THE COMPLETE BOOK OF THE
MODEL 1911
The Custom Edition
ED BROWN Centennial
WILSON COMBAT
CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
Centennial
From the Publishers of
GUNS & AMMO ANNUAL
USA/CANADA
$8.99
Display until 11/07/2011
LES BAER CUSTOM
CENTENNIAL
Old
New
WHERE
becomes
Singer Mfg. Co. m1911a1
(mfg 1941)
again
Go inside the shop of Doug Turnbull to see how
U.S. Model 1911s and M1911A1s are restored.
Springfield armory 1911
(mfg. 1914)
By Eric R. Poole // Photos by Tracy Halpin
Remington Arms Co. umc 1911
(mfg 1918)
Colt 1911
(mfg. 1913)
Union switch & signal m1911a1
(mfg. 1943)
Colt 1911 “black army”
(Mfg. 1918)
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BOOK of the 1911
gunsandammo.com
WHERE
Old New
becomes
again
This was the official “before” picture taken of the author’s
younger Model 1911 (MFG. 1918) submitted to Turnbull Mfg.
for restoration. It had been subject to at least two arsenal
rebuilds and was a host of mismatched parts.
“I
t can only be original once,” my dad
would often say. As early examples
of the U.S. Model 1911 start turning
the century mark, those of us who
possess a heavily used, refinished or obviously rebuilt 1911 struggle with the decision whether to preserve its weathered
condition or restore it.
“If it’s not documented to be historically significant,” says Keith VanOrman,
president of Turnbull Manufacturing
Company, “you should go ahead and let us
restore it.”
I sent serial number 340611 and 605521
to the expanding New York shop, and
a few days later reality set in. There was
nothing particularly special about my
pair of 1918-manufactured Colt 1911s,
something VanOrman’s team of researchers verified at the conclusion of the no-cost
evaluation and work estimate. In terms
of value, I had a high opinion of my older
example since it retained better than 85
percent of its bluing and was found to be
original except for one part. But, like so
many collectors who want to believe that
they possess a rare and unique treasure,
I thought they would be valued for more
than they’re actually worth.
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BOOK of the 1911
SHOP HISTORY
Doug Turnbull and two employees began
restoring antique, American-manufactured firearms in the back room of Creekside Gun Shop near Bloomfield, New
York. They were starting to build a name
for themselves by accurately returning
Parker, L.C. Smith and Fox shotguns as
well as Winchester rifles made after 1873
Once the U.S. entered World War I, production of the 1911 increased dramatically. At
about serial number 510,001 to the end
of military production in 1945, the “United
States Property” marking moved to the right
side of the receiver, just behind the slidestop pin.
to factory-new condition.
The operations moved to a
4,000-square-foot facility in 1998 and
expanded by 3,000 square feet in 2001 to
accommodate the growing business driven
by their reputation and word of mouth. As
demand from inside the industry for Turnbull’s finishes increased, Turnbull Manufacturing Company was created and broke
ground adjacent to the original building to
create a 6,400-square-foot facility with a
new showroom. Today there are currently
14 employees, including seven full-time
gunsmiths and an in-house engraver.
Turnbull Restoration obtained a federal license to become a manufacturer of
firearms and started creating its own line
of Colt-style single-action revolvers and
Winchester-style rifles. Every gunsmith
holds each piece to a strict hand-fitting
and -polishing process before subjecting it
to Turnbull’s highly respected, periodcorrect finishes. Much of its business is
tied to the vault-kept bluing and color
case-hardening formulas, coveted by other
manufacturers and counterfeiters, used
for specific serial-number ranges. With
respect to the 1911 market, Turnbull has
famously contributed the color case-hard-
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WHERE
Old New
becomes
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ening, bone charcoal bluing and nitreblue finishes to the Kimber Centennial
(see page 26 of last year’s 2010 edition of
the Guns & Ammo Complete Book of the
Model 1911), as well as the exacting bluing
combination used on Bill Laughridge’s
hand-crafted tribute from Cylinder and
Slide to the original Model 1911 (see page
72 of this issue). Remington Arms, Colt,
Smith and Wesson, U.S. Firearms and
many gunsmiths around the world also
look to Turnbull when the highest quality
and historical accuracy are necessary for
their most important projects. Since the
business began in 1983, Doug Turnbull’s
shop has restored or repaired more than
5,600 firearms and manufactured more
than 200 new classics.
SHOP VISIT
Turnbull Manufacturing has restored in
excess of 1,000 1911s in all makes and
most variations. To fully understand what
goes into the restoration of an important
piece of history and experience one of my
1911s undergoing part of the process, I
made a two-day road trip to Bloomfield,
New York, from Illinois. I say “part of the
restoration process” because as much as
40 hours of labor go into each pistol. Turnbull restores about 50 1911s each year,
but with this year marking the 100th anniversary of the gun, the number of orders
patiently waiting inside Turnbull’s bank
vault (yes, it’s from an actual bank) has
doubled. Clients are being told to expect a
seven- to nine-month turnaround.
