Colt copy??
 

I have a guy who is wondering what the heck he has. It looks and feels Colt all the way, but has no colt markings what so ever. It has some weird writing that I can't make heads or tails to. His uncle brought it home from Korea and put the grips on it. He has the original grips, but forgot to bring them. It has an unmarked blued mag. Have any of you seen this type of writing before? Thanks.
Dave

I can't figure out how to add more than one picture per post, so I'll pick out a few major ones.
Dave

next

another

one more

Last one. Thanks.
Dave

I would guess it is a korean made colt copy. I used to own one, but sold it. If you are a Napca member there was a write up by John J and myself on the two we each owned. We guessed they were made in the 1950's, but that is just a guess. Johns was NC marked, instead of No like yours.


Reportedly only 500 of these were made in the Pusan area; here is a picture of the one I used to own.

So is the writing Korean? I can't make any head or tails to it. The guy who owns it was wondering about getting parts and fixing it up as the grip safety was a bit loose, but it looked like it would shoot alright to me. What kind of money are they worth? Not much or somewhat? I would prefer to have a colt, but perhaps to collectors the oddity of them might be appealing. Thanks for the input.
Dave

You can remove the mainspring housing by punching the pin out. Then slide the mainspring housing down, which will expose the flat spring, which actuates the grip safety. This spring looks like a fork with three legs to it. One of these legs returns the grip safety. By gently bending out the spring which works the grip safety, you can return it to a more functioning condition.
Judging from the outer appearance of this gun, I'm not sure GI parts would be a drop-in fit. I do believe, however, that this particular flat spring would probably be compatible. A replacement would solve both the grip safety issue but improve trigger return as well.
An interesting piece that I would not alter in any way.

Some to many, parts drop right in; they are more of a curiousity than anything, worth $450-$600


The writing is hangul (korean)

Ed