[rangertrace]

Well, I have been eyeballing this Nickel Series 70 Mark IV Government pistol for a long time. It was on consignment at a local gunshop for $1,200.00. I have handled the pistol nearly every time I went in the shop for at least two years. Appears to be 100% original. Gunshop owner says he is sure it is original. It has one deep scratch on top of the slide, about the size of a pin head. Other than that, it looks great. The finish is extremely bright with the usual walnut grips and Colt medallions. So anyway, I traded a Para P14 limited for it. It was an even trade and I feel good about it.

When I cleaned and lubed it tonight, I was very shocked to see all of the tool marks on the bottom of the slide and inside the ejection port. There is sort of a spiral pattern just inside the ejection port. I'm not complaining, I just didn't expect to see that because I have never owned or cleaned a Series 70 Colt. Anyway, I am very proud to own it and it will most likely be a "safe queen".

If I can figure out how to lower the pixels enough in my camera I will post some pictures.

 

[AZ Husker]

Good trade on your side! Of course, if it had been in the shop for two years, he probably just wanted to get rid of it. Congratulations!
Download Photobucket, then upload/store your photos there. It automatically sizes them and is very easy to use.

 

[dsk]

Deep tooling marks are common in 1st gen Series 70 (and early Series 80) pistols. Apparently the old tooling was starting to wear out during that time period and Colt was trying to avoid investing in new tooling.

 

[Brooklyn South]

If I can figure out how to lower the pixels enough in my camera I will post some pictures.

You might try searching the Web for a picture reducer.

 

[Bluetooth]

That was a fantastic trade. I tried to buy one like yours last year. I offered the gun shop $1,200. A week later the pistol had sold for the full asking price of $1,500.

With bright nickel or any plated finish, tool marks become accentuated. Think of them as a good place for oil to collect and protect.

 

[hankster]

If I can figure out how to lower the pixels enough in my camera I will post some pictures.

There is a freeware software package that will let you crop, resize, and resample images to make them smaller. Also, it can change the image type (jpg, gif, bmp, etc.) if you like. It's good mojo. It is called Irfanview, after the programmer Irfan Skiljan. You can get it here: www.irfanview.com.

Hank

 

[ACP.45.45.45]

That was a fantastic trade. I tried to buy one like yours last year. I offered the gun shop $1,200. A week later the pistol had sold for the full asking price of $1,500.

With bright nickel or any plated finish, tool marks become accentuated. Think of them as a good place for oil to collect and protect.

You are right about that. I have owned(still own a combat commander in bright nickel) and found that true. Although the nickel will cover minor imperfections in satin finish anyway.