View Full Version : Sacrilege or salvage??
This gun had a very interesting story and probably a much more interesting story if the whole truth was known. A couple of Canadian's bought an antique desk at a local thrift shop. They were taking it back to Canada to refinish and use. They disassembled the desk and in a secret drawer they found this M1911, complete with holster and two tone mag. The gun had quite a bit of surface rust on it.....they used sand paper to try to clean it up some before they sold it. The gun was all completely WWI (1918) except for a WWII barrel. Thought about getting a WWI barrel and having it reblued. Then I thought about the cost of both.....also the fact that the parts had been together for a long time. my dealer/gunsmith friend offered to parkerize the piece for nothing.....What can I say....I'm cheap.
So Sacrilege or Salvage....?
Daniel Morgan
09-07-2009, 12:53
I believe I'd have to leave that one the way it is! A WW1 barrel isn't going to make it original either, with that parked finish. It does look good the way it is though. Musta been some fine sandpaper, very lightly applied!
take it out, shoot it, and enjoy,
I believe I'd have to leave that one the way it is! A WW1 barrel isn't going to make it original either, with that parked finish. It does look good the way it is though. Musta been some fine sandpaper, very lightly applied!
Daniel,
I had it parked. Will see if I can find the before pictures and post those also.
AJ
... to turn a $1,000+ pistol into a good $500 shooter. I believe I would have sold the piece to a collector and used the money to buy a new pistol and had enough left to buy lots of ammo. At least you didn't pay for the privilege. :icon_rolleyes:
Daniel,
I had it parked. Will see if I can find the before pictures and post those also.
AJ
The Canucks had taken fine grain sandpaper( or emory cloth) to the top of the slide and all of the rounded portions of the frame. If they had just left it alone it probably could have been salvaged with judicious use of OOOO steel wool and a good gun oil. We did not park the hammer, slide release, safety, trigger, grip screws, mag lock, barrel bushing, or the mainspring plug. I figured since it was no longer original it was cost effective to park it and use it as a shooter. It looks better than anything I ever carried in 24 years of active duty and is probably as accurate(at least it rattles less).
... to turn a $1,000+ pistol into a good $500 shooter. I believe I would have sold the piece to a collector and used the money to buy a new pistol and had enough left to buy lots of ammo. At least you didn't pay for the privilege. :icon_rolleyes:
If you would have given me $1K for it I'd have sold it in a heart beat. However, at you estimate of it's value now.....then I made $200 over what I paid for it. :banana100::eek:
Daniel Morgan
09-08-2009, 03:48
Fifteen years ago I bought an original M1911 for $400 at a gunshow. It showed lots legitimate fair wear, but back then would have been considered "shooter" class.
I guess my point is, sometimes prices change (at least on 1911s) too fast to keep up. If that gun shoots good, it probably would bring a grand from someone who wanted it. I've seen some pretty junky stuff trade for a hundred or so less lately.
I tend to get items rather reasonably. I paid $500 OTD for this one all correct and almost unfired....barrel still had the new mirror look to it.
Johnny P
09-08-2009, 04:58
It all depends on when they were bought. I made an offer on this one which the seller didn't take. He came back in a couple of hours and wanted to know if my offer still stood. I said yes, and handed him $300. This was the first 1911A1 I ever bought, and it has been more than a few years ago.
By the way, the Ithaca shown in the previous post went through the Birmingham Proof house in 1953.
http://i29.tinypic.com/2iu8cop.jpg
I bought both in the last year. I kept the Colt and sold the Ithaca for $1800.
Rob Greer
09-08-2009, 06:18
"... and handed him $300."
I just started collecting far too late! That has to be the nicest $300 pistol I have seen!
"... and handed him $300."
I just started collecting far too late! That has to be the nicest $300 pistol I have seen!
There are deals out there to be had. The trick is being the right place at the right time with the money.
Rob Greer
09-08-2009, 08:34
There are deals out there to be had. The trick is being the right place at the right time with the money.
I'm sure Johnny didn't start collecting 10 years ago when I did... He (and numerous others) have a LOT more time under their belt than that! My comment was that he spent $300 for a pistol worth several thousand today. I wish I started collecting earlier...
... absolute theft. A friend of mine, a teacher, gave driving lessons during the summer. One year an old blue haired widow lady had a fender bender and got a ticket. The Judge Ordered her to get four hours of driver training and take a test before she could drive again. His regular fee for that would have been $350. The lady told him that her husband had been a marine and she had a couple of guns that she would like to trade for the service. He went to her house and she gave him the 2 guns and he made the trade.
Gun #1 was a pre war Colt 1911 in .38 Super with a 5 digit serial number ending in 000. It was a chrome pistol in a presentation case with ivory grips. In the case there was a letter documenting when the bird Colonel was presented the piece by a General H.M. Smith on behalf of the Colonel's battalion on his retirement. It was unfired.
Gun # 2 was essentially a like new Wra M-1 carbine.
Do you think he got his $350 worth? Personally, I could not have done that and I haven't talked to him since. :icon_twisted:
Both the Colt and the Ithaca were purchased from a dealer. I paid him what he had in them.......Colt $300 and the Ithaca $500, this was in this past year.
Johnny P
09-09-2009, 07:17
That must be like the merchant buying the watermelons for $1 and selling them for 50¢. He figures that at his cheap price he can sell enough quantity that he will eventually start making money.
That must be like the merchant buying the watermelons for $1 and selling them for 50¢. He figures that at his cheap price he can sell enough quantity that he will eventually start making money.
No, I do some evals for him at times and he returns the favors. Their are a few, but very few dealers who are fairly legit when it comes to resale.
Scott Gahimer
09-10-2009, 05:42
I suppose there is room for opinions on what the meaning of "legit" is.
In my opinion, price has nothing to do with whether I think someone is legitimate or not. High or low price, IMO, refers to the pistol, not the dealer.
If a dealer buys a $2K pistol for $300 and then sells it for $600, thinking how fortunate he is to have just doubled his money...I don't think that is generosity. I think that is ignorance in regard to the market and/or the pistol.
If he buys a $300 gun and lists it for $2000, knowing it is a $300 gun, then I might say he's fishing for a sucker.
If he is leaving $1000-1500 on the table very often in return for some evaluations now and then, I think he'd be money ahead to learn the guns and market himself.
If a man finds a $100 bill laying on the ground in his front yard, it doesn't make it worth less. So why take less for it?
I do some evaluations for friends as well. I'm pretty happy to just be placed at the front of the line when they're offering something I'd like to buy at fair market value.
PhillipM
09-10-2009, 10:01
If a dealer buys a $2K pistol for $300 and then sells it for $600, thinking how fortunate he is to have just doubled his money...I don't think that is generosity. I think that is ignorance in regard to the market and/or the pistol.
I was told this in reverse. Three years ago I was on the road and got a phone call from my father saying Robert, an ex employee, wanted to sell a pistol for $200. I asked what it was and he said a 10mm... I cut him off and said BUY IT! Turned out to be a nice S&W 1066. A couple months ago Robert practically demanded I sell him the 1066 for $400, thereby doubling my money. :icon_scratch: I lied and told him I'd sold it so he'd quit asking.
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