Colt’s WW1 M1911 Reintroduction- Best Base Custom Gun?

[@NevadaGunDad]

I’ve got one of these over at nighthawk right now waiting for a bunch of work. Super excited for when it’s finished!

[@jamesthomsen-gu5vw]

I have one from 2004. I use it to shoot Wild Bunch in SASS cowboy action shooting. It runs, and runs, and runs….mine has the old school coco bolo bluing that they had to send out to Turnbull to get correct. That is why I am hesitant to do any mods on it at all. The only thing I have done is I made a wider rear notch to help me find the micro front sight. The serial number on mine is the initials of the Colt CEO at the time then four digits so it looks period correct. The caliber is hidden on the barrel also with a closed action. I love it. I have won long range competition with it…..in Wild Bunch….

[@JonDinapoli]

The colt 1911 limited edition that's out now is nice. Cool roll marks and ring hammer. They are readily available.

[@1776_duck]

I've got one of those too!

[@JonDinapoli]

@1776_duck that's the next colt I'm picking up definitely!!

[@josephmatuszak3855]

I Love You. Just so basic and elegant as it is functional and firm. Thank you John Moses Browning.

[@gerechoppers]

I picked up an original 1918 a couple of months ago…watching your videos has not been kind to my bank account. 😂. I have no plans to modify it other than getting a new recoil spring for it and shooting it sparingly. Maybe I’ll try to track down one of these reintroduction models. Keep up the good work, I really appreciate and enjoy your videos.

[@mattcathell5627]

I’ve had 3 of these. 2 with the carbona blue finish and 1 with the black oxide finish. The first 2000 had the carbona finish. Those were sent to an outside vendor for the finish. The gun was popular so Colt kept making them but finished them in blue theirselves. Those were called the Black Army model. They made a WWII model before these that was nice but not as “correct” as the WWI one.

[@MikeRehfuss]

Looking forward to seeing JB’s work!

[@1776_duck]

you and me both...

[@christophermead9800]

It’s really cool to have a replica of a 1918. I wouldn’t monkey with it to make it modern. The point of it is to have a pre war Colt that you can enjoy without worrying about it. But to each their own. It’s a free country.

[@1776_duck]

It's not going to really be "modern". Much of its appearance will remain traditional.

[@christophermead9800]

@ Hammer bite is the fun part of shooting pre 1924 1911s!

[@seijiroukikuoka5975]

​@@christophermead9800 LOL only if you have the long cavalry hammer. Even Browning himself originally designed the 1911 to have a short wide spur hammer.

[@inspire_greatness7464]

“Oh air rack it”….That stupid SHIT!!! Classic Eli😂

[@ampman3228]

I have one…I love the wwi reproductions as I like 1911’s vs a1’s. I have a 2019 non a1 black army repro I shoot a lot. It’s not very correct though and isn’t even stamped with a pony. I’ve never fired the carbonia wwi ri as the one I found was dead mint and had everything with it. I wish this was a gun in colt’s current lineup. The first 1911 I ever shot was an early 1922’ commercial. I wish I owned one of those. About your video, they didn’t make a whole bunch of those ri’s, I do like them in the wwi configuration vs. resto modding one. If I ever come across a black army one with a little wear I’d probably get it and shoot it as is! I miss getting getting some hammer bite.

[@cmaster0368]

Great video! Again. I almost bought one of these when they came out. There was a lot of buzz about them on the forums at the time. But back then I had a slight mismatch and refinished 1918 Black Army that I was going to get Bill Adair to do his magic resto work on (the slide lettering) and then something custom shooter friendly stuff done like your Nighthawk 1919 Colt. That was the plan anyway, but it never happened. This video is making me look at these again. ;-)

[@josephmatuszak3855]

Love to know I'm not the only one that prefers the shorter ducktail with a wide spur. They just have such a good ergonomic feel. Granted you should never HAVE to cock the hammer often on a 1911, but when ya do it's a no-miss thumb swing.

[@travisturbeville1341]

I just picked one of these up a few months ago. My only criticism of it is the roll marks have not been flattened out so there are raised edges around them. Would like to send it out to have it fixed and maybe upgrade the internals. Would be cool to refinish it with early bluing and nitre controls like a 1911-1913 early model.

[@1776_duck]

The roll marks are a common criticism of this gun, for sure! Turnbull could finish the gun up real nice!

[@travisturbeville1341]

@ might be the plan eventually.

[@JustinHolloway307]

Wow you made me feel old in that comment I was 18 in 2011 I bought side by side 12 gauge and 30-06 garand and carton of smokes I remember these way cool gun

[@matteolozano3477]

Love the colt 1911 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸✝️💪🫡🫡🫡👍👍👍👍👍

[@DB2A7]

I like 1911s and turtles

[@luciusmirkwood1634]

Don’t everyone go and buy them all up. I’m still hunting for mine !! 😂😂

[@adamhale921]

I can't find one of these anywhere...

