NIB Pre 70 Series Colt 1911 [Archive]

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geezerbutler

08-31-10, 00:11

I just picked up a NIB Pre 70 Series Colt 1911 and have checked the serial number and it was manufactured in 1969.

I am kind of torn on what to do with it, so I wanted to see what you guys thought.

Shoot it....

Make it a safe queen for posterity ....or

Mod it and then shoot it.

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4117/4946580181_8d217e45d4_b.jpg

Jason Burton

08-31-10, 00:25

Get the gun to the point that it's everything you've ever wanted and then spend the rest of your life trying to wear it out. ;)

willowofwisp

08-31-10, 00:40

I would send it to the guy above me...then shoot it a ton!

geezerbutler

08-31-10, 00:44

I don't even know what I want or need in a 1911, I just knew I needed a *cough* Colt in the stable. I really would like a 1911 type gunsmith to break it down and just look over the internals before I ever did anything. I just don't want an idiot mark on the slide.

I took my 1st 1911 to a dealer about a year ago BNIB to break it down and help familiarize me with the process and right there before my very eyes he put the idiot mark (albeit very faint) on the slide for me:suicide:

mnagant762

08-31-10, 04:23

Take it out, shoot a few hundred rounds through it and then decide what you would like to change. Just make sure you send it to a good pistol smith to have the work done.

Seraph

08-31-10, 06:36

Get the gun to the point that it's everything you've ever wanted and then spend the rest of your life trying to wear it out. ;)

Geezerbutler, that right there is an invitation if I ever saw one. I'd take him up on it, if I were you.

Corey

08-31-10, 08:32

Send it to Jason or Chuck Rogers, or someone else at that level. When you get it back shoot it as often as possible.

Alpha Sierra

08-31-10, 09:04

One thing I would not do is deviate from the classic external appearance of a 1969 Colt M1911.

David Thomas

08-31-10, 10:10

Get the gun to the point that it's everything you've ever wanted and then spend the rest of your life trying to wear it out. ;)

To the original poster,
I agree with Jason. However, only you can determine what that point is where the pistol is everything you've ever wanted. For instance it may be that way now or it may require $6,000 of modifications, or somewhere in between. Getting feedback from others is only helpful to a certain point.

MichaelD

08-31-10, 12:35

Fluff and buff, then shoot the whee outta it.

User Name

08-31-10, 16:55

Just me I'd put it in the safe. Those guns will just continue to go up in value. I could see taking it out and shooting it now and then. Though I'd never carry or modify it. Just my 2 cents. Sounds like a nice gun.

Artos

08-31-10, 17:06

If it were mine & a 100% gun, it would be in the safe.

There are lots of other 1911's in the world you can turn into a dream gun so why alter a collectable pre pony??

Mint guns like these don't come around every day. You can pick up a good clean used one to modify & some can even copy the original roll stamps on the slide if that is what floats your boat for a custom shooter.;)

D. Christopher

08-31-10, 19:05

I agree with Artos. If it were me, here is what I would do:

Smart move #1:
If I could afford it I would put it in the safe and keep it just like it is. It will never be worth less, it will only appreciate in value. You can make it "like new" many times, but it can be original only once. Find a slightly used one just like it and send that one to Jason Burton or someone of his caliber. Don't destroy irreplaceable value and rarity if you don't have to.

Smart move #2:
If I couldn't afford to keep it I would sell it or auction it off and have enough to buy a used model just like it with money left over for upgrades and ammo.

A great gunsmith can make any quality firearm better, maybe even the gun of your dreams. He doesn't need a NIB pistol to do that. No matter how high quality the work, it would be a shame to make irreversible modifications to a NIB 40 year old Colt.

I'll bet I can help you find more than a dozen nice used Colts in less than a weeks time. If someone asked me to find one that was 40 years old and NIB, I wouldn't know where to start, except to say "You had better be patient, and you better have a big budget." Good luck to you and I sincerely hope that pistol stays just like it is and gets passed down to many generations of your family.

PS: Forgot to add that I consider shooting an unfired 40 year old Colt an irreversible modification!

markm

08-31-10, 19:15

Uhhh..

FIRST thing to do would be to POST PICS. :fie:

QuickStrike

08-31-10, 19:15

I'd send it to someone talented to replace some of the internals, reliability job, and have better sights put on, bevel the mag well, de-horn a little, etc.. Then shoot the crap out of it!

Maybe get the smith to fit a quality barrel/bushing so it'll be something like a sleeper 1911. Looks like some plain ole colt but shoots real gud!

If it's that nice and rare I'd shoot it moderately and definitely not abuse it, but the thought of keeping something (especially a gun) in mint condition for the next guy isn't my cup of tea.

