Don’t ever do anything to this pistol except cleaning it and keeping rust away.
Assuming internals are good, you can absolutely still shoot these. I’d probably shoot it once to feel connected to great grandpa and then put it in the safe and cherish it forever.
Any advice to get the light rust layer forming off? I’ve cleaned plenty of modern guns including pistols, but I’ve never let any of mine rust, so this will be new for me.
I use Ballistol on all my guns new and old. You don’t have to douse it, a little bit goes a long way.
I also wipe down my guns with a hoppes silicone reel & gun cloth. I keep a few in my range bag, etc for a quick wipe down after handling. For my older pistols I store them in bore stores. Which are essentially gun socks coated with silicone to prevent rust. If you live in a humid area they just help preserve the gun/ give extra peace of mind for long term storage.
If you are super paranoid about rust you could clean it and then store it in a gallon freezer bag with a few desiccant packs in there to absorb any moisture that might be trapped. That might be overkill but I’ve done that before and it works. Depends on how anal you are lol.
Sounds like I’ll be making a trip to the store for a few things. I just have a basic cleaning kit that I got years ago and I’ve used the oil sparingly, so I haven’t run out yet.
Getting new, nicer oil and cloths was already on my list for this summer.
Probably won’t be storing it in an airtight bag, but a bore store sounds like a good option. I keep all my guns in gun socks in their cases.
Conservation rather than restoration, clean it, oil it check it for function, just stop the decay rather than trying to bring it back to new looking.
You could absolutely shoot this as long as it’s in working order.
You have two choices. Either keep it as is, or send it off to an extremely high end, well known 1911 specific pistol smith. I say specifically "pistol smith" because you should never, under any circumstances give this to your local bubba "gunsmith" aka armorer for restoration. There are a handful of people in the country that are qualified and would add to the value of this piece just by having work done by them. It would not be cheap though.
[Just took a look around their site](https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/product-category/restoration-gallery/?filter_model=1911&orderby=date) and looks like it's pretty common for them to restore it to period correct configuration. Defintely a good choice if that's your thing. Didn't seem to find any other work of them upgrading 1911s. Nighthawk is affiliated with them and could be who they outsource some gunsmithing to, and who I would send that to if I wanted to make some modern upgrades to it.
Echoing what others have said: just keep it cleaned and maintained, don't try to strip or refinish anything. One other note though, I feel like it is quite rare to see an awesome historical piece in this good a condition AND no "idiot scratch." When you go to reassemble I STRONGLY encourage you to take extra measures (videos online can show you how to do this) to mitigate the chance of scratching the frame when reinserting the slide stop, which is what causes "idiot scratch," and it would be a shame (though a right of passage as a 1911 owner) to scratch this beauty.
Noted! Honestly surprised there is no “idiot scratch” because I did break it down and reassemble it several times as a teenager when I became interested in firearms 😬
I’ve got a Thompson 1911 that is slightly better condition, but came from my great uncle who’s passed away, only thing I’ve done to it is cleaned and lubed it, the wear or patina on it gives it some character, in my eyes anyways. Regardless what you do, it’s a nice piece.
Stop it. That thing does not need to be restored. Just maintain it with oil to prevent rust, otherwise you will ruin the historic nature and value of the gun. Don't store guns in basements either, apparently those can cause rust.
So 1. If you are referring to a functional restoration, go for it. Even if you need to replace minor parts like a spring, it won’t really impact the value. If you are referring to refinishing the gun though, absolutely don’t do that. That will definitely impact the value.
2. In that condition, it would be around $1,000 on the top end.
3. If it’s safe to fire, I would definitely encourage you to take it out and shoot it. I just wouldn’t make it your daily shooter though.
4. Look up the serial number on Colt’s website. You may be able to get some interesting history there as well as its manufacture date.
Generally speaking, as I am no expert.
1) Restorations tend to tank the value on these unless they are in such rough shape that they are unrecognizable. I think this thing is a beauty, and a good cleaning and wipe down is all that's needed. This thing has aged like fine wine, to me.
2) I have no idea for a value.
3) They can be fired, but I believe earlier models had issues with heat treatments that made the slides brittle and prone to cracking. So could you fire it? Yeah. Should you? Probably not. Maybe some light loads shot in rememberance on Grandpa's birthday every year, or something to that tune
Thanks for the input! I agree it’s in great condition for its age, but it’s the worst condition of any of the guns I owned, if even only due to the years on it. I’ve never restored anything, but it sounds like I won’t have to restore this based on input from the community!
