I've got a Colt 1911 whose serial number places it in the 1912 year of manufacture. It does not appear to have been refinished and has 60ish% of finish left, by my best guess. This belonged to my wife's grandfather who was a doctor serving in both the Pacific and European theaters during WWII. I'd like to get an idea of it's value both for insurance purposes and potential sale because I'm not a collector at the moment. I can post pics and love to hear estimation, but I'd also like to get references to a few resources that could give an accurate estimate for today's market. If nothing else, I'd like a better evaluation of it's NRA condition.

Gunbroker, completed auctions "that sold" is a good start for re-sale value. Insurance value is usually higher.

Yeah, I've done some searching on GB but it is very tedious. Not sure if there are better "specialist" sites for these. I guess a Google wouldn't kill me.

I would try Rock Island Auctions. www.rockislandauctions.com

They have extensive experience in these matters and would probably give you a fairly accurate estimate of value.

There are lots of Colt Collectors groups out there.

I'd also get in touch with Colt and get an historical letter. This can add greatly to the value. http://www.coltsmfg.com/Custom...ArchiveServices.aspx

Try coltforum.com. Pics are a must as many 1911's were refurbished for WWII when they couldn't keep up with 1911A1 production.
It should have a "brushed" blue finish, two tone magazine (blue on the bottom and bare metal on the top), flat mainspring housing, wide spur hammer and short grip safety. Also wood stocks with two large diamonds, one around each screw. Plastic grips were later production and put on many refurbished guns. Look for small letters on the left side of the gun, below the slide release or on the side of the trigger guard near the front. One very common one is AA for, I think, Agusta Armory. That is a refurbish marking. Good luck and do try to post pics on this forum also.

Thanks for all the leads gentlemen. I think that RI Auctions outfit has a tv show now. Here are a pic of each side. The serial # is 17xxx.

Nice gun. Looks original on the outside, other than grips and magazine. If, and this is a big if, all the proper inspector marks are correct on the barrel, slide, etc. I would say that this gun is probably worth around 1200. You need to contact one of the more knowledgeable people on the forums and they can tell you what to look for.
Original grips would probably set you back around 200 and around the same for a nice two tone lanyard ring equipped magazine. Let us know what you find out. Pleae don't do any refinishing or modifying of any kind. That is a nice original gun with honest wear and quite a bit of character.

Hardly seems it was made in 1912 with a 1913 patent date on the slide.

I've done some more digging and have learned quite a lot. The frame is actualy a 1919 vintage Remington-UMC. This is determined I am told, by the serial number starting with "NO" instead of "No", which is how a Colt serial number was marked. So it's not quite as old as I thought. The slide is a WW1 vintage Colt unit ( I think). It has a WW2 era Springfield barrel in nice shape. The magazine is a WW2 era Risdon, not the WW1 period two tone. The plastic grips are WW2 vintage as well. So it looks like it was rebuilt or updated during WW2. As far as I can tell, it was never parkerized. Interestingly, the hammer, trigger and other parts are correct for a WW1 vintage 1911, not the later 1911A1. I still don't have a good idea what it's worth, but I now have a better idea "what it is".

Anyone know where the market is on these things now? I'm not getting much information from closed auctions.

Sent ya a PM