Thank You!! My whole point in posting that information is that with a little bit of effort you can indeed have a real nice looking gun instead of a crappy looking one. It's not only directed at you but anyone else who reads this forum that might be interested. Some people don't care what their guns look like and some people do. For those that do they can save a good deal of money doing the prep work themselves.
Can't decide what to do
Hello,
At the beginning of the year I inherited a M1911 (1918) from my deceased brother-in-law. He was a veteran of WWII: 27th Infantry division, Bronze Star & Purple Heart.
I have never owned a gun nor have I ever fired one, but I have since become interested in the history and mechanics of this iconic weapon. I will be taking a Handgun Qualification License course on Wednesday to learn about gun safety, etc. I have also detailed stripped the pistol and replaced a few springs so I am familiar with its parts and mechanics.
The pistol seems to be in good condition and authentic (I've been told this by many 1911 "experts." However, most of the original surface treatment has been polished off and I do not know how I should proceed.
(1) Do nothing, oil it, etc., maybe shoot it (not likely, except to actually see if it works).
(2) Parkerize it to protect the exposed surfaces.
(3) Sell it; I will not do this. There are too many personal memories associated with this pistol and my brother-in-law who I had a very close relationship with.
I'll end there except to say that I'm open to suggestions and I'm attaching some photos I took a few weeks ago.
Thank you.
REG
![Air gun Wood Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory]()
![Wood Air gun Line Gun barrel Gun accessory]()
![Air gun Wood Trigger Gun barrel Gun accessory]()
![Wood Air gun Line Gun barrel Gun accessory]()
At the beginning of the year I inherited a M1911 (1918) from my deceased brother-in-law. He was a veteran of WWII: 27th Infantry division, Bronze Star & Purple Heart.
I have never owned a gun nor have I ever fired one, but I have since become interested in the history and mechanics of this iconic weapon. I will be taking a Handgun Qualification License course on Wednesday to learn about gun safety, etc. I have also detailed stripped the pistol and replaced a few springs so I am familiar with its parts and mechanics.
The pistol seems to be in good condition and authentic (I've been told this by many 1911 "experts." However, most of the original surface treatment has been polished off and I do not know how I should proceed.
(1) Do nothing, oil it, etc., maybe shoot it (not likely, except to actually see if it works).
(2) Parkerize it to protect the exposed surfaces.
(3) Sell it; I will not do this. There are too many personal memories associated with this pistol and my brother-in-law who I had a very close relationship with.
I'll end there except to say that I'm open to suggestions and I'm attaching some photos I took a few weeks ago.
Thank you.
REG
21 - 40 of 45 Posts
Thanks SB!! There are a lot of cars that I'd love to own too. But Jay Leno I'm not. I'm just more than happy with what I've got and had the ability to do the lions share of the work myself. For obvious reasons I certainly could not do any machine shop work. Unless I had all of that equipment. This '65 Mustang I got right out of high school, it was my second car. I wrecked the first one in an ice storm and bought another '65 Mustang that needed a lot of work. I ended up combining the parts from both cars into one good one. Both had 289's 2bbl carbs the first one was automatic the other had a 3 speed manual. I swapped that out for a 4 speed manual added a fiberglass Shelby hood, 4 bbl carb, aluminum high rise manifold a set of mag wheels and wide tires. It was my everyday driver. Shortly after that I bought this '40 Chevy coupe from my friend who started working on it when he was 16 but never got around to finishing it. It had a 1970 350/370 h.p. Corvette engine, 4 speed Muncie, 12 bolt '57 Chevy posi rear with 4:56 gears. I kept that for a long time and like a fool sold it and bought a 1935 Ford that needed a complete restoration.
From there I went from street rod to all original restorations. One car I bought in the early '70's that I restored and still have to this day and the other in 1989 that I still have. Both are from the late '30's. One is from the "big three" the other a fully recognized "classic". In other word's a common man's car and the other a rich man's car. The rich man's car needed an awful lot of mechanical and electrical work and was showing its age cosmetically. But the body was accident and rust free. That car was really a challenge as it was limited production to begin with and cost around $4,000 when new. Both of those cars were drivable and I drove them for a while before tearing them down and restoring them. For obvious reasons I won't post the pictures on line as they are still on the road and I drive them to this day.
My dad also was a WWII veteran, served in the Navy on Destroyers "Tin Can Sailor". He and my mom were in Japan right after the war and he picked a Samari sword, and I still remember when he cut my birthday cake when I was 5yrs old and he never cleaned it off because there's still iceing on the blade 
21 - 40 of 45 Posts
