# Was given two Colts. No clue what to sell for.



## jo060 (Nov 21, 2013)

Basically a man who is not doing well (health wise) wanted to get rid of his two Colt's and wanted to see them go to me due to my involvement in Law Enforcement. He gave me 1 Colt MK IV Series 80 Officers ACP with original box, which I am very fond of and would like to keep, and also a Colt MK IV Series 80 Combat Commander Model with original box which is beautiful, just not my type&#8230;I'm a Glock guy.:smt082

Along with the 2 guns, he gave me me a Colt carry bag, a few hundred rounds, a few extra mags, cleaning accessories, a log book of every time the gun was shot and how many rounds, any service done..ect..

Now, this gun is flawless there is only a VERY SLIGHT idiot mark that barley *scuffed* the surface, I wouldn't even consider it a scratch. 
There are a few "upgrades" done from what I can tell. Night sights which are almost dead and I believe are a generic brand, Skeleton trigger, a larger mag release, and a magazine buffer&#8230;I think the safety may be a little larger, but I'm not positive, you all may be able to point out others.

I took it to a local gun shop and the owner was very interested in it and mentioned about $450, that seems low so I'm coming here in hope you ladies and gents can help a Colt noob out!

Thank you!
Joe
I've included a few pictures of the gun and one of the one I'd like to keep just for good measure 
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22002165/20131120_233748.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22002165/20131120_233808.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22002165/20131120_233831.jpg
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/22002165/20131120_233851.jpg


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

Very nice guns!

In addition to the items you already listed on the Commander, it appears as though the following parts have also been replaced: grip safety (wide and appears to be a drop-in vs. fitted-to-the-frame part), mainspring housing (flat, is usually arched), and I agree that the safety lever is non-stock (it looks like it was a wide combat/target-style lever that was slightly thinned in width to fit the owner's preferences). In addition, it has a mag funnel added to the bottom of the frame; this may be permanently installed, or a temporary addition, held in place by the grips (I can't tell which by the photos you posted; look for a thin gap between the frame and the bottom of the grips if it is temporary). Edited to add third option: the magwell funnel may be attached to (or a part of) the replacement mainspring housing. It looks like the grips are also matched to the magwell funnel, or they would have more of a taper on the bottom edge, so the grips have been replaced as well. 

Given the nature of the modifications, I'd also look inside to see if any work was done. In line with the other modifications already listed, I wouldn't be surprised to find that the feed ramp and barrel throat had been widened and smoothed, and perhaps the ejector replaced (both common mods for this type of pistol).

The value of the pistol will hinge greatly on the quality of the work that was done to it. If done well, you might be able to get $700-$900 for it in a private sale; if done poorly, then a knowledgeable buyer probably would only offer $200-$400 for it, as a rebuild project. Based on the offer you already had, and assuming that the person who examined it knew what they were doing (BIG assumption), it's probably worth at least $600-$700. Check inside the box (or in the log book) to see if there are any receipts from a big-name pistolsmith; if the work could be traced to a known 'smith with a good reputation, the value could be significantly higher.

A shop owner will always offer less than the true value, as he needs to leave room to make some money on the deal when he sells the pistol. If you want to get the maximum amount of money from the sale, you'll have to sell it yourself. If you want someone else to put up with the potential headaches (if you sell it, you'll have folks calling at all hours, low-ballers trying to get it cheaply so they can flip it, people from other states or felons who can't buy legally, etc.), then you'll have to take less money for it by selling/trading it to a dealer. You may get more money on a trade than cash sale; depends on the dealer, so ask.

Good luck!


Edited to add: If you have more than one magazine for the Commander, and you're going to keep the Officer's Model, I'd keep any extra Commander mags to use in the OM (just include one mag with the pistol sale). The longer Commander mags will hang out the bottom of the OM frame a bit, but it will give you a few more range mags for your "keeper" pistol; OR, you could sell them separately to make a few more bucks.


