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.

Fig 1	Fig 2	Fig 3
Fig 4	Fig 5	Fig 6
	From the T. Moore collection

Email me! Email: M1911@CoolGunSite.com
Rev 1.1