>>64153529
>Apparently they issued the same serial again in 1918. That’s weird because I looked it up before and I think there was only one entry.
Possibly a database error from some other Colt-made firearm made in 1918. No doubt that frame and slide are 1912-vintage.
>So this gun is in some kind of known hybrid condition.
It could also be that your grandfather fitted the checkered mainspring housing and extended tang grip safety because it makes the pistol more comfortable to shoot.

>>64118594
>Is there a good clone of M1911 (not A1) on the market?
The Remington-Turnbull repros are pretty accurate, but tend to run around $2K now. Turnbull and Cylinder & Slide have both done small runs of repro pre-A1s, but they're even more expensive than the Remingtons. Colt has done various repros of the so-called "Brush Blue" and "Black Army" periods of WW1 production, but Colt gonna Colt and they cheaped out so the text of the markings look odd compared to an original. Maybe $1-2K for those. Cimarron offered >>64118643 in a high-polish blue for a while but sadly discontinued it.

>>64118654
Reject modernity: embrace tradition.