ltwguns.com

I rescued a Colt National Match and now I don't know what to do with it.

The gun was stored in a cheap rug and the person that stored all those many moons ago left some thumb prints on the slide.

Eventually those ate through the deep shiny Royal blueing and left some pitting on the slide.

The gun is a very low serial number (3444 NM) but would appear ruined from a collectors standpoint. I am in this pistol right monetarily and am at a loss as to what to do with it.

I'd like the opinions of you fine ladies and gentlemen as to which way to run with this since this appears to be a more discriminating crowd.

I've considered sending it off to be worked over and turned into a nice carry gun with a bead blast finish to hide the minor pitting but some people have thought I was crazy and should send it someplace to be restored. What say you all?

If the pitting is bad enough to really ruin it's collector's status then I go by what a good friend of mine is fond of saying. "It will never be worth more than it is right now" Meaning cut it up and make it a custom gun. I would love to build on an old NM gun. If it is built by a reputable builder and is exactly what you want, then it becomes yours and collectible to you.

If the pitting is from a thumb print, then it might be possible to sand and polish it out. I guess it depends, do you want a stock refurbished NM, or a custom carry type gun? Let us know.

One of these days Ted is going to build me a custom carry gun on a C suffix commercial gun I bought earlier this year. Looking forward to it.

_________________
Heirloom Precision, LLC.
480-804-1911

"If everyone is thinking alike, someone isn't thinking."
- General George Patton Jr

I contacted Doug Turnbull in regards to a refinish and he said he'd be happy to look at the gun and give me a firm estimate but off the top of his head a restoration would be around $1,100.00. That would include milling the slide down and replacing the Rollmarks to factory spec's at the time of manufacture.

After spending $1,100.00 on this gun I would have an $1,100.00 gun. What I've got now is a gun I would consider to be in 92% condition and worth about $650.00 (I paid $400.00). This would be a total outlay of cash of about $1500.00 for an $1,100.00 piece.

I appreciate the quality of the older Colt's but don't think it would be worth it to me. I'm going to send this off somewhere once I figure out what the perfect gun would be for me.

Time to do some serious window shopping and put together a list of what I want on the perfect gun.

Since the pistol still has some collector value (there are no more National Match pistols being built) and the desired result is a carry pistol, I would sell the National Match and use the proceeds to obtain a suitable base pistol and partly fund the custom work. This way the National Match is preserved for the future and the custom project can proceed without worrying about destroying an older pistol. I cannot imagine discarding pieces of a National Match as part of the process of building a modern 1911 carry gun. A retro pistol, perhaps, but not a carry pistol.

I prefer to build on newer Colt pistols, especially since only a few parts end up being used (usually the forged slide, frame, barrel, and slide stop). This way I get great base pieces using modern metallurgy and no need to worry about ruining a future collectible. My last NRM 1991 base pistol cost me only $250, and I only spent $100 more than Doug Turnbull's restoration estimate to create a perfect (for me) carry pistol. If the same work was done on a National Match, it would not have any increased value over the 1991-based pistol.

_________________
Scott

Hello, sir. Some years ago I stumbled into a Nat'l Match that had been used very, very little....and apparently cleaned less. It had a fine patina of rust over most of the gun!

Very sad.

I got it for a song (around $300 if I recall correctly) and had some minor work done.

The entire pistol was black parkerized

and the special Gold Cup type spring-loaded sear was replaced with an Ed Brown. One of his hammers was used, too. The gun was fitted with an Ed Brown grip safety and a trigger job done.

I use it primarily with 200-gr. CSWC's. I've done nothing with the sights and am satisfied with them. I suspect the front sight will eventually leave the gun as it has the small tenon, but when that happens I'll have it replaced with either a large tenon front sight or have a dovetail-type front sight added.

Speaking only for myself, if you like that particular gun, I'd fix it to suit me and use it. If you can sell it and get a base gun you like better, such might be the way to go.


It's not as pretty as many, but I don't have all that much in it and it shoots quite well and is reliable. I plan to keep using it.

Best and good luck.

_________________
Please drop by http://www.hipowersandhandguns.com

Stephen, That's almost exactly what I was considering doing with this gun. I don't need the beavertail since hammer bite has never been a problem for me. I was thinking of something along the lines of a reliability package, a carry bevel and a more durable (and obviously less beautiful) finish.

I am going to send the slide to Turnbull and see what he thinks before I send the whole gun. If he can get the slide back to spec fairly cheaply, I'll send the rest of the gun to be reblued with the slide so everything matches.

It's all up to the expert opinion of Doug now. I'll post when I have news.

Can you submit a picture of the gun? It would help to see if the patient could be a "swan".

_________________
Genie
Williams Gun Repair
Princeton, Texas

Custom 1911s a specialty

well, I got lazy, other things came up and have had some interest from people desiring to save this old horse.

I'm sorry I can't remember who the first to inquire was and I erased my PM's so I'm putting it in the For Sale forum.

Thanks for your help.