Barbecue Gun & a question for the 1911 gurus

[Cybrludite]

Freshly rescued from a glass case at the House of Hock.

bbqgun.jpg

A bit of a mix-master GI M1911A1. The serial number on the frame makes it a Remington-Rand, the slide is marked as an Ithaca, and if I'm reading the serial number on the barrel right, that bit is from a 1942 Colt. The jumbled heritage means that I'm not concerned about the collectors value lost when some previous owner pimpified it. Only noticeable bit of wear is the barrel link pin falls out of place when you field-strip the gun. My question for the High Priests of the Church of St. Browning of Ogden: Is this a critical must-fix issue or something that can be dealt with upon acquisition of a round tuit?

[tfbncc]

Well, unless you have a secret desire to be a petty dictator of a third world country, I'd take that gun to a decent gunsmith and get it stripped and refinished in something more sedate. And he could also take care of the barrel pin issue at the same time. I don't know if it's a critical item or not, but I wouldn't want something free floating around inside that may interfere with the operation of the pistol.

[Denis]

Ohh. Shiny. lucky you, and well wear!

[Rich]

Suggest the following story to accompany it.

"There I was , finally in Saddam's palace, and someone, in fact several someones, had beaten me to it. The place had been stripped clean. I was about to leave when I noticed some debris in the corner. After moving some broken furniture out of the way, I spotted this, wrapped up in a oily rag. My souvenir from Iraq."

Feel free to embellish.

[PawPaw]

Oh, yeah, I like that. It reminds me of... . mine!



Of course, I'd get that link fixed, but other than that, some nice grips and shoot the hell out of it.

[Termite]

Cyber,

You need a white Eldorado or Coupe de Ville with spinner rims to go with it................

[Aesop]

The gun, doubtless, is the result of typical WWII-era interchangeable parts usage at the depot maintenance level. No worries.
The finish is whatever. But Patton's observation suffices for the grip panels: "They're not pearl, they're ivory! Only a pimp in a cheap New Orleans whorehouse uses pearl handles." Even if being pro-elephant requires one to use a polymer ivory substitute, it'd be an improvement.

But if the barrel link pin "falls out" during field stripping, one wonders what's keeping it in place during firing. Randomly migrating parts under operational stresses doesn't sound like a good idea, and ought to be addressed before using it.

[Cybrludite]

But if the barrel link pin "falls out" during field stripping, one wonders what's keeping it in place during firing. Randomly migrating parts under operational stresses doesn't sound like a good idea, and ought to be addressed before using it.

The inside of the frame keeps it in place when the gun is assembled. Not much wiggle-room there. It goes in that rectangular notch just aft of the dust cover that gets crossed by the slide stop. I'm more concerned over the amount of wear that it implies on the link itself.

As for the grips, um, I do live in New Orleans... a pimp-cannon isn't completely uncalled for. Ivory is a wee bit out of my price range, but I have been considering bone grips from this guy for my stainless Taurus PT1911.

I may need to get it re-nickled, though. There are a few chips here & there, and what looks like gold tone on the moving bits are where the nickle has worn off and the copper substrate is visible. In this (very) humid and (barely) subtropical climate, the nickle isn't just a fashion statement.

[Termite]

Since you're a big scruffy looking guy from N'awlins, I'd keep the grips and get a first-class shiny nickel re-plate. You could also probably get a jeweler to gold electroplate the trigger, safety, slide release, and grip safety.

Then yo' pimp-daddy gat would be complete.........

[PawPaw]

You could also probably get a jeweler to gold electroplate the trigger, safety, slide release, and grip safety.

Never thought of that. Hmmm.