Interesting video
I'm of a different mindset than what was presented. In my mind he devalued the 1911A1 by reparking it. The value of the armory rebuild was lost and the existing finish on the 1911A1 appeared to be in very good condition. Trying to make the finishes match in IMHO should not have been done and in the end the slide & frame were different steel grades did not end up with the same finish.
The WWII 1911A1 he illustrated has a history with the stampings noted and in my collecting I would value that history and differing finishes that is typical of the WWII and after rebuilds. All the internals, slide & frame appeared to be in good shape. Myself, I would have kept the 1911A1 as it is and it's rebuild history intact.
Besides it is a different collecting challenge to find 1911's from each of the arsenals & allied rebuilders and they are typically a bit less costly to collect than museum pieces.
Leggett71
Great video! Glad to see him shooting it, that's what they were made to do.
Hopefully that little gem brings a smile to many more shooters faces for years to come!
Hopefully that little gem brings a smile to many more shooters faces for years to come!
I agree with you, and he could still have shot the pistol. No collector value now, even with CMP papers.
Also remember that this guy is running a business. He explained in the video that this particular 1911 was not historically significant. It was his customer's decision to refinish it. Perhaps they had a special reason for doing it. Maybe it had been in the family for a while and the original owner always wanted to refinish it. Perhaps they just picked it up at a show and wanted to give it some new life and shoot the heck out of it. Mark Novak still has bills to pay, and I don't put any fault on him for doing this work. If it was my pistol would I want to have that work done, probably not, but it isn't the smith's decision. It is the customer.
I can see both sides of this, but this wasn't a particularly special firearm. Some people just want to bring old guns into the new millennium, and so I give the customer kudos for at least having the work done by a highly qualified gunsmith.
Now if someone brought Mark Novak a Singer or an early Colt 1911 and wanted it parkerized, I would expect him to educate the customer on what they have. This gun doesn't come close to that. It should be used and enjoyed in my opinion.
I can see both sides of this, but this wasn't a particularly special firearm. Some people just want to bring old guns into the new millennium, and so I give the customer kudos for at least having the work done by a highly qualified gunsmith.
Now if someone brought Mark Novak a Singer or an early Colt 1911 and wanted it parkerized, I would expect him to educate the customer on what they have. This gun doesn't come close to that. It should be used and enjoyed in my opinion.
Really enjoying the different opinions in this thread about the op.
Neat thing about that is, nobody is wrong. Just another thing to appreciate about our common interest in firearms.
Neat thing about that is, nobody is wrong. Just another thing to appreciate about our common interest in firearms.
Agree he has a business and it the owner's prerogative to have it refinished.
Not knocking what he does for a living.
Just from my perspective an arsenal refinished 1911 vs a mil-surp 1911 gunsmith repark has at least twice the dollar value.
To spice up this thread I inserted a 1918 unrefinished colt
All my best to the OK Shooters forum members
Leggett71
I agree with you 100% from the value perspective. My only point is that firearms can be a very personal item, and dollar value does not play a factor sometimes.
Beautiful Colt!
I have a CMP 1911 that is good shape but made from two different manufactures. The slide is a Colt, and the lower receiver is a Remington. Do you fella's think that makes it more or less collectable?
Interesting video.
I didn't know those greenish looking slides were made in Israel.
I didn't know those greenish looking slides were made in Israel.
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