Found in grand dads sock drawer !

[Greg Derr]

A family found not one, but two Colts in grand dads dresser. One is a Commercial dated 1915, with all original pits and a mag. The other is a GI bring back dated 1918 with an original two tome mag. Both still have black frame rails. They also had a cache of 1918 ammo, which I will keep. Both guns got a detailed stripping, cleaning in mineral spirits. The rust spot on the Commercial slide look better after cleaning. Both will stay in as is condition. Wish they were mine.

 

[robjax]

freakin nice find!!!!

 

[MAGG]

holy chitchat what a find...kudos for keeping them original

 

[dcmdon]

Lets see the USGI!!

 

[Arlo39]

Sweet!!!

 

[Greg Derr]

Here is the GI before cleaning.

 

[TonyDedo]

Here's the fun question - did grand dad keep them loaded?

 

[NickyBangBang]

Drool

 

[Mike-Mike]

Most likely cost about $90 new. Tell the guy I'll give him $95.

 

[transamkid86]

Very nice

 

[ColdDayInHell]

Well shit, I only find drugs in mine, what a find.

 

[MarkT]

Sweet find!

 

[MAGG]

Well shit, I only find drugs in mine, what a find.

 

[Cluster F]

Why can't this happen to me!

 

[NHCraigT]

NICE!!!!

 

[Bankjob]

If I found those in his socks, I would definitely check his pants!

 

[MisterHappy]

Not found in a sock drawer, but my late Dad's pre-war (that's when he got it) Commercial model was looked at by Karl Karash.

He shuddered when I told him that the last time my dad had fired it ca. 1990....he was using ammo headstamped 1918.



Cool history.

 

[92G]

where's the LCI on that 1911? those don't look compliant.
i'm calling Marcia.

 

[dcmdon]

I was so afraid this was going to be a

Dear All, I found a gun that my grandfather brought back from WWII. My friend tells me I have to turn it into the police. What should I do

Thankfully it didn't.

 

[mac1911]

Sweet, saddens me though all that ammo had not been used at least by the 60s!
Im am now the eldest in my family...I aint finding noth'n....... I scored some 1918 45acp ball about 10 years ago....shot great!

 

[Palladin]

at least they weren't turned in for a Shaw's gift card

 

[92G]

at least they weren't turned in for a Shaw's gift card

I laugh but then cry when I realize such gun tragedies do actually occur!

 

[atilla]

that's awesome!

 

[dcmdon]

A woman turned in a Sturmgewehr STG 44 in Hartford last year. The cops were "nice" enough to save it and work with the widow to get it to a museum. It couldn't go back to her because it had not been registered during any of the amnesty periods.

Don

 

[greencobra]

Wow, nice finds to say the least. Good for you!!

 

[shamrockjr]

What an amazing find! Congrats!

 

[Winchester73]

at least they weren't turned in for a Shaw's gift card

I laugh but then cry when I realize such gun tragedies do actually occur!

A friend and retired LEO was tasked with running a gun buy-back years ago. At the time they were paying $50 for a long gun and $75 for a handgun. Most of the stuff turned in was junk that belonged in a scrap yard, but 3 guns stood out and he remembered them, a Browning Superposed skeet gun, a Marlin lever action, and a Colt 1911. They were brought in by widows who had them in the house and had no idea what to do with them. Now, all the collected guns were to be destroyed, those were the orders from the top brass. Instead of taking them in, he gave these widows the addresses of 3 area gun shops, told them to go to all 3, get a price and sell it to one of them. All these guns were worth considerably more than what the turn-in price was.

Nice guns. It never ceases to amaze me what turns up from people's closets.

 

[45collector]

Cool. Very glad to hear they will stay in original condition.

 

[kalash]

This is a bit off topic but how original does a collector piece need to be? I'm sure it depends on the individual buyer but does a single replaced spring (for example) compromise originality for some people? I'm wondering because this thread was the final straw for me - I ordered a book on old 1911s hoping to some day get my hands on an old war horse. Then I tried to ballpark prices and they're all over the place. So how original is "original" for most of you?

 

[Greg Derr]

I think you can change springs OK, most collectors want the "blued" parts and grips original. even the grip screws should be original. I would not shoot these two with full "ball" loads either if they were to be shot. Yes there are very wild prices out there, and a lot of poor quality refinishes.