My original Colt 1911 US Property marked 45 is at my moms and I am gonna pick it up next weekend.

It is still a shooter, but suffered lots of wear and slight slide pitting so my Grandad tried a home bluing kit to hold off any more damage. Now I know that ruined any future collector value but it is not gonna be for sale anyway. I am thinking of having it professionally reblued.

Were the original 1911's a deep blue? What about a colt refinish vs a local smith? Someone on here even?

OK, I found these pics. Not mine but both are close.

I wanna go from this to this.

The were parked during WWII at least. Not sure about earlier, all the originals I have held in my hand were late 30s early 40s manufacture.

Do you know who made it?

Is it a 1911 or 1911A1?

It is a Colt mfg 1911. The original one. No arsenal markings so it was out of service by WWII

Does it have the straight main spring housing like the one above or an arched one? Arched usually means WWII and beyond unless it was replaced. There were changes to make the sights larger and easier to use.

Pre WWII they were a very specific dark deep blue. Colt IIRC will refinish. That may be the best solution though there are folks on 1911forum.com that can duplicate the finish

Straight back and tiny useless sights. I will check out the 1911forum. I also have a 1903/08 hammerless 380