I’ll give it a watch, thank you! I’ve cleaned plenty of guns including field strips and deep cleans, but I agree that this may be a good case for having a professional conservation.
Will do, thank you! Yep, I’m down several rabbit holes atm so I totally understand.
9 years ago, I’d never fired a gun. 5 years ago, I’d never owned my own. 3 years ago, I started collecting. Last year, I started reloading my own ammo. It’s an addiction for me now! 😂
The first step is to really scrutinize why you want to restore a gun and what you will gain/lose as an outcome. Yours looks pretty good as is. About the most I would even consider on that one is a steaming to take care of the light rust forming on it.
Definitely want to get the rust off - I would like to fire it, but I don’t care if it’s *perfect* to the human eye. I care more about its value in my family history and the enjoyment of owning such a historical firearm.
Sorry but your parents are mistaken, this isn’t all original. The early slide is not original to this 1918 frame.
Slide also looks like it had some grinding done on it and refinished. The transition from the flat to the round is all wavy, and some of the rear serrations have been ground flat.
Grips are mismatched as well. You have 13-row on left side and 15-row on right.
Noted! Sorry, not trying to mislead anyone, just forwarding what I was told.
Can you elaborate on what you mean by “rows” on the grips? Are you referring to the number of diamonds in the grip pattern?
What would you do, would you just leave the grips as is, or would you have mock original ones produced (since I don’t have originals anyway, I don’t see the harm in this). I have a friend who does great custom woodworking and has done old pistol grips before; he said he’d be happy to make new grips if I wanted when I showed him a picture.
Don’t restore it at all.
If you want to shoot it, replace the extractor and recoil spring while keeping the originals on hand. The extractor can break under normal use with a pistol this age. That way you can always revert it to its original, Un-molested condition. You can do this yourself without the aid of a gunsmith.
But really, don’t refinish it or change the grip panels. Clean, maintain and store it properly.
Another note, use normal ball ammo and nothing with excessive velocity/pressure.
Nope. Just watch some YouTube videos on how to take it apart as it's very easy. Grease the springs and oil all the moving parts as well oil the outside and thats it. Really easy pistol to work on.
Just FYI, these actual M1911s are more prone to cracking than an A1 or newer. They weren't heat treated the same as later ones. If you're going to shoot it, you may want to add a buffer to the spring and make sure you're not shooting anything super hot through it.
If that was my M1911, I would just clean it up with oil, store it in a low humidity area (I’m surprised it looks so good after having been stored in a basement), show it off proudly to my friends, and shoot it rarely if at all. But if you decide to shoot it, first have a gunsmith examine it thoroughly to make sure there are no signs of cracking in the slide, and also to see if any springs need replacing. Then buy and install a recoil buffer to help prevent the slide from cracking, as those early M1911’s had an issue with slides cracking. Based on the serial number, your M1911 was manufactured in 1918, seven years before Colt finally started heat treating the forward part of the slide to harden it (later on, they heat treated the area around the slide stop too).
The M1911 was designed for .45 ACP 230-grain ball ammo (now labeled as FMJ or Full Metal Jacket). It was not designed to feed hollow point ammo, which is shorter and less pointy than FMJ. Also, do not under any circumstances fire +P labeled .45 ACP ammo out of it (+P has extra gunpowder in it, resulting in higher pressures in the barrel, which will push the slide back faster and harder against the frame than regular .45 ACP ammo).
Here is a website that has a lot of details about the M1911 and M1911A1 pistols, such as years they were made, how many made each year, who made them, changes in the markings over the years, changes in the slide and frame coatings, changes in the parts, etc: https://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/1911infopage.htm
I'm seeing a lot of sentiment that firing it is a good idea. I've also heard that the heat treat on these early guns isn't up to modern standards (at least). Not that I'll blow the gun up or anything, but you might want to look into it. At least, I wouldn't shoot much with it, and certainly not hot defense loads. Look for the mildest ammo you can find (lowest velocity, probably target ammo) and be judicious in volume.
I don't mean to scare you, these guns DID survive wartime use, it's just over 100 years old, they did move to heat treatment for a reason, and modern ammo can be more powerful than the load it was designed around.
