1911 value

[Superman]

Guy is wanting to trade a 1911 for some stuff I have. I haven't seen it in person. He says it shoots good and has been refinished. Says it "one of the original" 1911s. Going by the serial number and this link, http://www.m1911.org/serno_mi.htm, it was made in 1917. 6 digit serial 208xxx. Any idea what something like this might be worth?

 

[Jonnin]

Its hard to say.  Refinish did nothing for its value but decrease it.    A lot of those guns are parts guns -- the army took them all apart, dumped the parts into buckets, and then put them back together (discarding worn out parts as they went) on multiple occasions. 

 

So it just depends on what it is ... if its an all original in excellent condition and all that is "wrong" with it is a refinish job, it could  be worth over $1k, and up from there.   If its just a parts gun that has been refinished and possibly who knows what else (part replacements, tampering) or if heavily worn, it could be worth just a few hundred.  Its just not a question that I think can be answered from a picture. 

 

But look at it this way: if it is not worn out to the point of being worthless, well its going to be better made and more classy than the cheapest 1911s new which are $500+.  So, if it shoots and you like the idea of an older pistol, its worth at least as much as say a new RIA or taurus etc type pistol in terms of "practical" value.   So you can safely say its 500-700 or so in "value" just as a shootable 1911 pistol, ignoring any value added for being old (again, assuming its not worn out).