mawkie
C&R Whisperer
-I promised a surprise in my earlier High Standard US S-101 thread and here it is. A very rare USMC Property marked S-101. I live and die by a good reference work and for this pistol and others it's U.S. Military Match and Marksmanship Automatic Pistols by Bill Jenkins. In the S-101 section there are a couple USMC examples but both sport much higher SNs, closer to the end of the S-101 production run in 1957. Ditto for the only Marine marked S-101s I was able to find that sold online (Collectors Firearms currently is listing one for sale). My example has the lowest SN of a USMC issue S-101 I've seen and was built in 1954.
-It also has a slightly different finish in that the sides of the receiver are high polish blue, not a matt finish. This one is also unique in that the USMC marks are on the left side of the receiver while all others are marked on the right side.
-Other than a couple of nicks in the left grip base it's pristine. There's zero edge wear and the bore is pristine. Doesn't get any better than this. This takes the sting of losing out recently for the umpteenth time chasing a US marked Colt Woodsman MT.
-It also has a slightly different finish in that the sides of the receiver are high polish blue, not a matt finish. This one is also unique in that the USMC marks are on the left side of the receiver while all others are marked on the right side.
-Other than a couple of nicks in the left grip base it's pristine. There's zero edge wear and the bore is pristine. Doesn't get any better than this. This takes the sting of losing out recently for the umpteenth time chasing a US marked Colt Woodsman MT.