OLD Colty Commercial question

Without pics its tough, make a trip over to the Colt Forum tell them what your eyeballing and the questions you have about it

 

Thats a good buy for a prewar Commercial in good original finish. Be advised, being pre A1 it has more collector than shooter value. Things I would want to be very sure of is the finish original? Is the Slide, barrel, sights, small parts original? Any cracks in the slide or peening at the slide stop notch? See pic for Marking info

 

Good luck, sounds like the roll marks are crisp. I’d love to see some pictures. At that price, I’d probably roll the dice...

 

I mean the slides were not hardened like modern (post A1 improvements 1924ish) and they can peen and break from use (I have one in the safe now).

 

I don't know if this helps, but this is what a refinished 1918 Colt commercial looks like.

The sides of the slide and frame are too perfect, TOO shiny. The rampant pony isn't complete (but some older examples could have been weak roll-marked).













You will notice there isn't any of the original "grain" left in the finish.


Now take a look at the inside surfaces. These were not polished. You can see the grain from the original surfaces. Those light streaks will be more pronounced on the inside of the gun, but should be evident on the exterior surfaces as well.






I don't think Colt was doing highly polished slide flats until right around the appearance of the Series 70 guns, but someone more knowledgeable will come along and correct or confirm me.

Hope this helps.

Z