Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shot Ye Olde Colt Government Model .45

This is a real sweetheart. It's never been messed with in any way since it came from the Colt factory in the early to middle 1960s, when, as the Scottish say, I was but a wee lad.

It was apparently taken off a criminal in the middle Two-Thousands, because it was sold by the Sheriff's Department to the gun store down the street at that time. I saw it as it was being unboxed right off the truck with all the other confiscated guns from the Sheriff's Department that the gun store had just purchased, and when I saw it, I told the clerk (whom I'd known for a few years at that time) that I wanted that one, so he set it aside, and later we worked out a price. The price was excellent, as I recall, but I cannot remember what it was, exactly. Seems like it was around $600.00, though.

It came with the original hard rubber factory Colt grips (which I still have), but I took them off pretty quick for some nice Cocobolo, double diamond, checkered ones. Recently, It's been sporting these real elephant ivory grips that I purchased many years ago, back when it was still legal to import the stuff to the US. For all I know, those grips are worth about as much as the gun at this point.



Sights are crude, essentially the same as USGI WWII era, so with my old eyes this was the typical ten yard group (multiple mags full) from a two handed, off hand, standing, hold

Trigger is nice and crisp, at around a four pound break.



I fired 150 rounds of UMC Remington 230 grain FMJ and, just to see how it handled them, two mags full of 230 grain HST. All rounds put through it functioned flawlessly, as has been the norm for this gun for as long as I've owned it.

Very nice. I have a model 1918 Colt 1911 and you're correct. The sights are "crude" at best - I can hardly see them anymore.

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A classic!

Nice!

That 230gr HST is my go to defense ammo!

Was messing around in the garage the other day and found another box full! Like finding a hidden Christmas stocking these days...

That is a beautiful old colt. It shoots too.

Yep, about worth its weight in gold, nowadays.

I like those grips, and the Colt too, of course!

Very nice TRH. A true classic!

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Based on the grips on many of your own fine shooting irons, I figured you'd like them.

Very nice. Love the grips.

Very nice looking gun TRH

Do you mean the Colt replica of the 1918, or an original 1918? Both would be cool.

It carries great IWB in my El Paso Saddlery C-Force holster. I can carry it comfortably all day in that holster, in combination with my Galco SB2 gun belt.

That’s a nice one right there! love that ivory!

That is a great looking Colt, the ivory really make it shine. It is a real treasure.

That's really nice.

45's rule.

Nice piece; all 1911's are nice, some just nicer than others.

That one is classic.

MM

For the last several years while likely future ban items were cheap that has been the focus of my collecting and still is when I see something on my want list reasonably priced along with four NFA items sitting in NFA jail now. At heart and soul what I really love collecting and shooting are nice classic blued steel and walnut guns. I hope to get back to more of that soon. I’d like to put a Colt Gold Cup Series 70 in the safe along with a Colt Gen two SAA and an original S&W 586, a pre war model 70 chambered in 300 H&H Mag, and a couple of JM stamped Marlins chambered in either .357 or 44 Mag and a 45/70 Gov. The fun of collecting to me is that never ending want list and making progress towards that never finished list.

I've got the prewar Winchester Model 70 covered with a really nice specimen, but not in .300 H&H Magnum. Mine's in .30-06. Also, like the Government Model, totally unmessed with. No scope ever mounted on it. No mods whatsoever. Great trigger. Accurate. In great condition, too. Love that gun.