CMP 1911 spoon

[ficke]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Yes...you have to belong to a CMP affiliated gun club, but that’s it. My son was in the GA Tech shooting club so that got us in.

When I visited their store last year, all they had were M1’s. There were rumors about incoming 1911’s at the time but none yet available. Congrats to your wife. Great score. Now you have to be even nicer to her.

Thanks, my wife was thrilled.
She carries a S&W air weight so this is a safe queen, plinker.

[svandamme]

ugh , jonesing for one now.
Jealous bout you guys can buy one off your gubmint, where my gubmint just wants to make it difficult for me to get or keep one ..

I had a Dan Wesson PM7/45, AR, M1A (80ies vintage) and 1903A3 but sold the lot in 2017 cause i was fed up with crappy shooting ranges and mentality in Belgium, and the drag of having to go shoot just to get a stamp on my license for the minimum amount of shoots a year required to keep my stuff... and the ever present threat of loosing license and having to selll things off when everybody knows you are selling under pressure.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by ficke

People say the same thing about Porsches " $300.000.00 for a 57 Speedster!! I can buy a new Porsche turbo for less"

Yeah, but the Speedster is actually worth $300K.

[Jeff Higgins]

Originally Posted by Chocaholic

Very nice!

Every time we take the Garand to the range, the sound of that 8 round clip springing out of the receiver when the 8th round is fired always brings a “damn, that’s cool” from my son.

I say the same thing when other guys are shooting theirs at our range.

[ficke]

Originally Posted by red-beard

Yeah, but the Speedster is actually worth $300K.

Only to some one who wants a old slow car with no AC and has a lot of money to burn.
Another car comparison would be a guy who wants a hunting jeep, he would look at a restored WWII jeep for 50k as a waste of money when he can buy a new Rubicon for that much.
All depends on what you want.
The upper left is a NM Colt the one on the right is a Caspian Frame and slide wad gun
The one below the NM is a Springfield Armory 'Operator'
The CMP gun is worth more than any of those others, by far.

[Jeff Higgins]

Nice collection, ficke. You are right - that CMP gun is worth more than any of the others, even if the others cost more.

Here is my current example, and my only full sized 1911. It's a little more farkled out than my old Springfield, but still more towards the "rugged simplicity" end of the spectrum. The thing that makes it "worth more" than any of my previous examples, to me anyway, is that it says "Colt" on it. Doesn't matter in the least to most, with many today even going so far as to say it might even devalue it for them. Oh well.

[KFC911]

I've had my Colt Combat Commander for 4 decades now....just might keep it...

$280

[Jeff Higgins]

Four decades ago, Colt still knew how to build guns. They lost that skill in the intervening years. They have only just recently reacquired it. The older ones are definitely keepers.

[ficke]

Jeff, nice Colt. I am not much of a collector. I shot the two match 1911's professionally. The Operator
is a good carry gun, heavy, so only for field use.
But this CMP is a pretty rare bird and has way more desirability to people who value history and who pay for they rarity of it. So resale wise that is worth more. I also think it is cool to hold something that was made and used during WWII. I spent so much time shooting hot rod 1911's it is really fun to shoot a stock one.

[ficke]

The problem with old handgun designs is they required skilled hand fitting, think cylinder timing on revolvers. Same thing with 1911's., they needed hand fitting.
Now with the accuracy of the machining getting so good we can fake it and get close with out the hand fitting. But nothing really beats what a skilled gunsmith can do.
Triple lock Smith... ohh la la Never have I felt a production weapon so nice.
This CMP gun was refurbished in 78 and was hand fitted very nicely, better than new I would be willing to bet.

[Jeff Higgins]

Yes, definitely - the hand fitting of quality older guns has to be seen and felt to be appreciated. Modern investment casting and CNC machining has all but eliminated the need for it on mass produced firearms, with tolerances of mating parts held so tightly. It is really amazing what they can do with no hand fitting whatsoever.

It is, however, even more amazing what they did with careful hand fitting. The feel is so completely different. Certainly of a different age. We can still get that today, from our better custom 'smiths, but whoo boy do we pay dearly for it, where is used to be simply expected when purchasing a quality firearm.

Of course if we look at relative cost vs. incomes, guys were paying half a year's wages for those quality firearms. They were a real investment, and one not taken lightly. Like buying a car today. But, then again, when one really needed one, really used one (as opposed to modern day "hobby" guns), that made a difference in what one was willing to spend. And in one's expectations as to what one was buying. Different times indeed.