[@JodyT243]

What are your thoughts on Les Baer guns? I want a quality combat ready 1911 I have a budget of $2500 any reason to not buy a Les Baer?

[@GLDPVET]

What's your opinion on the Colt government 1911 45acp manufactured in 2014?

[@josephmatuszak3855]

Some Tritium sights is about the only thing I would change other than the foregrip, which I may add a similar bite pattern to the wood grip. Not square, but diamond. Past that I don't think you can enhance the core fundamentals of pistol marksmanship without adding grossly modern accoutrements.

[@mattogle2582]

You look so young to be 54,joking just found your page followed you, u know your shit on these 1911👌

[@frescobar5569]

Anyone have a link for one ?😅

[@Hammond12331]

First off the steel back then was just fine. It's not up to today's standards, obviously. That being said they didn't know how to heat treat. If you know anything about colts history you will learn they tried everything from metal inserts to broaching the end of the slide and slide stop catch area on the slide as well. It helped, but wasn't a cure all. Two main places the slides cracked. The broaching started in 40s on A1 guns. Colt failed many attempts until Remington rand successfully did it and taught colt how to do it. So no the metal wasn't junk! I think it's pretty good metal considering what it was. These guns were never meant to last as long as they did. They basically had a shelf life. They wanted them to last 10k or more rounds and be overhauled. Hence why the military wanted all parts be interchangeable. Now onto the tier guns. They're reproductions the first of them started in 02-03 it was an A1 wb inspected gun. The first run was not so good so colt corrected them to make the consumer happy, So basically there is two versions of the WB inspected a1 now fast forward 2008 to the jmg gun that is the one you have that you're talking about. It is done good, not perfect but really nice. I believe it is my favorite out of them they did. I believe only 4k were supposed to be made, well they made more because all the orders they had. So they extended the number for overwhelming demand..Fast forward to 2011 100th year that is the tier 3 gun. They made 2 types of these. One with gold you rarely see and the other black oxide one with the 1912 circled pony 2011 rollmark. Colt called it a 1918 but being a 100th year, you would think it would looked like a 1912 they did the circle which is good, but to call it a 1918 on the box I think they messed up. It's the less desired of the bunch. They were only supposed to make short runs of all of them and they made way more. I think they made 11k of the tier 3 2011 gun. Overall they're all well made and I would think they would exchange hands for far more than they actually do. I seen them go for 1200 to 1500 and sometimes on a rare occasion 2k if you want a "resto" mod so to speak these would be the guns to grab. I own all of them except for the one with gold on it. All mine been only factory shot. I been waiting for one that has already been used to just use for my shooter. I hope that clears up anything you wanted to know about the tier guns since you were still a 10 year old😂 cheers young man you're beyond your years. Pretty rare now days.

[@travisturbeville1341]

I got my black army at a pawn shop. They had 3 of them from an old collector who was selling them off. 2 were unfired and the 3rd was carried and fired that’s the one I bought. It’s a nice shooter. I fixed some of the bluing wear and it’s just a beautiful gun to look at. It will always have a home in my collection.

[@1776_duck]

I'm approaching this from the idea of building on a custom gun and from the perspective of many custom builders- both past and present. Most gunsmiths do not want to build on the pre-war guns because the steel is soft compared to modern frames and slides (as I outlined). I am not sure I said the steel was "junk" and if I did, it was more of a slip-up than anything. The steel is "fine for government work" but most custom builders do not prefer to build on those older guns. Than you for the Tier history! It's hard to find that information on the internet.

[@Hammond12331]

@1776_duck tier 1 guns don't say tier on the box. Tier 2 gun is the 2011 100th year gold motief on the top. There is one on live auctioneers if you want to look at it. Tier 3 is that carbonia blued one like I mentioned above. The one you got they made 4k and the tier 3 they made over 11k I believe I know about them that I forgotten over time. My comment wasn't meant to be disrespectful duck. I'm glad to see such a young guy like yourself keeping the hobby going. Cheers brother!

[@4catsnow]

Bought the Series 70 Government in 1974..Total piece of crap.. put both feet up against a tree to pull the trigger..spit out empties that had one side completely peened flat...After being in a drawer for 10 years, I bit the bullet and sent it to Wilson Combat...They sent back a real gun..

[@John1911]

Truth. Colt was a disaster.

[@behrensb1]

Vote Duckworth for President of Wilson Combat 2025. Make Arkansas Great Again!

[@Hidalguense]

I would like one in 38 super reproduction of ww2

[@cornishjack3561]

First comment 😂

[@katana258]

god all you do is ramble on and say nothing ..why would anyone destroy one of them for a custom gun

[@1776_duck]

@@katana258 first of all, no one made you watch this video. No one. You decided to, just like you decided to complain in the comments. Clearly, you’re a little slow and don’t understand anything about custom guns or even the gun that I am showing here. That’s fine you can be ignorant, just do it somewhere else.