Colt 1911 Value

[mebadwow]

Trying to find out the value of a Colt Mark IV 1911 that my dad left me. It is 100% Colt except for the Safari Frame which has a low serial number of D1390. Any helps would be appreciated

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[Medic!]

Not a colt frame, would make it. Well...........Not a Colt.

 

[11Charlie]

Family eirlooms like this that are piece meiled are really hard to put a price tag on. My guess is it's worth more to you sentimentally than the cash value.

 

[Certaindeaf]

It's not a Colt. It's a "Safari Arms". How many rounds through it? does it work? I'd say maybe $450.

 

[KKG]

The Safari Arms Frames were actually produced by the Essex Casting Company from Island Pond Vermont.

 

[mebadwow]

It's not a Colt. It's a "Safari Arms". How many rounds through it? does it work? I'd say maybe $450.

Really $450? It's an early production Safari frame and the rest is Colt.

 

[Argonaut]

The Safari Arms Frames were actually produced by the Essex Casting Company from Island Pond Vermont.

I built one similar to this a couple of decades ago. The Safari frame was alright, wasn't as hard as a forged frame but well finished. In a gun like this, obviously assembled by an individual, the devil is in the details. If everything was properly hand fit it could be a good gun but if simply thrown together it could be a problem. The Colt parts are an advantage...........but I think the 450.00 estimate by Certaindeaf is on the mark.

 

[Medic!]

It's a mix of two guns. So has the value of neither.

That makes it a shooter.
And there are a lot of good shooters out there.

So some parts say Colt?
Great. Then there worth the price of the colt parts. That's it.

 

[Argonaut]

Really $450? It's an early production Safari frame and the rest is Colt.

The Safari frame brings no value to the table, you might get 50.00 for it as a bare frame.

 

[KKG]

Really $450? It's an early production Safari frame and the rest is Colt.

It's simply a Parts Gun. I'd put the value at no more than $450. because other than the Slide, which is properly marked(the Barrel may also be marked which would add a bit), there really is no way of being sure the rest of the parts are Colt. Lots of these Parts Guns were built up using whatever parts were available in the '70s and '80s as companies like Safari were going out of business. The usual source of the parts was U.S. Military Surplus and these were coming from the Lowest bidder.

 

[mebadwow]

I built one similar to this a couple of decades ago. The Safari frame was alright, wasn't as hard as a forged frame but well finished. In a gun like this, obviously assembled by an individual, the devil is in the details. If everything was properly hand fit it could be a good gun but if simply thrown together it could be a problem. The Colt parts are an advantage...........but I think the 450.00 estimate by Certaindeaf is on the mark.

It was built by my father who was a smith and dealer for over 20yrs. Anyone that has bubblegum this 1911 has been impressed with it

 

[mebadwow]

It's simply a Parts Gun. I'd put the value at no more than $450. because other than the Slide, which is properly marked(the Barrel may also be marked which would add a bit), there really is no way of being sure the rest of the parts are Colt. Lots of these Parts Guns were built up using whatever parts were available in the '70s and '80s as companies like Safari were going out of business. The usual source of the parts was U.S. Military Surplus and these were coming from the Lowest bidder.

The barrel is Colt

 

[Argonaut]

It was built by my father who was a smith and dealer for over 20yrs. Anyone that has bubblegum this 1911 has been impressed with it

So, it sounds like a good one.......still 450.00 but it will sell quicker than a thrown together example.

 

[Medic!]

Yes but what you start with matters.

A $10,000 paint job on a rusted VW bug. Dose not make it worth 10K.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Very nice pistol...but as stated above it has a mix of parts...which may or may not be a bad thing as a shooter...But as a collectors piece....the mix of parts can drive the dollar value down.

I'd say it would be a $450-$500 dollar gun in my neck of the woods...
I see that that OP is from "WV" if WV stands for West Virginia it would be well to note that gun values can be vastly different from state to state and in various regions of the US.
Andy

 

[KKG]

The barrel is Colt

Well, that's two parts.

 

[RVTECH]

It's an early production Safari frame and the rest is Colt.

There is no 'date' value for a Safari frame. Mixed parts guns take a serious dive in value.

 

[11Charlie]

Like I said its worth more to you because your dad built it and it was his! I have a little .22 revolver that was my dads. Love that thing Jon over NW custom was giving me crap because I spent more money getting back to a reliable functioning fire arm than it was worth. Well it was worth it to me so that is all that matters.

Enjoy your dads pistol. That in itself is worth a ton.

 

[Alexx1401]

It was built by my father who was a smith and dealer for over 20yrs. Anyone that has bubblegum this 1911 has been impressed with it

I can see you don't like the answers you're getting here but what they are telling you is just the way it is. That frame was made by a Co who made TONS of frames starting when there was TONS of surplus parts floating out there. So someone took parts, put them together, it looks nice, but it's parts put together. You can buy a new in box 1911 for around $400 now days that are damn nice. You say this one works great but no one buying it from you who does not know you "knows that". If you put it up for sale to the public they are seeing a pistol that is parts put together. It would be a crap shoot to them. Yes it looks nice, how do they know it was put together well? Now to me it would have a great deal of sentimental value and I would be hard pressed to let anyone buy it from me. So if you really want to part with it the best price you will likely get is to someone who knows you. If they can shoot it and see it works well they may well pay you more for it than what they can buy a nice 1911 new in box.

 

[KKG]

You might also up it up on one of the Auction sites. It might just be what somebody is looking for.