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My affliction for collecting firearms is most certainly not limited to Lugers! Here are my (so far) 2 GI 1911's.

Twice re-arsenaled Remington Rand with Colt hammer and checkered mainspring housing, early 1943 production (AFAIK).

The other is a WW1 Remington UMC frame with an Ithaca slide from WW2. Was modified 'back in the day' into a "bullseye" type pistol -- 'hogged out' ejection port, target sights and stippling. Original WW1 trigger. A really sweet shooter. Wish I could find a parked Remington UMC slide for it, but I do enjoy it 'as is'.

Correct, original 1911a1's have gotten extremely expensive, these certainly aren't 'top drawer', but they still have value, and most importantly to me, they've both 'been there'. The 'mixmaster' Remington UMC is early enough to have made it to France (s/n 81xx)...the fact that it was re-arsenaled for WW2 tells me that it most likely didn't just sit in an arms room, unissued...

The second pic is more a vanity shot..."the pen and the sword", if you will. Typewriter is a 1941 Remington Rand...

I've also a Colt WW1 commemorative 2nd Battle of the Marne 1911 pistol with the lovely royal blue finish. I put a set of cocobolo 'double diamond' grips with the little gold-colored Colt medallion on the gun. Very fun to shoot, makes for a great 'barbecue gun' when I'm shooting handguns with friends!

Early Remington's used Colt hammers and other Colt parts so yours may have come originally with those parts. That one looks very decent, sometimes the arsenals passed a good gun along without refinishing.

it's hard to resist GI 1911's :cheers:

"Jelly" (Jealous, as the kids say today)!

Love the Colt 1911. I have Colt 1911 s/n 243xxx on layaway as we speak. It was nickel-plated, but it looks like it wasn't buffed hardly at all (edges not too rounded off, etc.), and IIRC, all markings are present... Thinking very seriously about having the plating removed and getting it refinished if something close to the original finish can be applied.

Here are a couple of pics of my WW1 commemorative. As an interesting side note, this pistol is (with the replacement grips) almost identical to one owned by Elvis Presley! Thus I call this one: "The King"!

One interesting thing about "the mixmaster" Rem UMC is that when it went through the re-arsenal process, RIA apparently stamped the frame "M1911 US Army". I have seen this stamping previously on another RIA re-arsenal 1911, somewhere (I don't remember which site).

Here is mine:

What is not to like about these old warhorses? They did what they were designed to do for years and years. If they could only talk, what a tale they could tell. I own a Colt 1914 1911, and a 1943 Colt 1911A1 "lend lease" model. I love to shoot them, and I load some "soft" loads so as not to crack a slide or frame.

Jason, be careful not to get addicted to these :evilgrin:

Already lusting for one! I have a good friend with a very early 1903, s/n 1500 or thereabouts, but he bulged the barrel and broke the bushing shooting Wolf ammo (squib) :nono:

Wolf is ok for an AK, but in a 100 year old piece of history?

What a dumbass.

While I agree with Richard, I'd like to thank Jason, as I'm afflicted by the same bug as well!

I used to collect 1911, until a few years ago when I came to the conclusion that mine perhaps wasn't really a "collection"; a collection should be made by "extremely scarce items", a gun is not that scarce if you can find it in a gunshop after all.

I don't know maybe I'm going through an "identity crisis" as a collector, maybe a collector is only who manages to find Herman Goering's P 08, or Gen Patton S&W ?

You guys need to give up on being "collectors". I realized long ago that I am merely an "accumulator" of guns that peak my interest at the moment.
dju

Well..."Collector" sounds so much better than say, "obsessive accumulator of firearms"!

My focus tends toward military issue weapons (handguns and rifles) of the US and Germany. Insofar as Germany is concerned, my focus is WW1 and WW2. Insofar as the US is concerned, my focus has been WW1 through the Desert Storm era.

In some cases, (Lugers, High Powers, 1911/1911a1's), I have multiple examples.

Fortunately, also (convenient excuse for the wife unit), they make for good investments! :D

It's probably just as well that I can't afford NFA toys, as I'd love to have an MP40, Thompson, .30 cal Browning, MG 34 & MG 42, etc., etc.!

I feel your pain :biggulp:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/collector

Thanks Jason

Long ago I used to eat, sleep, and breathe Colt 1911's

But now perhaps "obsessive accumulator of firearms" is a very good description of me I'm afraid! :-)

Soooooo many wonderful guns.....so little time(and money!).