P.S. - Grandma likes you best!)

Yeah the wear is most likely from the holster, it's lived in the original holster since the War. I'll add a pic of it, not much left but it's the original

Alphabrew · Dec 28, 2014

Wow, that's amazing gift!

somd_mustangs · Dec 28, 2014

Awesome, I know you were hoping to get it someday but now you can preserve it properly (and not leave it in the holster).

1) This was originally shipped to Springfield Armory April 10, 1918 (Goddard appendix)
(shipment was for S/N's 265601-270000)
2) Yes that's the correct barrel (P over H on the hood).
3) as mentioned this pre-dates the so-called "Black Army" and would have a brushed blue finish
4) A Colt letter probably won't tell you any more than that

Jimbob2.0 · Dec 28, 2014

Super envious, I know my Grandfather's service pistol ended up missing from his estate. Probably sold, traded, suckered out of.

Treasure that piece.

KH195 · Dec 28, 2014

somd_mustangs said:
Awesome, I know you were hoping to get it someday but now you can preserve it properly (and not leave it in the holster).

1) This was originally shipped to Springfield Armory April 10, 1918 (Goddard appendix)
(shipment was for S/N's 265601-270000)
2) Yes that's the correct barrel (P over H on the hood).
3) as mentioned this pre-dates the so-called "Black Army" and would have a brushed blue finish
4) A Colt letter probably won't tell you any more than that

Fantastic! THANK YOU!

BlackBart · Dec 28, 2014

OMG........... COOL! :thumbsup:

Oh yeah, Id shoot it!

Trbo6gn · Dec 28, 2014

That's beautiful. My grandfather told me he could have brought his 1911 home from the war said "he didn't really need it". I couldn't help but bang my head against the wall when i heard that lol.

somd_mustangs · Dec 28, 2014

KH195 said:
Fantastic! THANK YOU!

You're welcome!

There were some "outlier" guns that shipped separately in this time frame for testing, etc so it might still be worth a letter on it.

KH195 · Dec 28, 2014

Here's the holster, as you can see it's taken the majority of the abuse over the years! Maker marked "Boyt". I'm just glad there isn't horrible pitting, etc from living in a holster for so many years.

INMY01TA · Dec 28, 2014

Damn that's nice!

somd_mustangs · Dec 28, 2014

KH195 said:
Here's the holster, as you can see it's taken the majority of the abuse over the years! Maker marked "Boyt". I'm just glad there isn't horrible pitting, etc from living in a holster for so many years.

Yeesh, glad the gun came out of it ok. It looks like the dust cover and front of slide took some holster rash but overall it's in remarkable shape.
Plus, it's all correct and you have the history to go with it.
Hopefully the bore is nice ?

yellowsled · Dec 28, 2014

Wow... Im speechless... CONGRATS!!

KH195 · Dec 28, 2014

somd_mustangs said:
Yeesh, glad the gun came out of it ok. It looks like the dust cover and front of slide took some holster rash but overall it's in remarkable shape.
Plus, it's all correct and you have the history to go with it.
Hopefully the bore is nice ?

Bore is so-so....not spectacular but could be worse. It was caked in crud, looked like it was shot a good bit and put away for good without a cleaning. Looks like there may be a few small patches of very light pitting near the chamber but I'm still working on it.

brownspotz · Dec 28, 2014

wow just wow! that is beautiful.

Inherited my Great Grandfather's 1911 from WWI

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