This is my own little piece of history and my most prized possession. She came out the Colt's factory in April of 1943, headed for war. I bought her about ten years ago for cheap. Pulled her apart and the numbers all matched. But her collector value is gone because some yahoo had her plated. I've been told the plating is nickel. I've also been told it's bumper chrome, and based on the way it's peeling I tend to believe the latter. But that isn't going to matter anymore. Because after years of hemming and hawing and choking on what it will cost, I finally bit the bullet and shipped it to Turnbull Restorations. She'll be gone a year, and it's likely to cost most of $3K. But they say they can return her to the condition she was in when she left the factory. We should all be so lucky.
I've given her a name: Rona, in honor of the virus that led to me getting the overtime that will pay for her restoration.
Good luck with that. Why would anyone do something like that to a fine piece?
Probably to cover up rust, pitting, and botched attempts to remove them. Or maybe someone saw a shiny one in the movies and thought it was cool, and Chuy down the body shop said, "I can make it chiny for you, Homes." We'll find out when they strip off the plating. But Doug Turnbull owns all the vintage equipment, roll dies, and punches from Colt and the government to fix it all. Says he probably has period-correct grips for it.
She won't end up as glamorous as many of the 1911s Turnbull does, because he's famous for doing the amazing charcoal bluing and fancy walnut grips that were put on these guns up until mid-1941. But this one was made for war, and came out of the factory Parkerized and with Bakelite grips. So she'll be more sturdy and handsome, in a martial way, than glamorous.
