We are kicking off this week’s theme ‘1911’ with a lovely commercial Colt Government Model made in 1920. Read on for another LSB journey in firearms history…

The American firearms designer John Moses Browning (23 January 1855 – 26 November 1926) built his first firearm when he was just 13 years old. He was awarded the first of his 128 firearm patents on 7 October 1879 when he turned 24. He was active for almost five decades during which he pioneered the development of modern automatic and semi-automatic firearms. He developed some of the most successful designs, such as the Browning Auto-5 (the first semi-automatic shotgun), the Browning Automatic Rifle (BAR), the M1917 (water-cooled) and M1919 (air-cooled) machine guns, the M2 heavy machine gun, and of course, the famous M1911 semi-automatic pistol.

In the 1890’s, the U.S. Military was rapidly adopting new firearms, such as the M1892/96/98 Krag and M1895 Navy Lee. It was also seeking to replace the variety of revolvers that were in service with a new, self-loading (semi-automatic pistol). Between 1899 and 1900, the army and navy ran an evaluation test on a selection of contemporary pistols, including the German Mauser C96 and DWM 1900 Parabellum, the Austrian Mannlicher M1894 and the American Colt M1900. In another set of trials in 1907, more models were fielded and all were in .45 ACP calibre:

• Colt M1907 pistol

• Savage M1907 automatic pistol

• White-Merrill 1907 pistol

• Knoble automatic pistol

• Bergmann Model 1906 pistol

• DWM Parabellum pistol

• Webley-Fosbery automatic revolver

• Colt double action revolver

• Smith & Wesson double action revolver

The Colt and Savage pistols were short-listed at the end of the tests, and eventually the Colt design was chosen as the winner. Following its success in trials, the Colt pistol was formally adopted by the Army on March 29, 1911, when it was designated Model of 1911, later in 1917 changed to Model 1911, and finally in the mid-1920s to M1911.

Two double-action revolvers were included to select one to act as a stop-gap until the requirements for the self-loading pistol would be fulfilled. The Colt design was chosen and adopted as the M1909.

The Colt ‘Model of 1911’, also known as the ‘Colt Government’, is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It served as the standard-issue sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986. It was widely used in WWI, WWII, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The design was modified after WWI and adopted in 1924 as the M1911A1, which was manufactured by Colt as well as by new contractors, including Remington Rand, Ithaca Gun Company, Union Switch & Signal and Singer.

The U.S. procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during the Colt’s service life. In October 1986 it was replaced by the 9mm Para Beretta M9 pistol as the standard U.S. sidearm. However, the popularity of the Colt pistol has endured to this day and modernised are still in use by some units of the U.S. Army Special Forces and the U.S. Navy. Moreover, the 1911 design is still immensely popular with sport shooters, and it is still in production by several firms across the world.

The pistol that we are offering today is a scarce and desirable .45 ACP Colt Model 1911 produced in 1920 and sold commercially. The pistol is in its original condition and retains most of the factory high polish blued finish. This is the classic 1911 – it contrasts sharply with the later M1911A1 with its military parkerised finish.

Today’s post is also featured on our Facebook Page.

If you wish to own this beautiful firearm, please send us a private message or phone us on 99471091 to reserve it until you visit the shop to see it physically. You will require as a minimum a Target Shooter Licence A or a Collector Licence A to be able to purchase it. LSB’s knowledge and experience in historical firearms assures you of a good investment. We offer a lifetime guarantee on the genuineness of the pieces in our vast inventory so that you may buy in full confidence.

We take great pleasure in bringing you these daily snippets of firearms history and we hope that you enjoy reading them.