!911 45 Auto

Yosemitesam

I have a 45 with a 4 digit serial number preceded by an x. No one has so far been able to tell me what the x stands for. Any ideas?????

Myjack

Who made it?
what finish? any other markings?

nmyers

Military contractors were required to supply the US govt with extra unnumbered receivers. When a receiver was damaged and needed to be destroyed, it was replaced with one of the "extras" which was numbered the same, but with an "X" prefix.

Neal

Nighthawk

I would have to have more information to tell you correctly.

Rugster

Yosemitesam

quote:
Military contractors were required to supply the US govt with extra unnumbered receivers. When a receiver was damaged and needed to be destroyed, it was replaced with one of the "extras" which was numbered the same, but with an "X" prefix.

Neal

Yosemitesam

Well Neal your theory sounds plausible other than the fact the gun fires perfectly and there is no damage whatsoever to it. I have owned it for 30 years and never had a problem. Any hints as to the damage statement???

Yosemitesam

Well My jack and Rugster heres the answer to your questions. It is a Colt Army and it I am not sure of the finish as it is in a safe deposit box but if memory serves it is parkerized but may be just blued. There are no other markings I can remember seeing but next time I am at the box I will double check. The books I have read show the serial number range to be made by Colt USN but it is stamped Army on the slide so go figure. I am no expert but to this point even the dealers and smithies I have taken it to haven't been able to tell me after examining it. Neal's explanation makes sense other than the fact there is no damage to the piece and it fires perfectly. Thanks for all the help, and if there is some other explanation please let me know.

Shootist3006

Yosemite - you said: quote:Neal's explanation makes sense other than the fact there is no damage to the piece and it fires perfectly. Thanks for all the help, and if there is some other explanation please let me know
but re-read Neal's posting, the receiver you have would have been used to REPLACE the damaged one and naturally, the one you have (the replacement) would have no damage.

That said, you might ask Colt about it, go to http://www.colt.com/colt/html/i_historicalservices.html

Quod principi placuit legis habet vigorem.Semper Fidelis

n/a

From information I received from colt, 1911A1,s made during the war were blue, at the end of the war 50% of them were lost or taken home by the soldiers, the rest went back to 4 different armories and were reconditioned, then parkerized,

Look for armory marks on the frame.

Here are the Serial numbers in 4 digits

1001-1500 Colt
1501-2000 Colt USN
2001-2500 colt
2501-3500 Colt USN
3501-3800 Colt USMC
3801-4500 colt
4501-5500 colt USN
5501-6500 colt
6501-7500 colt USN
7501-8500 colt
8501-9500 colt USN
9501-10500 colt



"A wise man is a man that realizes just how little he knows"

Yosemitesam

Ah yes I feel so stupid.Of course Neals statement is proper and I misunderstood it. Naturally it would be a replacement and not the bad frame. As to the numbers I am aware the numbers I have were for Colt USN but thought that the piece should be marked Navy instead of Army. I am no expert and one can plainly see no genius or I would not ahve misread Neals statement. I do have a blue book of gun values and that was where I got all the rest of the info except the x marking. It is not an A1 but simply a Model 1911 and if I seem a little vague it is because I have only recently gotten the piece back from the Sherriff's office after it had been stolen 14 yeasr ago so memory dims. All that said I do appreciate your answers and Neals certainly makes sense. I will contact Colt one of these days to see what other info. I can gather.