Heads up: Cheap milsurp 1911A1s

[pistolchamp]

This is no baloney,

I got mine way back on November 15, 1974... actually I got 168 of them at the same time from the then defunct L&H Gun Shop. Elmer Ballance had a little problem remembering to add guns to his bound book and many of those "lost guns" were full auto.

Needless to say Elmer became a "ward of the state" for a few years. Just before he left for "school" he sold me a 55 gallon oil drum full of Sistema Colts and motor oil... completely disaseembled and mixed.

A friend and I spend a couple of long afternoons matching up the parts and we ended up with over 99% with matching numbers... and even with the crude storage method, most were in very good to excellent condiion.

What did I pay for them? $10 each and I got to count them as Elmer couldn't remember how many were supposed to be in the drum... nope he didn't write it down or put it in his bound book, but, I did.

I sold the best ones for up to $250 and the worst ones for as little as $75, and yes I still have three of them, just for the heck of it and they are not for sale.

Another guy named Dennis (can't remember if that was his first or last name) owned Springfield Armory at the time and we bought literally hundreds of thousands of rounds of 9m/m and 22LR ammo also... for next to nothing.

Elmer got out of jail and went right back to work and was off to the big house once again.

He's old and deaf and finally out of jail and right back to messing with guns, but, he swears he'll never touch a machine gun or their parts again... we'll see.

Sorry to be long winded, but, this is a good story and true.

[budder]

The GM in Spring had no idea what I was talking about and the one in N Houston said they were sold out. I didn't call the one in Sugar Land, since I can't make it out there today.

[JLaw]

The GM in Spring had no idea what I was talking about and the one in N Houston said they were sold out. I didn't call the one in Sugar Land, since I can't make it out there today.

Call the store in Beaumont. That's where part of my groups shipment came from. Also another friend of mine ordered some to be shipped from Beaumont to the Spring store here in the next few days, and he may not be picking all of them up. So call them on a daily basis if you want one, there may be 2 or 3 extra's laying around there very soon.

JLaw

[JLaw]

For those who have bought one, which mags have you found to work in these? I have two Colt 8 rounders that feed fine, but because of the shape of the follower the mag doesn't always operate the slide stop when the mag's empty.

JLaw

[Skiprr]

I got mine way back on November 15, 1974... actually I got 168 of them at the same time from the then defunct L&H Gun Shop. Elmer Ballance had a little problem remembering to add guns to his bound book and many of those "lost guns" were full auto.

Wow. Great story. I can see why an FFL, er, "misplacing" full-auto firearms might be a cause of consternation to the BATF. But it sounds like, despite the work cleaning, matching, and reassembling all those Sistemas, you were able to turn a profit out of his misdeed.

[KBCraig]

Elmer got out of jail and went right back to work and was off to the big house once again.

He's old and deaf and finally out of jail and right back to messing with guns, but, he swears he'll never touch a machine gun or their parts again... we'll see.

Sorry to be long winded, but, this is a good story and true.

It's one I've heard before.

And MG or not, messing with any guns can land him in that federal old-folks' home.

Looks like he was on parole (the first time) from 12-29-1983 until 11-1-1984. Then he went to FCI Bastrop for parole violation, and was released the last time on 3-1-1985.

(This is public information, by the way. No secrets being revealed from my SENTRY terminal!)

Kevin

[Mike1951]

For those who have bought one, which mags have you found to work in these? I have two Colt 8 rounders that feed fine, but because of the shape of the follower the mag doesn't always operate the slide stop when the mag's empty.

I shot mine today using 7rd military, 7 & 8 round Mec-Gar's, and the 8 rd PT1911 magazines.

I had no issues with the slide not locking back.

I had two FTE's and another military mag was too tight to fit.

When I disassemble next, I'll try to figure out whether it is the mags, the release, or the frame. Some mags fit fine while others offered resistance. It was just the one that wouldn't fit at all.

[rodnocker1]

I stopped into the GM's in Spring and out on 290 yesterday and still no word on when (or if) Beaumont is going to release any more.

[ChrisStevens]

Others will be great candidates for melt jobs and refinishing.

What is a melt job?

What would the cost range of getting both of these done?

[tomneal]

Melt Job =

Remove all sharp edges from a gun. Makes it better for carry.

[Rex B]

I finally got down to the store and got two of these out of layaway.
They looked just like the others pictured above. My wife is looking at me like I've lost my mind, paying over $500 for these rusty old guns.

Drove out to some private land nearby and ran a few round through them. Only one FTE, which we attibuted to them being dry.

Right now I have one disassembled for new springs, grips and Duracote. Might need a barrel, but I haven't figured out how to determine that yet. I'm going to leave this one stock, probably will accessorize the other.