Hell, whoever you pass it down to might just pawn it for real cheap later. :p

QuickStrike

08-31-10, 19:16

Uhhh..

FIRST thing to do would be to POST PICS. :fie:

Thought you hated 1911's? :jester:

markm

08-31-10, 19:16

Thought you hated 1911's? :jester:

No. I have two in the safe. It's just time to get over the romance of using them to fight with. :cool:

TOrrock

08-31-10, 19:33

Uhhh..

FIRST thing to do would be to POST PICS. :fie:

Definitely!

I love me some Colt Commercial Models.....

Army Chief

08-31-10, 20:39

Get the gun to the point that it's everything you've ever wanted and then spend the rest of your life trying to wear it out. ;)

One of the most profound statements I've ever read on this, or any other, forum.

Superb counsel!

AC

geezerbutler

08-31-10, 21:11

I gave Jason from Heirloom Precision a call as some of you suggested. He was very helpful and said for the time being to just replace a couple of springs and go and shoot it. It does have a couple of places with surface rust around the sights. Excuse the french but I ain't no gunsmith or metallurgist and I need to combat this rust quickly. What to do?

I do want to replace the sights If I'm going to shoot it, period. I prefer night sights as I've always carried and trained with them and no doubt anything to me beats the stock sights on this gun. Comments, suggestions and ideas are appreciated.

Thanks

http://farm5.static.flickr.com/4145/4947351842_6fb89cf547_b.jpg

I swear there was a pic here a minute ago!

Sorry, I'm using FLICKR now instead of Google, and I am trying to figure out the embedding.

Stand by.....

Artos

08-31-10, 21:46

brother...if it's not mint then let jason go to town if you have the funds.

OOOO steelwool is the best cure to stop the rusting but once it's pitted, nothing but buffing & a reblue will hide it. It will also need extra attn after handling.

If the $$$$ is there, my $0.02 is now to show the before pics & then the after once the magic is complete.:) It's always easy spending other people's money!!

TOrrock

08-31-10, 22:00

Excuse the french but I ain't no gunsmith or metallurgist and I need to combat this rust quickly. What to do?

Thanks

As Artos said, 0000 steel wool, but I'd also wet the steel wool with CLP or Ballistol or Hoppes #9.....

If it's just surface rust, should come off and you'd never know it was there.

Lumpy196

09-02-10, 13:04

My God thats a beauty.

.45fmjoe

09-02-10, 13:20

My God thats a beauty.

That's what I was going to say!

geezerbutler

09-02-10, 13:46

markm

09-02-10, 14:26

My God thats a beauty.

I hope it cost him a fortune!! :D

Seraph

09-02-10, 14:31

Thanks for the kind words.

The terrible thing is that now I'm looking for another one....

One to shoot, and one to put up :p.

Now for even more terrible news I just found out that the made a Pre Series 70 with the "BB" designation that brings an even higher premium than the one I have.

I know some of you already are aware of the "BB" series.

I wasn't until I started lookign around at GB and other 1911 sites trying to see if I got a good deal on the pistol. I think I might have done this out or order...:D

Basically before this pistol, I was ingnorant and I just wanted a Colt Series 70 my whole life.

I may indeed purchase a Series 70 down the road but I am very happy about this purchase at the moment...thanks to you guys:p

They're not sacred in and of themselves. Their most exalted possible state is to be setup to your taste, modified as much or as little as you please, and to remain ready in your holster, to do their sacred duty as sidearms. The best thing to do, in my opinion, is to have many of them, all setup similarly, so that no single one of them has to bear all the wear and tear you'll administer in a lifetime. That way, you'll end up with a nice collection of heirloom 1911's, that you can pass on someday, to someone appreciative and deserving.

I recently purchased this Mk IV, manufactured in 1977, that was truly like new. It looked like its slide couldn't have been racked more than a handful of times. I immediately swapped on an Ed Brown flat MSH, a 10-8 long curved trigger, and a set of ironwood grips. It runs like a champ, and is laser beam accurate. It's nothing special. I put more wear on it the first day I had it, than had been done in the previous 30 years. I can't wait to hand it over to someone like Jason Burton or John Harrison, so they can give it the business. Then, it will be something special.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g111/Trisagion/ColtS70_web_01.jpg

JHC

09-02-10, 14:41

RojasTKD

09-02-10, 14:43

This is what I did with mine after having as a safe queen for 8 years.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb141/RojasTKD/XRbuild1911s006.jpg

geezerbutler

09-02-10, 17:51

I recently purchased this Mk IV, manufactured in 1977, that was truly like new. It looked like its slide couldn't have been racked more than a handful of times. I immediately swapped on an Ed Brown flat MSH, a 10-8 long curved trigger, and a set of ironwood grips. It runs like a champ, and is laser beam accurate. It's nothing special. I put more wear on it the first day I had it, than had been done in the previous 30 years. I can't wait to hand it over to someone like Jason Burton or John Harrison, so they can give it the business. Then, it will be something special.

http://i54.photobucket.com/albums/g111/Trisagion/ColtS70_web_01.jpg

Beautiful!, but no change to the sights?

