Engraved Colt Government Model Series 70 .38 Super

Start with the caliber, because the existing paperwork gets it wrong. The barrel and chamber markings read COLT SUPER .38 AUTO, and the gold caliber plate at the base of the grip confirms it. This is a .38 Super Government Model, not a .45, and that detail matters to anyone who cares about getting the gun right.

The engraving is the story here. It's full coverage American scroll cut by Jeff Flannery Engraving Co., and the Certificate of Engraving that comes with the pistol documents it in plain terms: American scroll with star and batwing accents, blued with gold plated parts. The scroll runs deep and tight across the slide, frame, trigger guard, and the full length of the dust cover. Look closely at the flats and you'll find the batwing fans worked into the borders and the star bursts breaking up the flow. The cut is dimensional. Light falls into it and pools in the recesses, which is exactly what you want from hand engraving over a blued base.

The gold work is where it gets loud. Hammer, grip safety, thumb safety, slide stop, magazine release, trigger, mainspring housing, recoil spring plug, and barrel bushing all wear gold plating. Several of those small parts are themselves engraved beneath the gold. The mainspring housing carries a checkered gold panel, and the trigger sits gold against the dark frame.

The grips are smooth ivory toned panels with gold Colt medallions and gold screws. They throw the dark scroll and the warm gold into sharp relief. Underneath all of it is a Series 70 Government Model built in Hartford, the classic single action 1911 platform with its five inch barrel.

This one comes cased in the blue Colt box with the manual, a magazine, and the signed Flannery certificate. For a buyer who wants a presentation 1911 with documented engraving and an uncommon caliber, the package is complete and ready to display.