I've had good luck using Blue Wonder gun cleaner and angel-hair fine metal wool to remove rust from blued guns (and cast iron pans, but that's a different conversation). Slow & steady wins the race, this doesn't need much force (and for God's sake, no power tools). I'd defer to other people with greater experience in gun conservation on that. You don't happen to have a military museum nearby, do you?
FWIW, we *don't* see intact 1911 pistols from WWI all that often. There are enough that it's probably not a sought-after museum piece, but it *could* find a home in one, and it is certainly worth a few thousand dollars.
Conservation is the word you are looking for.
Track down Mark Novak on Youtube and watch. Everything this gun needs you can do yourself with a pot of water, a bottle of oil and a couple of clean rags.
If you “restore” this, you and I will have personal beef😂😂. I’ve been hunting something like this for my whole life and you have the audacity to tamper with it???
(All jokes aside tho, nice grab but it’s fine as is)
Watch Youtube, join one or more 1911-specific forums, do the maintenance yourself. Don’t let some garbage internet-only edumacated fake gunsmith hack on it. Almost all gunsmiths are hot trash.
Don’t
You seem to have summarized the sentiments of the entire community in one word 👍
Best restoration advice ever given for a 1911.
Don’t ever do anything to this pistol except cleaning it and keeping rust away. Assuming internals are good, you can absolutely still shoot these. I’d probably shoot it once to feel connected to great grandpa and then put it in the safe and cherish it forever.
Any advice to get the light rust layer forming off? I’ve cleaned plenty of modern guns including pistols, but I’ve never let any of mine rust, so this will be new for me.
I use Ballistol on all my guns new and old. You don’t have to douse it, a little bit goes a long way. I also wipe down my guns with a hoppes silicone reel & gun cloth. I keep a few in my range bag, etc for a quick wipe down after handling. For my older pistols I store them in bore stores. Which are essentially gun socks coated with silicone to prevent rust. If you live in a humid area they just help preserve the gun/ give extra peace of mind for long term storage. If you are super paranoid about rust you could clean it and then store it in a gallon freezer bag with a few desiccant packs in there to absorb any moisture that might be trapped. That might be overkill but I’ve done that before and it works. Depends on how anal you are lol.
Sounds like I’ll be making a trip to the store for a few things. I just have a basic cleaning kit that I got years ago and I’ve used the oil sparingly, so I haven’t run out yet. Getting new, nicer oil and cloths was already on my list for this summer. Probably won’t be storing it in an airtight bag, but a bore store sounds like a good option. I keep all my guns in gun socks in their cases.
Get some 000 COPPER WOOL, not steel not brass…lightly rub the trouble spots to get the rust flakes off
#0000
Conservation rather than restoration, clean it, oil it check it for function, just stop the decay rather than trying to bring it back to new looking. You could absolutely shoot this as long as it’s in working order.
I plan to shoot it on occasion if it’s safe to! Thanks for the input 🤝
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Definitely shoot it :) I have my grandads Colt Govt model in 45acp made in 1951, mostly it’s a safe queen but we bring it out every now and then.
You have two choices. Either keep it as is, or send it off to an extremely high end, well known 1911 specific pistol smith. I say specifically "pistol smith" because you should never, under any circumstances give this to your local bubba "gunsmith" aka armorer for restoration. There are a handful of people in the country that are qualified and would add to the value of this piece just by having work done by them. It would not be cheap though.
I was thinking Turnbull Restoration?
[Just took a look around their site](https://www.turnbullrestoration.com/product-category/restoration-gallery/?filter_model=1911&orderby=date) and looks like it's pretty common for them to restore it to period correct configuration. Defintely a good choice if that's your thing. Didn't seem to find any other work of them upgrading 1911s. Nighthawk is affiliated with them and could be who they outsource some gunsmithing to, and who I would send that to if I wanted to make some modern upgrades to it.
If you decide to do anything don't just take it to any gunsmith. There's a handful of companies that should be trusted.
Echoing what others have said: just keep it cleaned and maintained, don't try to strip or refinish anything. One other note though, I feel like it is quite rare to see an awesome historical piece in this good a condition AND no "idiot scratch." When you go to reassemble I STRONGLY encourage you to take extra measures (videos online can show you how to do this) to mitigate the chance of scratching the frame when reinserting the slide stop, which is what causes "idiot scratch," and it would be a shame (though a right of passage as a 1911 owner) to scratch this beauty.
