The North
American Arms Co. Ltd., Quebec City, Quebec, Canada was awarded a
contract on July 1 1918, to manufacture M1911 pistols at the rate of
2000 pistols per day, at a cost of $15.50 each.
NAA (North
American Arms) leased the old Ross Rifle Plant in Quebec City for the
manufacture of the pistol. Few
details are known about the operation, and no pistols were delivered.
The Company however did reach the pre-production stage of
manufacturing, and approximately 100 toolroom/pre-production pistols
were made. Pistol serial
number 46 was submitted to the Claims Board for inspection in the Spring
of 1920. The claims board
was set up to examine and settle any claims arising out of canceled
contracts and the like. The
board members included Colonel Gilbert H. Stewart, later Commanding
Officer of Springfield Armory.
NAA
pistols had all of the normal characteristics that a Colts M1911 had but
were marked differently. The
left slide legend had the
manufacturers name and address. The
serial number was marked on the slide just above the thumb safety, the
trigger was marked on the Left side, sometimes inside the receiver, and
the receiver was marked under the left grip.
No inspection or acceptance marks.
These pistols are of course quite rare and are seldom sold in
original condition. Therefore
establishing a value is mostly guess work. Reference
Charles Clawsons “Colt .45 Service pistols”.
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