I have a WWII USGI issue 1911 from 1944. Due to the late production date it saw very little if any actual service use. This WWII Colt is absolutely stunning and almost perfect. It has one small scratch at the top edge of the slide. Overall I would give it a 99% score on the overall condition. All the parts are original Colt manufacture even the barrel is Colt when many were HS barrels. This Colt really is a museum piece and a collectors dream. I have the original Keys fiber USGI issue grips to go with it but right now I have a set of USGI walnut grips on it. I have the original grips put up to keep them from getting any scratches on them. Behind the grips it still had the original USGI storage cosmelene on the frame and the back of the grips.
I have an original excellent condition British military 1943 Enfield No.2 mk 1. The entire set is all original WWII issue.
Thanks.
I like to imagine that my 43 had seen some action. I konw the rearsenaling gave it its mismatched parts but being a cmp gun i feel it heightens the possibility it did see action somewhere in its history.
@MichaelAnthony not trying to be, just trying to keep up with the rules as a moderator of this forum. thats all. not trying to bust your balls on the rifle posting. The Carcano is a weapon that many discount but it is also one that was used to assassinate Kennedy supposedly.
@1911 I have a couple of M1 garands, a carbine, a 1917, and a 1903 remington made in 42. I never did get into germans, but i did get a few russians as i have a svt40 m44 and 91/30. as well as a yugo sks, and a romanian guard kit built AK47 that i built myself.
If you want to move this thread to general that is fine. I mostly have handguns I guess is why I started this thread here. I really want to see everything that people are collecting.
Every male in my family has served in the military. A member or members of my family has been in pretty much every conflict our Country has been in. My brother and I both played in the sandbox. I have recently been doing some research on my Grandfatherâs missions during WWII in 1944. He was a ball turret gunner and flight engineer on a B17 in the Army Air Force. He flew 35 missions over Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Italy and Belgium. Many of his missions were in direct support of the D- Day landing in Normandy. I have been able to find all of his actual full mission reports online. The mission plans and reports lists everything associated with the mission. These mission plans and reports are the next best thing to actually being there in person. It really makes me respect exactly what he went through. My Grandfather passed away in 2015 at 94 years old. When people refer to my Grandfatherâs generation as the greatest generation they really arenât lying. What they were able to accomplish truly is a major chapter in Americaâs history.
I believe that your 1911 was actually made in 1944 like mine if I am reading the serial number right. You can just about rest assured that your 1911 has seen combat. The reason that mine is in pristine condition is that it was a WWII bring back. Officers in WWII had the option to purchase their sidearm and bring it home with them. Many 1911 were also brought back home by servicemen illegally. My Grandfather brought back home his 1911. The NCOâs were supposed to turn their 1911 back in before leaving their operating theater. Not many did though. The 1911 were smuggled home and kept.
just want to point out its the 7.35 and not the 6.5, and wanted to share some cool videos on it.
Thanks for posting those videos. I enjoyed watching them. I might need to try to pick up a Carano to round out my WWII rifles. I do love my K98 and 1903.
not necessary. i have created a rifles NON PSA and a C&R thread so we can post them there. pistols can stay here.
i was raised by my grandfather mostly and thus have alot of his beliefs and you are correct about them being the greatest generation. He was in the Navy and was a gunners mate on merchant ships. was torpedoed in the med. luckily most of his crew was able to get off the ship by diving over board and they were picked up hours later by another ship. He had a shrapnel gash in his arm from the torpedo impact and explosion. I konw that todays generations, mine included(gen x) cant hold a candle to those men and women of the greatest generation. and sadly as the generations get younger, they get weaker when compared to the one previous to them.. but i digress⌠My other Grandfather was US Army, D Day, korea, then vietnam⌠lifer.. neither of them had any us weapons they kept or took home with them. however my grandfather who was in the navy did trade a carton of pal mals for 2 french percussion cap pistols. i still have them today.. maybe iâll dig up a photo of them too.
thats cool, but perhpas you should / would be better served by posting them in the C&R thread, or the Rifles (non-PsA) thread than this one now that we have those other threads. thanks.
i think my target audience was well received, but thank you.
These arent old school but they are in my collection. I was able to buy three of the Decommissioned Sig M17 that the Army sent back to Sig for cosmetic changes to the controls. They didnât last long at all once Sig released them for sale to the public. Sig only released these to their authorized dealers and most had a limit of one per customer. All of mine were fielded by the 101st Airborne or the 82nd Airborne units. All three of mine are in excellent shape. It looks like very few rounds were actually put through them. I got lucky on these three as they are in better condition than the many that I see being auctioned on Gun Broker. The other cool thing about it is that I have consecutive serial number TF000096 & TF000097. I was able to find the TF000097 on Gun Broker out of pure luck. Two of the first 100 Sigs ever delivered to the Army. The third M17 has serial number TF003206. I let my son keep the M17 serial number TF 000097 since one day all of my toys will be his anyway.
