re: Older 1911

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Anyone have a 1700s or 1800s musket?

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Yes, I have 2, found in the basement of the family homestead in Pennsylvania. Family moved there in 1804, however I’m not sure how old the guns are. They’re in terrible condition and covered in rust so I can’t see any info that might be engraved on them. Still cool to have though. They’re real bare-bones guns. No fancy metalwork, no gilding.

Planning to buy a new flintlock rifle to hunt deer on that farm, like my ancestors may have done. Although, for all I know, all the deer in that area may have been hunted out before 1804, and they may have used those guns for some other purpose (defense? War?). My great grandfather made it on to the front page of the local newspaper when he was a kid because he saw a deer on the farm. It was the first deer seen in that county in more than 100 years. Of course, when people read about it, their reaction was “I gotta go kill that thing!”, which just cracks me up. Luckily for us today, this country has come a long way in understanding wildlife management.

I’ll give you $350 cash money

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I never understood how some soldiers kept their issued arms after the wars.
A guy that used to live next to me has an M14 he said his paw paw (or maybe uncle) used in Vietnam. Is that even possible?

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Yes, report weapon as missing, stolen or captured, then ship it back home. Doesn't happen much now, but there was much more chaos in the WWs, Korea and 'Nam.

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I never understood how some soldiers kept their issued arms after the wars. A guy that used to live next to me has an M14 he said his paw paw (or maybe uncle) used in Vietnam. Is that even possible?

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My grandfather brought home a German Luger after WWII and my uncle has it to this day. It’s in excellent condition. The story we were told was my grandfather swiped it off a pile of German weapons that were going to be “disposed of” when the war had ended. He was worried it would get confiscated on his way home, so he completely dismantled it and gave the individual parts to several of men in his regimen to stash for the trip home. When they were back in the U.S., some of the men were still with my grandfather and handed the parts back to him. Others had to be mailed. He had it all back whole within a year after the war ended.

That’s really cool.

Bob Reeves at Nighthawk called me Friday to let me know my 1948 Colt 1911 is ready. I had them do their Colt Hawk package to it. It was a beater gun. They do an outstanding job on the older guns. Will post some before and after pics when I get it next week.

Very very sweet OP. Congrats.

You should share this on the 1911 forums.

I've got a pristine 1911C '34 build that was my Grandfather's WWII sidearm that I'm very proud of, so I can relate.