If this gun could talk....
 

It wouldn't, because the stories it could tell are probably still classified. I just received a HAFDASA Ballester-Molina .45 out of the very large personal collection of the guy who own's Canada's biggest gun company. What makes it special is that it was part of a run for the British in 1940-1942 that was intended for the Special Operations Executive, who did all sorts of dirty jobs in occupied Europe. As such it wasn't marked with any of the usual British stamps, they can only be identifed by a second serial number with a B prefix on the right of the frame. Some are also believed to have been diverted to the 8th Army in North Africa, however they would likely have been British proofed.

There's some interesting pitting on the left of the slide that's not consistent with the wear on the rest of the gun, and is definately not caused by improper storage or holster wear. I suspect either sweat or, though I'm always very reluctant to make this assessment on a gun, blood. Definately adds to the mystique!

http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/SDC10215.jpg
http://i163.photobucket.com/albums/t...s/SDC10216.jpg

Maybe the previous owner beat someone's head in with it

How did you get this? How did the other guy get it?

I was literally just cleaning my Ballester-Molina a little while ago, it was a mess. Now it functions nicely and isn't covered in muck. Unfortunately the pearl grips I wanted to put on it have different screw ports because the grips are for a colt. So next time my dad goes to Numerich arms he's going to pick up a pair of original grips. I hate the target ones on it, the thumb rest makes hitting the mag release really hard.

Well, I bought it from him, I imagine he bought it from someone else. Britain surplused off it's Ballester-Molinas after the war, as they had no further use for them. When you seem them, they often have British commercial proofs, but this one doesn't. That's not so unusual, as the majority of my British military firearms don't either.

It couldn´t be in better hands, congrats Nyles. One doubt, do you see any strange marking in the gun?

No, other than the slide legend, the only non-obvious mark I've noticed is a HAFDASA proof on the underside of the barrel and the (matching) serials on the barrel and slide. The mag doesn't match, and is in fact a 1911 mag which I suspect got swapped out post-war, but of course it works fine. I'm taking a break from gun purchasing for awhile, but at some point I'll probably order a proper B-M mag from the States and just put this one with my other 1911 spares.