These M17 were the very first that Sig delivered to the Army under their military contract. These will only continue to go up in price as they are the only ones that will ever be available and sure to become a collectorâs item. The limited commemorative M17âs that Sig released have already gone up in price over 500%.
iâd love to add a m17 to my collection, but i fear ill be adding the civillian version that sig is producing now and not be able to afford the authentic ones like you have. I also want a M18 as wel for the collection. man i cant beleive you hve 3 of them. that is awesome.
I have only seen three M17 that has lower serial number than mine. I did see TF000072 & TF000073 as a consecutive set being sold and TF000076. The TF000076 sold for twice the average going price at that time. Of course I know that every serial number from TF000001 to TF000100 have been produced. It is just really cool to me that I got lucky enough to have two of the first M17 ever issued to our Military. When I opened the box for the first time on the TF000096 I was shocked. It is extremely rare for me to be so lucky in a random luck of the draw.
Here are my oldest weapons. these two were acquired by my grandfather in wwII. He traded a carton of PalMal cigarettes for these two while serving in the navy. Iâve had them in my possession since he gave them to me in the late 90s. They will never leave the family as far as im concerned. They are Dated on the Frame 1837 and 1839. both are from 2 different french manufacturers. Iâve never shot them, although I think they are in firable condition, i wouldnt want to risk destroying them.
Those are definitely very cool. I am like you in that I would love to shoot them. It definitely wouldnât be worth the risk of damaging a family heirloom. This question that may seem a little silly but have you definitively checked that they are not loaded? Most people would be surprised at how many old black powder pistols and rifles are found to be loaded. So many were stored loaded.
iâve heard that before about them being loaded for some folks. mine are not however⌠I know as weâve checked numerous times since i owned them, and before when my grandad had owned them as well. I alos as a child used to get to âplayâ by holding them while my granddad cleaned one iâd hold the other. never out of his sight or away from the table, but still it was a big deal of "play " for me as a child to hold one. but yeah, theyâre empty. and have been a big part of my imagination since i was a wee one.
You are very lucky to have those memories. For me it would make those pistols one of my prized possessions. My Grandfather was a B17 pilot in WWII. He brought home two of his 1911A1. At some point in time my Grandfatherâs brother asked to âborrowâ one. When my Grandfather asked for it back somehow it couldnât be found. I donât know if this was deliberate or really just an accident. It broke my heart when it couldnât be found. I told my Grandfather that I didnât want anything else from him if he would only leave me one 1911A1. To this day I still wish somehow that I could find the lost 1911A1. It would be my most prized possession. I also hate that a family heirloom has been lost through carelessness. My Uncle has the other 1911A1 and feels the same way about it that I would. I would never ask him for it because it was his fatherâs and he has a right to be the one to inherit it not me.
I was going to do the same thing and buy a civilian M17 since I donât shoot the Decommissioned M17 anymore. I got sidetracked by the Sig Legion X5 and the Sig Scorpion AXG. I ended up with the Sig Scorpion AXG from the Sig Custom Shop. These Scorpion are the first item ever put out by the Sig Custom Shop and are only being made for a limited time. The Scorpion is hands down my favorite handgun to shoot. My P365 is my EDC but I can see me being able to carry the Scorpion if I had a need to. I have a BarSto threaded and fluted match barrel being made for it to be able to use my Liberty Centurion suppressor with it.
My dad was an enlisted pilot in the Army. Troop/cargo North Africa and Italy. Towards the end of the war, he transferred to the Navy as a Flight Officer and got checked out as a torpedo dive bomber (Grumman Avenger). The war ended before he saw action in that capacity. He became an instructor at NAS Key West. I served as a B-52 D, G and H aerial gunner from 1979-1991. After the first Gulf war, the gun system was removed from the B-52. I retrained in electronics, Radio maintenance technician.l until I retired in 2000. When I was stationed at Minot AB, we received at B-17 ball turret. We were going to restore it. Working with Air Force museum and heritage folks, decided only original parts, correct rivets, canvas straps, paint, etc could only be done by them. So we kept it as a display as it was until we could ship to Wright Patterson. It was fully intact and mounted in a roll around frame. It may have only been a training, or may have been salvaged from a war bird. I canât remember, since it back around 1986-90.
Many of you know that I have an extensive collection of WWI & WWII handguns and some rifles. I also have a collection of original field gear from WWI & WWII. I have collected everything that soldiers from different MOS would normally carry on a daily basis. One thing that I didnât have was an original WWI trench lighter or a WWII lighter. I found this original Bowers lighter that was in pretty sad shape and didnât work. I cleaned it, got all the rust off and re-blued it. I completely rebuilt it, found the right wick, repcaked it, put in a new flint and added some lighter fluid. What do you know⌠it works like a charm. sweet⌠
