Want to help me clean some old guns?

[Irving]

Sweet deal, PM sent.

[Irving]

I'm thinking since this is a Colt, it could be of some value, might want to contact Colt and run the serials.

I think the potential value (to a collector anyway) of the Colt was ruined a long time ago, but is there any way to tell if it ever was carried in either WWII or Vietnam?

[Marlin]

In th OP, You had a 1944 date put to it. With that date, if it wasn't stuck at a training center,, Where did Granpa get it?

[Irving]

I'm not sure. He just missed WWII, but went on I think two tours to Vietnam. I'll have to ask him again if this was his gun at that time or not. Probably was acquired some time after Vietnam. I wish I knew the history of these pieces better, but I tend to try and avoid bothering him with all my questions when I go to see him. Also, I don't know how comfortable he is with talking about his duty time because everything I know about what he ever did I had to find out by asking him directly just a few months ago. Not like all the grand kids got to sit around and here war stories all the time or anything you know?

[Marlin]

Well the Army does have a tendency to use things till they have no use..

The only reason I didn't think that my M-16 in basic wasn't at valley forge was, I was fairly sure they didn't have them at that point in history..

Other than that, it had been rode hard and put up wet.. more than once..

So it does have the potential of WWII, Korea, Viet Nam...

[bczandm]

The 1911 is a typical gun for it's age. I have a few 1911's and there is nothing wrong with this one. It's likely worth the better part of $900. The Winchester has seen use and has limited collector value in that condition, but still a "cool" gun. The Smith looks pretty good in the photos.

I'd used a basic gun cleaner....nothing abrasive. Clean them as you would a brand new blued gun, being careful not to change or damage the finish. A good coat of light oil when you are done and that's it. I use some Pledge lightly on the wood just to brighten and clean it up a bit and call it good. None of this will impact the value, but will help to prevent any future damage from moisture.

I'm Southwest, near Kipling and Bowles. If it would help and you are in the neighborhood I'd drop them in my dip tank for a few minutes for ya one evening....just drop me a PM here. Nothing fancy in the tank, I use Ed's Red, but it works well. BTW, I usually keep the plasticj/wood parts away from the cleaning chemicals. It might just be me, but I don't trust them near my plastic or wood parts.

Bob