[Tobias599]

Hello all,
I'm looking for some real 1911 pros. I have an original m1911 that has the eagle head stamp but no serial number. What are the chances that this is legit? My untrained eye can't tell if it has been ground out or not. Any info would be greatly appreciated

 

[MKC 911]

Hard to tell without pics.

 

[Tobias599]

Hard to tell without pics.

I'll try to get some good ones, but do you know if it's possible to have the inspection stamps and no serial?

 

[7.62Kolectr]

Whoops....
Run Forrest run!

 

[dsk]

The original serial number was filed off and the frame is illegal to possess unfortunately. With the heart-shaped cutouts in the frame and the Eagles Head acceptance stamp on the other side it means it was originally a late 1918 to early 1919 military Colt M1911.

 

[mkk41]

It has been 'scrubbed'!

Letter of the law = illegal to possess.

Reality , unless you are 'scrubbing' and selling such pistols for profit , or get caught using it in a crime , BATFE has much bigger fish to fry.

Still , not something to use for CCW!

 

[Tobias599]

The original serial number was filed off and the frame is illegal to possess unfortunately. With the heart-shaped cutouts in the frame and the Eagles Head acceptance stamp on the other side it means it was originally a late 1918 to early 1919 military Colt M1911.

That's what I was afraid of. Damn! But just to clarify...there is no way this could be a lunchbox or sterile?

 

[Faawrenchbender]

Nope.....can see where it’s been buffed

 

[hal copple]

The Jimmy Hoffa gun. NV

 

[Infidel525]

That's what I was afraid of. Damn! But just to clarify...there is no way this could be a lunchbox or sterile?

Oh boy another lunchbox special ... you need to stop reading posts from people that THINK that every 1911 without a serial number was stolen from the factory. The tip off to this pistol not being one is the eagle head inspector stamped , that wouldn't have been stamped on a pistol before it was serialized.

Then there's the rocket scientists that will say that firearms made before 1968 were not all serialized because there was no federal requirement, while this is true all Colt M1911/commercial models that left Colt ...and were not STOLEN by a worker .... had a serial number applied to it by Colt so that tidbit of info is not relevant to a Colt 1911.

What happened here, as with many other 1911's that soliders brought home with them, was that the serial number and/or the Unitied States property rollmark were removed. Prior to about 1950, someone will correct me on the date, it was illegal to possess something that was marked United States Property and the person thought that removing those marks would mysterially make the firearms not appear as what they actually were and be legal to possess.

 

[dsk]

The funny thing about lunchbox pistols is that there must have been hundreds of them being smuggled out of the factory every single day, at least judging by the number of such weapons allegedly in circulation.

 

[bayoned]

For a pistol to pass inspection and be marked with the acceptance stamp, it would have to had a serial.

 

[magazineman]

This question comes up often here, so here's what I found: Simple possession of a gun with a removed serial number is a 1st degree misdemeanor. If YOU did the removal then it's far more serious. But just having it in possession is a misdemeanor. MAXIMUM sentence is one year + $1,000 fine. (hint: maximum sentences are usually for maximum criminals, & even THEY often plead out to less)

So what would have to happen for this to become an issue for a regular guy with no criminal record or other illegal activity that attracts police attention? Because in over 40 years of shooting & collecting I have never, ever, had any authorities check the numbers of any gun of mine. That is, outside of selling or buying them.

Plus, with my conversations with the CALIFORNIA DOJ (CA is strict!) they have little concern over low-capacity antique/vintage guns owned by legal possessors. Their priority is criminal misuse, especially of illegal &/or stolen guns by crooks and prohibited possessors. Not arresting & jailing clean-record misdemeanor offenders. But they will surely confiscate any serial-altered gun that comes to their attention. Not because they care, but because it's their job.

So what to do? My legal recommendation is to immediately call the Govt & rat yourself out. Give up the gun.

BUT............... if someone was so much of a criminal that they did such acts as jaywalking or failing to declare garage sale profits, they could do this: Keep & enjoy it forever. Never transferring, pawning, it or getting it gunsmithed.

Because even if caught (how?) what would happen to this otherwise clean scofflaw? Even in Ca, probably not much.

 

[dsk]

It is true that the ATF usually has bigger fish to fry and that the chances of being caught with it, let alone prosecuted are small. However it's still important for the OP to be aware that the pistol is not legal as-is and that at the very least ATF would confiscate it if they somehow got their hands on it.

 

[filson]

This question comes up often here, so here's what I found: Simple possession of a gun with a removed serial number is a 1st degree misdemeanor. If YOU did the removal then it's far more serious. But just having it in possession is a misdemeanor. MAXIMUM sentence is one year + $1,000 fine. (hint: maximum sentences are usually for maximum criminals, & even THEY often plead out to less)

So what would have to happen for this to become an issue for a regular guy with no criminal record or other illegal activity that attracts police attention? Because in over 40 years of shooting & collecting I have never, ever, had any authorities check the numbers of any gun of mine. That is, outside of selling or buying them.

Plus, with my conversations with the CALIFORNIA DOJ (CA is strict!) they have little concern over low-capacity antique/vintage guns owned by legal possessors. Their priority is criminal misuse, especially of illegal &/or stolen guns by crooks and prohibited possessors. Not arresting & jailing clean-record misdemeanor offenders. But they will surely confiscate any serial-altered gun that comes to their attention. Not because they care, but because it's their job.

So what to do? My legal recommendation is to immediately call the Govt & rat yourself out. Give up the gun.

BUT............... if someone was so much of a criminal that they did such acts as jaywalking or failing to declare garage sale profits, they could do this: Keep & enjoy it forever. Never transferring, pawning, it or getting it gunsmithed.

Because even if caught (how?) what would happen to this otherwise clean scofflaw? Even in Ca, probably not much.

Why would a responsible, rational, law-abiding citizen knowingly violate the law and potentially subject himself to prison for something as inconsequential as a valueless pistol with a fake serial number?

 

[dsk]

Why would a responsible, rational, law-abiding citizen knowingly violate the law and potentially subject himself to prison for something as inconsequential as a valueless pistol with a fake serial number?

People seem to think that the low likelihood of ever being caught over something makes it okay. As long as you keep your mouth shut nobody will ever know. It's like all the guys in California with unregistered military-configuration ARs in their safe who assume that the police will never find them. Until the day they get in a car wreck on the way home from the gun range, and lookie what we found in your trunk!

 

[Scott Wilson]

Odds are a cold comfort when it's happening to you.

 

[mkk41]

And many non-enthusiasts simply do not know what's what. Especially on those guns with ''re-applied'' numbers. The way they bought them is all they know. And we all know there's so much BS among the bar-stool bull-shooters.

 

[Ibmikey]

I cut a 99.9 % Colt 1911a1 that the local ATF office dropped by and requested destruction with our other confiscated firearms. Of course every part fell off the frame and into my parts bin, I still have the rear half of the frame showing half of the serial. At one time the PD could submit a weapon such as posted here and not used in a crime to Calif CII for raising the number. If unsuccessful a CII number could be stamped onto the weapon....I do not know if this service is still available.