Touring the shop section of the new
Turnbull facility, I walked through the
doors and was taken back to the memory
of my years sitting at a bench with the
warm smell of gun oil hovering in the air.
The gunsmiths initially seemed unaware
of my presence as they keenly focused on
what they were doing within their own
personally organized space. One was working on a side-by-side Fox shotgun, another
on an old Winchester, and Mike Knowles
up front was working on polishing the grip
safety for one of my 1911s.
In another room, a gunsmith/carpenter
was working on restoring an old Hawkins
shotgun recoil pad, but he was polite
enough to take the time to discuss what
goes into creating period-correct replacements for the different variations of 1911
stocks. The truncated diamond pattern cut
into the walnut stocks of my 1918 pistols
feature 14 diamonds per inch. Remington
Arms-UMC stocks were cut with 13 to
13½ diamonds per inch, and Springfield
stocks were cut with finer checkering and
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BOOK of the 1911
15 diamonds per inch.
Due to the large microscope positioned
in the center of a sterile room, the next
room visited within the shop appeared
more like a laboratory. Behind the microscope was a thick-glassed engraver chiseling scrolls and flourishes into the slide of
a commercial 1911 manufactured in 1921.
He was working on his last project to illustrate his mastery of the four different types
of engraving required to earn the highest
rating from the Engraver’s Guild. He allowed me the opportunity to try my hand
under the microscope, which only served
to impress me with his ability to steady his
hand with a fine degree of flawless perfection. It was an unexpected talent from a
man who indicated that he wears his thick
eyewear to correct his 20/600 vision.
Moving deeper into the shop, parts
bins towered along a wall, and I carefully
noted the handwritten labels marking
the discriminatory variations of several
components. As such an example, there
are nine types of front sights on 1911s
and 1911A1s (military and commercial
pistols), and within those types there are
four variations of the Type 8. How does
Turnbull still find so many period-correct
parts? “We have sources,” VanOrman says.
“If we disassemble the project and discover
incorrect parts are on the gun, we work
with the customer to make it more period
correct. We also advise the customer as
to what is correct and incorrect. Some replacement parts are original, while others
are modern, but we use the correct stamps,
polishing, checkering, roll dies and inspector marks to make it factory original. We
do maintain a source for replacement
parts, but I can’t mention from where.”
Heading back to the older part of the
facility, a room to the right revealed an
enormous collection of wooden stock
blanks—more exhibition-grade wood than
I’ve ever seen in one room. Back and to the
left was an antique lathe that worked like
Thomas Jefferson’s original copy machine.
An indicator on the left travels across the
contours of an original stock, and a cutter
on the right side mirrors its movement and
forms the shape from a new blank. Little
wood is wasted, and the gunsmiths at
Turnbull are seasoned veterans in selecting
and accessing the best art from the grain
that each stock blank offers.
The last room visited in the tour
contained a roomful of lathes and milling
machines, but my eyes were drawn to the
wall of rollstamp dies as I realized that was
one of the company’s secrets in obtaining
correct markings. One of the easiest ways
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Old New
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More than 130 unique roll stamps hang on a
wall at Turnbull Manufacturing. From the scarce
to the common, this unusual inventory is indicitive of the shop’s capability in addressing any
restoration.
again
because the restoration would depreciate
the pistol’s value.
“The majority of our restorations are
lower-condition, noncollectible 1911s,”
says VanOrman. “These are typically
$1,500 guns that bring the value to approximately $5,500 with $2,000 worth of
restoration. It would be foolish to restore a
high-quality gun.”
When a 1911 comes in for a quote, it
gets evaluated at no charge or obligation.
A shop foreman takes a look at the gun,
mechanically checks the condition (which
does not involve a test fire) and creates
to determine if a 1911 looks too good and
has ever been refinished is to carefully
inspect the markings. Gunsmiths will
often polish the slabs on the slide and the
frame to reduce the effects of rust pitting,
but in doing so the stamps and proofmarks
are smoothed over and the depth of the
lettering becomes shallow by the time a
1911 is submerged in the bluing bath. In
cases where a 1911 is pitted, a Turnbull
gunsmith will completely remove any evidence of pitting, smooth out the slab and
rollstamp the correct marking from one of
the many dies the company has spent years
collecting in order to produce an originalquality result.
“We rarely see guns with too much
pitting. They were built quite well,” says
VanOrman. “We wouldn’t take on a project if [rust] pitting were too deep.”
