When hostilities between the U.S. Marines and the Moro people of the Philippines ignited into active fighting in 1899, it soon became clear to the US War Department that the Marine's service-issue .38 caliber double action Colt revolvers were woefully inadequate; especially against the Moro "juramentados" - religious zealots who were ferocious fighters thanks to their practice of dosing themselves with drugs to minimize their perception of pain, and their practice of bounding parts of their bodies to reduce bleeding when wounded. Multiple accounts of Marine officers emptying full cylinders of their .38 revolvers in to the bodies of berserking Juramentados and having little to no effect on the charging warriors became all too common.
It soon became clear to the War Department that the .38 Colt cartridge was inadequate for the 20th Century battlefield, and the search for a new .45 caliber "autoloading" pistol began in 1905. After accepting sample guns from Colt, Savage, Smith & Wesson, DWM, Knoble, Bergmann and White-Merrill, the trials began at Springfield in 1906. Following some initial elimination rounds, the Colt pistol, designed by renowned firearms designer John Browning was selected to compete against Savage's design. That testing revealed some shortcomings in both pistols, and the Army asked for more refinements in the designs. Browning personally traveled to Colt's in Hartford, Conn., to supervise the changes. He teamed up with a young Colt employee, Fred Moore, and they painstakingly ensured that the pistols to be submitted were the finest they could produce. On March 3, 1911, the Army began a torture test. Each pistol would be fired 100 times, then allowed to cool for five minutes. After each 1,000 rounds the pistols would be cleaned and oiled. After 6,000 rounds, the pistols were tested with deformed cartridges, some with bullets seated too deeply, others not seated enough. The test pistols were soaked in water, mud and even acid. Browning’s design passed every test without a single failure—the first of any firearm to survive such a 6,000-round test.
On March 20, 1911, the Ordnance Board released a report of its findings that said, “Of the two pistols, the board was of the opinion that the Colt is superior, because it is more reliable, more enduring, more easily disassembled when there are broken parts to be replaced, and more accurate.” Nine days after that report, the Army designated the Colt Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 to be its official sidearm. Two years later the Navy and Marine Corps adopted the 1911 as their handgun as well.
The 1911 was first issued in limited numbers to American troops during the Punitive Expedition against Pancho Villa in 1916. It wasn't until America's entrance in the Great War that the new pistol would be fielded on a large scale. Colt, together with Remington UMC, would produce 643,000 M1911s during the war, and it was an immediate hit with the Doughboys. It proved to be just as reliable in the trenches as it did during its torture-testing at Springfield. And tales of the man-stopping power of the M1911’s .45 ACP rounds quickly grew into legends, like the description of a .45 exit wound the size of a “Derby hat".
Sergeant Alvin York, possibly the single most famous American soldier of the 20th Century, is noted for his use of the M1911 pistol that saved his life and broke the will of the German troops that surrounded him. During the Oct. 8, 1918 attack by the US 328th Infantry Regiment against the German-held Hill 223 (near Chatel-Chéhéry, France, in the Meuse-Argonne sector) York earned the Medal of Honor. When German troops attempted to stop York’s deadly sniping with a bayonet charge, the good sergeant dropped six attackers with his M1911 pistol, shooting them in order from the last man in line to the first. After this, the German commander surrendered, and York took 132 German troops as prisoners, along with more than 30 machine guns.
The M1911 would go on to prove itself during every major US conflict of the 20th Century; especially during WWII when Colt, along with four other contractors produced nearly 2 million M1911 pistols during the course of the war. While it was officially retired in 1985 with the adoption of the Berretta 92F, it is still in active use with several branches of the US military including multiple special forces groups. It remains among the most famous and recognizable pistols in the world, and its legacy is second to none.
This particular M1911 was produced for use during the Great War by Colt. It's serial number dates it to 1917, and it is all original and correct with no replacement parts according to Joe Poyer's landmark resource The Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 Military and Commercial Pistols.
It remains in absolutely beautiful condition, retaining roughly 95% or its original "brushed blue" finish. All of its markings are crisp and legible: The left side of the slide is marked “PATENTED APR.20.1897. SEPT.9,1902 / DEC.19,1905. FEB.14,1911. AUG.19,1913” and “COLT’S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. / HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A.”, with a Rampant Colt logo at the rear of the slide. The right side of the slide is marked “MODEL OF 1911. U. S. ARMY”. The right side of the frame is marked with the gun's serial number, and the left side of the frame is marked “UNITED STATES PROPERTY”. A circled “GHS” inspector's stamp belonging Col. Gilbert H. Stewart can be found stamped on the left side of the frame behind the trigger . The top of the barrel at the chamber opening is marked with a vertical “P H".
Mechanically, this M1911 is excellent. The whole gun is very tight; as one would expect from a gun with this much original finish. There is no rattle or looseness in the slide or frame, and the hammer, trigger and grip safety all work as they should.
The bore is about mint with crisp rifling and no rust or pitting to speak of.
The magazine is a replacement, but was made by Colt and fits the gun well, reliably locking the slide back on empty.
This collector-grade 1911 would be hard to upgrade. These guns are becoming harder to find; especially since the gun's 100th birthday in 1911 helped to reignite a new generation of collectors. Don't wait on this one!
*This weapon was made after 1899 and MUST be shipped to Federal Firearms License holder, or Curio & Relic License holder, for transfer. Never bought a gun through an FFL before? Give us a call at (262) 473-5444 and we'd be glad to walk you through this simple process
