a couple old war horses
 

What can I do? John H. has the 1911 and HP market cornered. Tom A. has gone into leathers... Guess I'll find my niche in the "used but not abused catagory", just a notch or two below their disearning eyes...

The 1911 was built in 1913, reported in Springfield research service 6/3/1915 "Sig Corps DEF", is about 80% and appears all original.

The 1917 has no such luck for documentation. This gun is about 98% arsenal reblue. You can see a nick above the trigger on the frame. This is a clear 30-40 degree cut with the metal folded back, almost surgical in it's cleanliness. The cut penetrates a little less than 1/16 of an inch. "B.A.K." in circle on the butt reports this to "maybe" be a Benicia Arsenal, unknown inspector, "R.A.C." on one grip is parts replacement from 1909 model. The refinish, replacement of the grips and cylinder appear to be the only work done at the arsenal. "JMG" inspector stamp does not fall into this serial number range, but does fall into the appropriate age range for repair (this is stamped over another stamp which is illegible as a result -- did it run through Colt in 1918 during it's repair?). If you put the blade of a ruler into the cut, it can intersect the cylinder quite easily... I can't imagine anyone going to this expense to fake such an inexpensive pistol... I would love to know the answers to all the questions this one brings up.

http://img157.exs.cx/img157/459/dsc000586iv.jpg

Looks good to me!

:)

Ed

I'll second that. They would look good in my safe!