Tom....Need a Favor...You Military paintballs

[Trunnion]

i'm not army, but....

maybe i can help. first off, if this is an unmodified M1911(as in not a rebuild) then it's a very rare piece. few M1911s were made and many that were got sent through the rebuild program. if it is a 1911, then it should be blued and not parkerized. you can tell the difference because a parkerized gun would have a dull and unreflective finish. also, check the grips. if they're checkered walnut then it's original. the rebuilds hade these replaced with plastic grips. if you could tell me exactly what is on the right hand side of the pistol, i MIGHT be able to tell you which it is. obviously, identifying the gun without seeing it is not easy. it appears that the right hand side of the slide should be marked "MODEL OF 1911.U.S.ARMY" if ti's a 1911. i'm ony working off of one source, but i believe your colt might be an original 1911

[Top Secret]

If I'm not mistaken, most M1 carbines were modified and updated to the M1A1 Carbine which included a bayonet lug for the M4 bayonet. It is pretty rare I think to find one without the bayonet lug. Mine is a M1A1.

[Trunnion]

actually a great many were modified to M2 carbine standards. these had a selective fire switch, the bayonet lug for aforementioned bayonet, and all had the round-topped bolt(some early M1s had a flat-topped bolt), but most often they retained the original stocks. only a few M1 carbines had the bayonet lug during late production. however, my source here doesn't indicate that carbines updated with lugs necessarily were updated with airborne stocks

[Army]

Standard 1911's (pre-1923) are sort of scarce, but not rare. Singers are rare, as only 500 were made and very few can be accounted for. The most rare, is the North American Arms version, made in Quebec. Only 100 were made as a test run. Only 4 genuine have been found since being made in 1918.

Where are the markings at? If on the slide only(are you sure there is NO serial number on the right side?), you MAY have a GI model.

If the markings are on the right side of the frame only, either above the right grip, or near the take-down pin, again, it MAY be a GI model. Many commercial guns left the factory marked US Model due to over-runs.

A 1911 model has a wide(front to back) trigger, no hump on the back of the grip, no scallop in the frame behind the trigger, the hammer spur curls over quite a bit, and the grip safety tang will be only as wide as the hammer.

A 1911A1 (designated in 1923) will have a very short trigger, less than a 1/4", a pronounced hump on the mainspring housing (like the first types of Emags..Tom knows!), a scallop to accomodate your trigger finger access, the hammer spur does not curl over near as much, and the grip safety tang is quite wide now.

If there is a serial number, and there should be as all 1911's made by Colt or contract was issued a number, it will be above or beneath the right grip panel. If it is a commercial variant, it will have a "C" and then the number. If GI, it will say "ser no." and then the number.

Check the front left of the trigger guard bow, there should be a stamp there that looks like a V and P joined together inside of a triangle, that designates a commercial frame. If it looks like letters inside circles, you have a GI frame.

You didn't give me much to go on, but all this should get you in the ballpark.

If you want more info, Email me with all the info you can about the gun, and I'll research it through military archives (I have access to the DOD data bank).

[dorksquad]

army

[dorksquad]

more

[dorksquad]

even more

[dorksquad]

more pics

[dorksquad]

us gov property

[Army]

...and here's your info!

1) Made in 1918 by Colt and confirmed to have been recieved by the US Army in that year (it was "this" close to have been Marine Corp marked, which are rather rare and very desirable).

2) Inspected and approved for aquisition by Gilbert H. Stewart (stamp behind the trigger on left side).

3)It has been Parkerized (the greenish finish, it's actually a phosphate), which was done to most military 1911's for WWII service, but many were refinished right after WWI. This unfortunately brings the monetary value down to (about) mid $400 range (from an original blued value of around $1000...sorry bud!).

4) The grip panels are still original and in great shape. 1911A1 grips have a diamond surrounding the grip screw.

5) I would put it in the NRA condition of over 90%, perhaps as high as 98% as I do not see any appreciable holster or useage wear. Do not take my estimate as a "for sure", since I cannot do a full inspection it the gun, so I can't really tell if it has been re-parkerized, or if that is the first job, nor can I see the internals to tell if all is original.

6) What you have is a very good shooter, unless you have a lot of sentimental value on it and do not wish to ruin that.

I am always looking out for a good condition 1911 to use in stock class IPPSA competition, yours is exactly what I will some day find! Hope this is the info you wanted. Dave

[Butterfingers]

In response to warlord in the first page.

larger caliber but less velocity.

kinetic energy is defined as 1/2mv^2

energy quadruples as speed doubles.

the 5.56 round has alot more velocty than a AK round.

Thus has a potential for greater range.

[hardr0ck68]

lol my dad would LOVE talkin to you guys. he used to collect old hunting rifles and shotguns (mostly late 1800 stuff) i dont know jack about them cept how to clean and shoot them but the collection will be all mine one day i own a couple shotguns but man are you guys out there!! i was just wounderin if anyone has anymore info on the military paintball stuff??

[hardr0ck68]

i could be wrong, but isnt the size of the bullet just one factor in its velocity?? dosent amount of powder and barrel length have effects?? i know my daddys .22-250 has a larger velocity than alot of his larger cal. rifles but his 50 cal beats all... like i said guns are his thing paintball is mine but it just dosent seem right to assume that since one rifle takes a lighter round that its velocity will be greater than a rifle shootin larger bore rounds, isnt there more to take into consideration??