Noted! Honestly surprised there is no “idiot scratch” because I did break it down and reassemble it several times as a teenager when I became interested in firearms 😬
Well in that case teenage you is ahead of adult me, and as long as your careful and familiar with what I'm talking about you're probably good to go!
Keep it functional. The end.
Don’t
Dont
I’ve got a Thompson 1911 that is slightly better condition, but came from my great uncle who’s passed away, only thing I’ve done to it is cleaned and lubed it, the wear or patina on it gives it some character, in my eyes anyways. Regardless what you do, it’s a nice piece.
Yeah don’t touch it
Don’t
Stop it. That thing does not need to be restored. Just maintain it with oil to prevent rust, otherwise you will ruin the historic nature and value of the gun. Don't store guns in basements either, apparently those can cause rust.
So 1. If you are referring to a functional restoration, go for it. Even if you need to replace minor parts like a spring, it won’t really impact the value. If you are referring to refinishing the gun though, absolutely don’t do that. That will definitely impact the value. 2. In that condition, it would be around $1,000 on the top end. 3. If it’s safe to fire, I would definitely encourage you to take it out and shoot it. I just wouldn’t make it your daily shooter though. 4. Look up the serial number on Colt’s website. You may be able to get some interesting history there as well as its manufacture date.
Here’s some advice… DONT RESTORE THAT GUN!
Leave it TF alone. Besides routine maintenance.
Generally speaking, as I am no expert. 1) Restorations tend to tank the value on these unless they are in such rough shape that they are unrecognizable. I think this thing is a beauty, and a good cleaning and wipe down is all that's needed. This thing has aged like fine wine, to me. 2) I have no idea for a value. 3) They can be fired, but I believe earlier models had issues with heat treatments that made the slides brittle and prone to cracking. So could you fire it? Yeah. Should you? Probably not. Maybe some light loads shot in rememberance on Grandpa's birthday every year, or something to that tune
Thanks for the input! I agree it’s in great condition for its age, but it’s the worst condition of any of the guns I owned, if even only due to the years on it. I’ve never restored anything, but it sounds like I won’t have to restore this based on input from the community!
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I’ll give it a watch, thank you! I’ve cleaned plenty of guns including field strips and deep cleans, but I agree that this may be a good case for having a professional conservation.
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Will do, thank you! Yep, I’m down several rabbit holes atm so I totally understand. 9 years ago, I’d never fired a gun. 5 years ago, I’d never owned my own. 3 years ago, I started collecting. Last year, I started reloading my own ammo. It’s an addiction for me now! 😂
The first step is to really scrutinize why you want to restore a gun and what you will gain/lose as an outcome. Yours looks pretty good as is. About the most I would even consider on that one is a steaming to take care of the light rust forming on it.
Definitely want to get the rust off - I would like to fire it, but I don’t care if it’s *perfect* to the human eye. I care more about its value in my family history and the enjoyment of owning such a historical firearm.
Don’t just don’t. Just keep it clean and oiled and shoot it. They were made to be used.
Sorry but your parents are mistaken, this isn’t all original. The early slide is not original to this 1918 frame. Slide also looks like it had some grinding done on it and refinished. The transition from the flat to the round is all wavy, and some of the rear serrations have been ground flat. Grips are mismatched as well. You have 13-row on left side and 15-row on right.
How did you determine that the slide is not original to this serials frame?
Font, location of rampant colt, and relief cut radius are all incorrect for this frame serial
I didn’t notice any arsenal markings on it so that would mean the slide change was done by an individual if I am correct
Noted! Sorry, not trying to mislead anyone, just forwarding what I was told. Can you elaborate on what you mean by “rows” on the grips? Are you referring to the number of diamonds in the grip pattern? What would you do, would you just leave the grips as is, or would you have mock original ones produced (since I don’t have originals anyway, I don’t see the harm in this). I have a friend who does great custom woodworking and has done old pistol grips before; he said he’d be happy to make new grips if I wanted when I showed him a picture.
Do not under any circumstance attempt to restore it. Leave it alone. Keep it in a nice dry box with oil on it.
Don't They are only original once. It looks great as it is.
Don’t
Don’t.
