1911 w/o "US Property" Marking

[DavidM]

Hey out there. Hope someone can give me some insight. I purchased a Colt 1911 that some idiot had scratched the United States Property from the frame. I cringe every time I get this out of the safe, but that is water under the bridge. My question is how much does this detract from the value?

I searched this topic before I asked it, so excuse the post if this question has already been asked and I just missed it. Thanks.

[Guest FroggyOne2]

A lot!

[Magiccarpetrides]

wow that does suck...some people are really too stupid to own a gun. I think what it detracts all depends on whose wanting to buy it.

[gregintenn]

It doesn't make it shoot any different, but does ruin collector value beyond the parts one could salvage from it. You'd need to figure out what someone would pay for a shooter, and then the total you could get from selling it part by part.

[Magiccarpetrides]

if the gun has matching numbers its still worth money...show pictures of the scratching.

[lowery100]

Just to give you an idea how things affect value. I had an 1911 made in 1918 "US Govt. Properly" Before I knew much about the collectible nature of this gun, I had it reparkarized. I found later when I realized what I had was more valuable than just some old gun, I had it appraised. After being refinished it was worth about $400-500. Before refinishing about $1500-2000 +/-.

[DavidM]

Thanks, everybody. I agree that it still shoots, and it shoots great for the crappy almost non-existent front site. I'll try to post a pic, but I'll forewarn: Don't have your wife/girlfriend around when you see it because you will cry like a baby!

[Mike.357]

if you bought it as a collector item the defacing would hurt the value. But if you try to repair it or cover it up more it will devalue it more.

It is still an original USGI issue pistol.

Shoot the crap out of it and don't worry about it.

[Steelharp]

some people are really too stupid to own a gun.

While that is certainly a true statement (Kwik, et al), this probably had nothing to do with that. Back in the day, a lot of our boys that did bringbacks and wanted to keep their gun were genuinely scared about the possible consequences of "stealing government property." Their solution was to scratch off the ownership stamping, so they could show that it wasn't a military pistol.

[GLOCKMEISTER]

Tons