Heading to the new showroom, I
noticed a locked door. “Is that where the
bluing is done?” I asked.
“Yes, but if I take you in there, I couldn’t
let you out,” I was told. The formula and
process to achieve the correct blue and color case-hardening is a Turnbull secret kept
close to the chest. They won’t even explain
how it’s done. “The one thing that I can
share is that Colt used coal, and Turnbull
Manufacturing Company uses propane for
heating the ovens,” VanOrman indicated.
“We know our bluing is correct based on
comparing it to guns that are in 98 percent
condition with a little bit of aging.”
After nearly a century of service, serial
number 605521 has been completely
restored and appears exactly as it did
the day it left Colt’s factory in late 1918.
a detailed quote. At this stage, nothing
about the gun has been disassembled.
He considers what polishing or replacing
of parts will likely need to occur before
it’s even blued, then creates an estimate.
After the client approves the work order,
a gunsmith will disassemble the 1911 and
examine the need for any internal parts
replacement. The quote is amended with
any unseen issues with the pistol, which
are addressed with the client before a
gunsmith continues. Each detail is broken
down on a line-item quotation.
The typical restoration costs about
$2,500 and requires extensive research
before beginning. The most common
misunderstanding is when a client sends
his Model 1911 to be blued after seeing
a price of $250 listed on the Turnbull
Web site. “What they don’t necessarily
On several occasions Turnbull has
rejected work on high-condition 1911s
BOOK of the 1911
Turnbull’s shop with an average condition
of 25 percent grade.
Everything that leaves Turnbull’s shop
is mechanically functional and ready to be
fired. It doesn’t usually see a gun submitted for mechanical issues only; most
gunsmiths are approached for that sort of
work. Although Turnbull Manufacturing
Company specializes in restorations, it will
perform mechanical work while restoring a
gun. Once a gunsmith completes restoration, it goes through the hands of quality
control before it is returned to the client,
but it’s never test fired.
ARRIVAL
TO RESTORE, OR NOT TO
RESTORE? THAT IS THE QUESTION
12
think about is the work that has to be
done to most projects before they can
be blued,” says Tracy Haplin, marketing
manager for Turnbull Manufacturing. “It
usually has to be prepped and polished
before any marks are added. Historically
speaking, different parts got polished in
different ways. There is more to what we
do than simply bluing. Some people try
to prep the pistol themselves, but most
of the guns need an entire restoration.
Occasionally, we do get one in from a
gunsmith that has good prep work, and
it can be simply blued for $250, but most
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end up needing additional work.”
Sharing space inside the Turnbull vault
are valuable materials including out-ofprint references, factory archival data and
a library of pictures and notes gathered
from encounters with other original
samples known to be historically correct.
No detail is too small, and only Turnbull’s
restoration services have proven the ability
to accurately reproduce every fine detail to
exacting standards—proofmarks, inspector marks, the number of lines in checkering on different components, the sequence
of tactile diamonds cut into a Colt stock
slab in contrast to the lines of checkering
on a Remington or Springfield. Even the
direction and depth of the grain created
from final polishing to every component
gets critiqued.
The most common restoration to a 1911
is applied to an early Colt M1911 U.S.
Army, though the gunsmiths at Turnbull
have completed a number of M1911A1
projects. For those who are of the opinion
that allowing an original 1911 to be
subject to restoration is sacrilege, consider
the fact that most 1911 projects arrive to
I purchased the pistols that I sent in for
restoration for just $500 apiece. The
younger of the two was in especially rough
condition. A few short weeks after my
visit, both of my 1918-vintage 1911s were
signed for and unveiled in the office. It’s
easy to understand why so many owners
of the early .45s are looking to Turnbull
Manufacturing Company for its restoration services. My vintage 1911s now appear
as if they just came off the original assembly table. It is such an incredible feeling to
think back upon their condition months
ago, witness a day in their transformation
and see what they have ultimately become.
For a heavily worn or nonfunctioning,
mismatched-parts gun without some
type of documented provenance, Turnbull’s services can renew a 1911’s honor
while creating an excellent investment.
Occasionally, Turnbull Manufacturing Company offers similar restored
pistols from its inventory or on customer
consignment for a price usually falling
between $4,500 and $5,500 (determined
by a number of factors). At the time of
this writing, there is a Remington UMC
listed for $6,250 and a Colt Model 1911
Black Army priced at $4,750. As high as
those prices might sound for a restored
1911, Turnbull has no problem selling them. This is the only shop I know
where someone can send an honest antique to be restored without the risk of
destroying its value. For more information, visit turnbullmfg.com.
BOOK of the 1911
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WHERE
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Old New
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BOOK of the 1911
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BOOK of the 1911
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