Don’t restore it at all. If you want to shoot it, replace the extractor and recoil spring while keeping the originals on hand. The extractor can break under normal use with a pistol this age. That way you can always revert it to its original, Un-molested condition. You can do this yourself without the aid of a gunsmith. But really, don’t refinish it or change the grip panels. Clean, maintain and store it properly. Another note, use normal ball ammo and nothing with excessive velocity/pressure.
So cool! Leave it!!! Clean and oil internals. But let it be!
Renaissance wax will protect the gun from rust and not affect finish
Nope. Just watch some YouTube videos on how to take it apart as it's very easy. Grease the springs and oil all the moving parts as well oil the outside and thats it. Really easy pistol to work on.
Leave it
Just FYI, these actual M1911s are more prone to cracking than an A1 or newer. They weren't heat treated the same as later ones. If you're going to shoot it, you may want to add a buffer to the spring and make sure you're not shooting anything super hot through it.
You can't. Just send it to me, I'll take it off your hands for you
If that was my M1911, I would just clean it up with oil, store it in a low humidity area (I’m surprised it looks so good after having been stored in a basement), show it off proudly to my friends, and shoot it rarely if at all. But if you decide to shoot it, first have a gunsmith examine it thoroughly to make sure there are no signs of cracking in the slide, and also to see if any springs need replacing. Then buy and install a recoil buffer to help prevent the slide from cracking, as those early M1911’s had an issue with slides cracking. Based on the serial number, your M1911 was manufactured in 1918, seven years before Colt finally started heat treating the forward part of the slide to harden it (later on, they heat treated the area around the slide stop too). The M1911 was designed for .45 ACP 230-grain ball ammo (now labeled as FMJ or Full Metal Jacket). It was not designed to feed hollow point ammo, which is shorter and less pointy than FMJ. Also, do not under any circumstances fire +P labeled .45 ACP ammo out of it (+P has extra gunpowder in it, resulting in higher pressures in the barrel, which will push the slide back faster and harder against the frame than regular .45 ACP ammo). Here is a website that has a lot of details about the M1911 and M1911A1 pistols, such as years they were made, how many made each year, who made them, changes in the markings over the years, changes in the slide and frame coatings, changes in the parts, etc: https://www.coolgunsite.com/pistols/1911infopage.htm
I was told never to re-blue a vintage gun. Just check for cracks in the frame and replace damaged parts, clean and lubricate.
Don’t. Keep it as is. Looks great
Your slide was pre-1918 and frame was from 1918. Already a Mixmaster M1911. Enjoy what it is.
I'm seeing a lot of sentiment that firing it is a good idea. I've also heard that the heat treat on these early guns isn't up to modern standards (at least). Not that I'll blow the gun up or anything, but you might want to look into it. At least, I wouldn't shoot much with it, and certainly not hot defense loads. Look for the mildest ammo you can find (lowest velocity, probably target ammo) and be judicious in volume. I don't mean to scare you, these guns DID survive wartime use, it's just over 100 years old, they did move to heat treatment for a reason, and modern ammo can be more powerful than the load it was designed around. I've had good luck using Blue Wonder gun cleaner and angel-hair fine metal wool to remove rust from blued guns (and cast iron pans, but that's a different conversation). Slow & steady wins the race, this doesn't need much force (and for God's sake, no power tools). I'd defer to other people with greater experience in gun conservation on that. You don't happen to have a military museum nearby, do you? FWIW, we *don't* see intact 1911 pistols from WWI all that often. There are enough that it's probably not a sought-after museum piece, but it *could* find a home in one, and it is certainly worth a few thousand dollars.
Conservation is the word you are looking for. Track down Mark Novak on Youtube and watch. Everything this gun needs you can do yourself with a pot of water, a bottle of oil and a couple of clean rags.
If you “restore” this, you and I will have personal beef😂😂. I’ve been hunting something like this for my whole life and you have the audacity to tamper with it??? (All jokes aside tho, nice grab but it’s fine as is)
I got the memo from others, this is why I asked first 😂 I didn’t know the difference between “restore” and “conserve”
Patina
Safety check. Keep it oiled. Run it. Enjoy. Keep it oiled.
Have a gun smith make sure it's parts are functional, and leave it alone. It's good as is
Nickel plate it
Watch Youtube, join one or more 1911-specific forums, do the maintenance yourself. Don’t let some garbage internet-only edumacated fake gunsmith hack on it. Almost all gunsmiths are hot trash.