Military Armourer built .45 Service Pistol

There is a military-built service pistol (Colt slide, no-name frame, fitted barrel/bushing, Bomar rear, target front) for sale locally. Asking price around $1200 with no takers as of yet. Looks to be an older build with tight lock-up and average finish blems. I am tempted but curious what other's experience with these no-name target guns might be. No history on this pistol available. My interest would be to mount a dot and install wad gun recoil spring.

It's a crap shoot. Sorry
Jon

Don't be sorry! Input always appreciated. Can always talk them down to a price that makes rebuilding doable.

It really doesnt matter who built a gun if it has a match grade barrel that was fitted correctly, slide frame tightness is nice but overrated and If it functions fine it will out shoot 90% of those who pick it up.

If it was one built at Rock Island it will be a good shooter.  The one I was issued was tight on the frame and barrel, bushing and slide were fitted and serial numbered to the gun.  The guns from RI were test fired and checked for trigger pull weight and did not get out the door if they did not meet spec.  I have not had a 1911 since that could match the trigger on that gun.

Thanks Rich.

As Jon  stated it's a crap shoot! Who know what no name frame you have, there was a lot of junk made not to mention the trigger and sear. Nor did you mention what barrel it has. I have seen guns made by top smiths that would not shoot well, not that they didn't shoot when completed by the maker but over the years there may have been a number of people that tinkered with the gun!

My first "no-name" custom 1911 was a $400 shot in the dark--and though it got me into the sport it was years of headache and trouble.  It is only worth $1200 if it inspected by a competent BULLSEYE gunsmith and if it passes that test, it can produce sub 2" groups at 50 yards.  Even then $1200 is too rich unless it looks extremely nice.

Rob Kovach wrote:My first "no-name" custom 1911 was a $400 shot in the dark--and though it got me into the sport it was years of headache and trouble.  It is only worth $1200 if it inspected by a competent BULLSEYE gunsmith and if it passes that test, it can produce sub 2" groups at 50 yards.  Even then $1200 is too rich unless it looks extremely nice.

Years ago Rob, while you were spending your days and nights encased in Pampers, the military armorers at Camp Perry would build you an accurized 1911. They came to Perry with tractor trailers which contained fully-outfitted machine shops. Obviously, their priority was to keep their respective military shooting teams' 22s, 38s & 45s working properly and provide needed repairs or adjustments. Each branch of service had a large contingency of armorers and assistants so, repair of civilian guns was not a problem. If a civilian had a 1911 that needed accurizing, all one had to do was go to an armorer and ask to have it accurized and there was some hard looking ones dropped off that most shooters would now turn up their nose to. The armorer did not require parts, however, if you had specific parts in-hand that you wanted incorporated into the build that was fine too and would be accommodated. Otherwise, all necessary parts were provided by the military. These armorers worked under terrible conditions inside those "machine shop box trailers", and shooters that have experienced Perry's wrath of heat and humidity can appreciate what the multiplier would be inside a box trailer without AC or a single window. A few had a box fan in the front of the trailer's rollup door opening that was an attempt to discharge some of the 100+ degree air & humidity inside the box trailer.
When the civilian competitor went back to pick up their newly accurized 1911 and would ask how much do I owe you for the build? The standard reply was, "nothing, if it weren't for you civilian shooters & taxpayers, we would not be here, you're paying for us to be here and purchasing all of the parts and materials---but a six pack of cold beer sure would hit the spot when my team knocks off for the day." A Function Range Pass from the armorer, followed by a few rounds down range brought a wide grin to one's face. Those armorer accurized 1911s were responsible for many, many match wins and classification's upward mobility. I know because I, along with many of my state's competitors availed themselves of this service. Alas, all good things seem to come to an end.

One thing to remember is that most 45s built by military armorers were built for "Hardball".  While most were never fed a diet exclusively of military ball, they were shot with heavier loads than a "wadgun".  This affects the wear.  The upside is that these weren't typically shot much.  


What concerns me tho is the "No Name" frame.  For $1200, it should have a maker on the frame.  For its age the best would be Colt.  Or US military marked ( "US PROPERTY").  If not, I wouldn't pay much more than $900 for it.

I'm kinda in Wobbley's boat. If the trigger is good and doesn't follow the slide and the slide to frame fit is good and barrel/ bushing is tight and the barrel is tight at the rear, I might give it a shot. I wouldn't expect a sub 2" group at 50 yards, but if it would shoot under 3 1/2 inches, I would consider that good. I would also expect the finish to look good. I would be a player at $750-$900. If you can get a knowledgeable old time bullseye shooter or bullseye smith to go with you to look it over, it would be a huge plus. All that said, with not seeing the pistol or even photos, it is a shot in the dark. I got distinguished with a pistol that wouldn't group better than around 4 1/2" with factory ball ammo at 50 yards. It shoots around 2 1/2" with factory match. Of course now you can shoot your best ammo/ gun combo for CMP matches.