What about the springs, since they were 30 years old or so, did you swap them out for new ones prior to shooting?

geezerbutler

09-02-10, 17:52

This is what I did with mine after having as a safe queen for 8 years.

http://i210.photobucket.com/albums/bb141/RojasTKD/XRbuild1911s006.jpg

Nice, what were the exact mods to it?

D. Christopher

09-02-10, 21:21

A few years ago I was told by a Colt collector that such a gun might be worth $5K. Is that in the ballpark? If it's worth anything north of $2K NIB, I think D. Christophers Smart Move 1 or Smart Move 2 are in order.

Nah,

Go ahead and hack it up, I was just making up stuff out of thin air. I was probably drunk and you know I lie a lot when I'm drunk like that. When I said that stuff I was more messed up than Peter O'Toole on his birthday! Best advice is probably to do what the largest number of people think, not what some lone interweb troll says. If it were mine I would just replace the slide, the barrel, the barrel bushing, the trigger, the recoil spring, the grip safety, the hammer, the frame, the recoil spring guide, the slide stop, the magazine release, and probably those grips. Nice box though! Other than that it's okay, and with a little work it could be a pretty nice pistol. :rolleyes:

RojasTKD

09-02-10, 23:56

Nice, what were the exact mods to it?

SS EGW bushing
SS Ed Brown beavertail
SS Ed Brown ambi thumb safety
SS Ed brown extended mag release
SS Kings extended slid stop
SS Wilson two piece guide rod
SS Wilson Mag Well
SS Smith and Alexander flat mainspring housing (not pictured
CMC Trigger
CMC Titanium mainspring cap
CMC sear & disconnector
Gunner grips

That's what I can recall. Sight are stock not sure if that will ever change.

Seraph

09-03-10, 07:11

Beautiful!, but no change to the sights?

What about the springs, since they were 30 years old or so, did you swap them out for new ones prior to shooting?

I thought I'd change out the springs, and the collet barrel bushing as well, but when I got 'em out and looked at 'em, they seemed fine, so I put it all back together and shot it as-is (or as-was, as it were). Runs like a champ with the ancient springs (ancient springs in the Colt mags, too). I even ran some Golden Saber 230gr HP's through, and she ate 'em up. I have really good vision, so the sights aren't an emergency, but I will be changing them out, when I'm ready to give her the business. Collet bushing will go, too. I've got some ISMI springs to put in it, when I think of it.

Army Chief

09-03-10, 08:40

I know that different folks have different opinions about all of this, and that many believe a pristine, untouched Colt from a bygone era is something to leave completely unmolested, but the obvious question is this: to what end?

If one wishes to have a valuable collector's piece sitting in the back of his safe for the next 40 years, then I suppose this makes good sense. The investment potential is signficant, and the uniqueness of the piece is protected. I'm generally on-board with both arguments, and we can all respect the underlying logic here, though I do think we have to ask one further question: is this to be "another Colt in the collection," or is it intended to be one's lifetime go-to gun?

Most of us don't really have the resources to line a safe with untouched Old School Colts, but we do probably have an idea rattling around in the back of our heads about what our ultimate 1911 should be. I'm not in favor of buying old commercial Colts with the idea of "improving" them just for the sake of making changes, but I can't think of a finer base gun choice for one's Holy Grail pistol than a Hartford original.

I can only speak for myself, but when a man reaches the point where he is ready to build "the One," then I find it an appropriate and significant decision to invest in an untouched old Colt, and heed Jason's advice to transform it the pistol that he will enjoy owning it for the rest of his days. Yes, this will compromise the pistol's long-term market value, but how does a man measure the value that his progeny will associate with their great-grandfather's favorite Colt years after he is dead and gone?

Given such a context, I cannot help but view this as an exponential increase in value. What was once an example of American industrial art has instead been elevated to the status of a true family heirloom: a tangible reminder of the kind of legacy that I suspect we should all like to someday leave.

So, by all means, let's please leave those old Colts alone. Unless ...

AC

19852

09-03-10, 13:44

I have wrestled with this question for many years, since inheriting my fathers '68 Colt with box, papers, Colt catalogue from that era and a receipt from the gun shop for.......$115. To him it was just a pistol, like the one he carried during WW2, he shot it and kept it under his pillow to defend his family. At the moment my modern 9mm pistols do what I need them to do, so no hurry.