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## hud35500 (May 8, 2010)

Check prices on Gunbroker. They're a good indicator of what you can get for them. As for your local gun shop, he tried to steal it from you. I would have been insulted, but I own a couple of Colts and know what they are worth. You could easily get twice what he wanted to pay you.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

hud35500 said:


> Check prices on Gunbroker. They're a good indicator of what you can get for them. As for your local gun shop, he tried to steal it from you. I would have been insulted, but I own a couple of Colts and know what they are worth. You could easily get twice what he wanted to pay you.


$900 easily? This would be true if they were unmodified, but if they've been Bubba-gunsmithed on some guy's kitchen table, it's definitely NOT accurate. It's impossible to know for sure without personally examining the pistol, and local pricing and demand will also enter into the picture, but I'd be shocked, given the visible modifications and what was already offered, if it was worth more than $700-$800 retail.

You might get a sucker to bite, though; who knows? There's one born every minute, I'm told...


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## Cait43 (Apr 4, 2013)

Seeing as you acquired these at no cost....... Why not keep both........(unless you really need $$$)


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

Keep the colts. They will maintain their value to a degree. 
I'm sure he gave you his two colts to give them a nice new home.
Did he think the guns were going to a nice new home??
Have you shot the Guns?
What is a Glock Guy?
I own a Glock , Am I a Glock Guy also?


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## jo060 (Nov 21, 2013)

Thank you all for the prompt and thorough replies!
All the work was done at Gunsite in Arizonahttp://www.gunsite.com/main/, from what the original owner told me, this is a highly reputable place.

I have shot the guns, they both shoot like dreams but I fell in love with the Officers ACP. 
The "Glock Guy" comment was just me joking around, most people love them or hate them. I have multiple Glocks, S&W's, Desert Eagle, and out of all of them my favorite is the S&W Model 41&#8230;what a perfect gun.


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## pic (Nov 14, 2009)

I know. I meant to put a smiley face next to "I'm a Glock guy".
It's not a bad thing


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## rex (Jan 27, 2012)

The Officers seems to be basically stock but the thumb safety looks a touch odd,keeper.

The Commander has an old Brown or Wilson add on button with the checkering removed,and I'm not sure about the thumb safety.It appears to be a Wilson or McCormick bend but narrowed,the front corner appears too square.Still a nice piece.

Both grip safeties appear to be the Colt duckbill but the gap looks excessive.Then again it was one of Colt's abortions.Wilson is the only one I know of that makes a drop in swap but the gap isn't always as large and it sweeps upward more.

As far as price,hard to tell without it in my hand to tear apart.At appearance,both are good for $600 if the internals weren't Bubba'd,but they need tore apart and inspected.

One plague of the 80 series is the firing pin block being in time,if not it will peen the pin and blocking plunger even though it shoots.The easiest way to check it is cock it and pull the trigger.Hold the trigger back and rack the slide so the trigger can't reset.Take something and push the firing pin in slowly feeling for a slight resistance or bump.If that happens the pin and block are doinking and eventually will peen bad enough to bind.Unfortunately the only cure now is to find a Gold Cup plunger lever (which is hard to find) or heating and bending the trigger lever (not the plunger lever).Another cure is tig weld a spot on the trigger lever and fit it down to add the required lift so the plunger totally clears the pin.Colt used to make a 1,2,3,and the GC levers but decided to cut back to only 1 and the GC.

Another offshoot of this is either tightening up the trigger stop screw so there is basically no overtravel on release,or replacing the trigger with a version with a shorter bow.Backing off the screw to induce more overtravel will get the pin/block clearance,but it isn't the correct way and you will still doink the pin to a lesser degree on slow fire shots.

Both are nice pieces though,and if Gunsite did do the work I highly doubt they were Bubba'd.


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## DJ Niner (Oct 3, 2006)

If you have, or can get, proof that Gunsite gunsmith, and ONLY Gunsite's gunsmith, did ALL the work on the pistol, then the value is probably a good bit higher than what I previously quoted. If you can't get proof, or if some of the work was done by other folks, then you're back to my original estimate, I believe.

A phone call or email to Gunsite, with the serial number and a full description of the work, along with an approximate date (at least year?) of when it was reworked, might enable them to find and release a list of what was done to the pistol while it was there.


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