1918 Colt M1911
SN 397xxx
This is
a original finish M1911 Serial # 397549. The pistol is marked with the
Springfield Ordnance District eagle, United States Property, and serial
number. Slide has red tint due to subsurface rust as is normal on old war
guns. The magazine is a two tone WWI issue and shown in Fig 1 to the left.
Most of the original finish has been shed in the line of duty. Reference
Charles Clawsons “Colt .45 Service pistols”.
Notes
on Images: Fig 2
shows the “H” conditional acceptance mark of Frank Hosmer and the
"G" indicating Government order. Fig 3 shows the “heart shaped
cutouts” in the frame, this was government approved manufacturing cost
reduction process that cut down on the time to build. These Heart shaped cuts
started to appear in late 1918 and continued to the end of 1911 production.
Fig 4 shows a close-up of the vertically oriented “P” and “H” marks
found on government production barrels from about serial #120000 to about
serial #450,000. Figures 5 and 6 show close-ups of the thumb safety and slide
lock respectively.
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Rev
1.1