Colt Model 1911 “WW1 Commemorative” .45 ACP
Posted: September 7th, 2009, 11:31 pm
This is one of four pistols that Colt produced in the late sixties to commemorate four WW1 battles - Chateau Thierry, Meuse-Argonne, Belleau Wood, and (pictured here) the 2nd Battle of the Marne.
I purchased this pistol about a year ago while visiting a pawn shop. It was not the kind of pistol you usually find in a pawn shop, but I got lucky. Normally, this type of pistol was purchased new and hung on a wall or put in a safe. When I bought it, it didn’t have the original maple grips, and the previous owner had parkerized the entire slide and frame. This was a shame, as all these four pistols had been inscribed with a scene on the left side of the slide with the battle for which they were named for. The silver lining is that the parkerized coating had kept the pistol from rusting, and this 1911 was waiting for someone to bring it back to life.
The pictures show a work in progress, but this is what I’ve done to date. I stripped the parkerized finish off the slide and allowed the battle scene (left side) and the WW1 Commemorative inscription (right side, same on all four pistols) to be seen again. I then blued the slide and rubbed some gold leaf into the etchings on both sides. I also replaced the grips with a set of original white maple grips I was able to obtain on GunBroker. The only non-original hardware on the pistol is the Millet sights; these sights were on the pistol when I purchased it.
The bottom line is this – I have a pistol that honors our grandfathers, and is also a great pistol to shoot! Thanks for looking-
I purchased this pistol about a year ago while visiting a pawn shop. It was not the kind of pistol you usually find in a pawn shop, but I got lucky. Normally, this type of pistol was purchased new and hung on a wall or put in a safe. When I bought it, it didn’t have the original maple grips, and the previous owner had parkerized the entire slide and frame. This was a shame, as all these four pistols had been inscribed with a scene on the left side of the slide with the battle for which they were named for. The silver lining is that the parkerized coating had kept the pistol from rusting, and this 1911 was waiting for someone to bring it back to life.
The pictures show a work in progress, but this is what I’ve done to date. I stripped the parkerized finish off the slide and allowed the battle scene (left side) and the WW1 Commemorative inscription (right side, same on all four pistols) to be seen again. I then blued the slide and rubbed some gold leaf into the etchings on both sides. I also replaced the grips with a set of original white maple grips I was able to obtain on GunBroker. The only non-original hardware on the pistol is the Millet sights; these sights were on the pistol when I purchased it.
The bottom line is this – I have a pistol that honors our grandfathers, and is also a great pistol to shoot! Thanks for looking-