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411t011latic

Caliber .45 MOdelo/191.1

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The first M 19 11 pistols came off Colt's Hartford, Conn., assem­bly line in late 1911. The guns were crafted with the excellent workmanship for which the Colt firm had long been noted. The M 1911 featured attractive rust bluing on the exterior metal sur­faces and finely checkered walnut stocks. The pistol soon gained an enviable reputation as a reliable and hard-hitting service pistol.

U.S. Springfield Armory Ml91ls

The needs of the United States armed forces at the time were rather nominal , and Colt had little trouble meeting the demand. However, in 1914 plans were made for the M 1911 pistol to be manu- V>

factured by the famed government-owned .~ and -operated Springfield Armory in ~ Springfield, Mass. The M 1911 s manu- ~£I-.t:J~~~ factured by Springfield Armory were ·g" ~;;ii~; essentially identical to the Colt-made ~'"' variety except for the markings. Those 0

pistols were marked "Sp ringfield Armory/U .S.A." on the left sides of the s lides next to Colt company patent dates. ~ The right s ides of the slides were stamped ii:11~~~I!~

Springfield Armory manufactured 3,030 of the pistols in fis­cal year 1914, 15 ,359 in fiscal year 1915, 4 ,966 in fiscal year 1916 and 2,412 in fiscal year 1917 for a total of 25,767. Production ceased in fiscal year 1917 largely because of the need for Springfield Armory to concentrate on production of the U.S. Model of 1903 rifle because of the increased demand cre­

ated by America 's entry into World War 1. The M 191 I s produced by Springfield

Armory are noteworthy because they were the last handguns made at that venerable entity and were the only handguns manu­factured there during the 20th century.

with a "s pread eagle" emblem. The Ordnance Department "flaming bomb" insignia was stamped on the receivers and slides. The fit and finish of the arms were equal to their Colt-made counterparts.

Whell America entered World War J, its armed forces were woefully short of MJ9Jl pistols. The goverllmellt turned to commercialfirmsfor more MJ9J I s.

Production of the M 191 I by Colt and Springfield Armory was sufficient to arm the small, pre-World War I U.S. military until it became actively involved in the war. Declaration of war found the American armed forces woefully short of many arms, including M 1911 pistols. There were only some 75,000 M1911s (Colt and Springfield) on hand at the time the United States declared war. Plans were formulated imme­diately to step up production at Colt, but it was soon evident that an even larger num­ber of additional handguns would be need­ed. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson had existing production capacity to manufacture quantities of their large-frame revolvers modified to fire the .45 ACP cartridge.

The serial numbers for the Springfield Armory M 1911 pis­tols ranged between 72,571 and 133, 186. The left sides of the receivers were marked "United States Property" in the same location as were the Colt-made M 1911 pistols . The Springfield Armory pistols had the same type of checkered wal nut stocks as found on the Colts.

An interesti ng and rare variant of the Springfield Armory­made pistols are the approximately 100 that were made prior to World War I for sa le through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM). Those were marked "N. R.A." and very few original examples are extant. Otherwise, the Springfield Armory M 1911 s were supplied to the U.S. military.

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Even with the U.S. M1917 revolvers becoming available, it was desired to equip our armed forces with additional quanti­ties ofM 1911 s. As stated, Colt immediately increased its M 1911 production capacity, but the projected increase was not suffi­cient to meet the projected demand. Likewise, Springfield Armory was too burdened with production of the M 1903 rifle to resume manufacture of the M 1911 pistol. Clearly, other sources of M 191 I s were needed.

Remington-UMC Ml91ls The Ordnance Department surveyed the potential commer­

cial firms that were capab le of manufacturing the M 1911 and

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN' June 2001

found a good candidate in the Remington-Union Mctallic Cartridge Company. Remington-UMC had been a supplier of arms and munitions to the American military for a number of years. On December 29, 1917, the firm was awarded a contract for 150,000 M 1911 s.

The Remington-UMC contract specified a "target" produc­tion rate of 3,000 pistols per day to be reached as soon as fea­sible. However, the firm ran immediately into difficulty because the necessary production blueprints and specifications were not available. Since interchangeable parts were required, produc­tion cou ld not begin until the requisite drawings were provid­ed. Eventually, a complete set of production drawings and spec­ifications were obtained by Remington-UMC, and the compa­ny began to tool up for manufacture of the M1911.

The first Remington-UMC pistols were delivered to the gov­ernment in August 1918, but the company was never able to

A rare variant of the Springfield Armory MJ911 is the DCM model of which approximately JOO were made. Note the "N. R.A." markillgs.

achieve the desired pro­duction rate. The compa­ny 's M 1911 production contract was cancelled in December 1918. soon after the signing of the Armistice, although pro­duction did not actually cease until early 1919. By the time of the cessa­tion of hostilities, Rem­ington-UMC was on ly able to deliver some 13, 152 pistols to the gov­ernment. Total produc­tion was only 21 ,677 pis­

tols when the final deliveries were made in early 1919. The Remington-UMC M 1911 s were serially numbered

consecutively from I through 21677. The pistols were stamped

Remillgtoll-UMC, Sprillgfield Armory alld, of course, Colt were the major suppliers of complete M 1911 s. The top two images show the mallufacturers ' markings 011 the lejl sides of Remington-UMC (top) alld Springfield Armory slides. The lower image shows the Colt patent dates on the leftfrollt ofa Springfield-made slide.

of M 1911 s: North American Arms Company (Canada); Winchester Repeating Arms Company; National Cash Register; Caron Brothers Manufacturing Company; BUlTOUghs Adding Machine Company; Lanston Monotype Company; A.J. Savage Munitions Company and Savage Arms Corporation.

Although only two of the firms had previously manufac­tured firearms, it was envisioned that the combined total of pis­tols produced by all of the new manufacturers would be

with inspectors ' initi als (either "B" or "E"). The left sides of the s lides were marked with Colt patent dates, the "Remington/UMC" logo arrayed in a circ le a nd "Manufactured by/ Remington Arms UMC Co. In c./ Bridgeport, Conn ., U.S.A." The left sides of the receivers bore the same "United States Property" markings as found on the Colt and Springfield Armory MI91Is.

MISII Assigned Serial Numbers 2,550,000. However, before any of the firms could get into mass production, all contracts were cancelled after the Armistice was declared.

The Remington-UMC pistols were finished in the same rust blue as found on the pistols made by the other two entities and were fitted with the same type of checkered walnut stocks.

Although the company never ach ieved the production goals envi­s ioned by the government, the Remington-UMC pistols nevertheless

Year

1912

1913

1914

1915

1916

1917

1918

1919

Serial Number

1-17,250

17,251-60,400

60,401-72,570 72,571-83,855 83,856-102,596 102,597-107,596

107,597-113,496 113,497-120,566 120,567-125,566 125,567-133,186

133,187-137,400

137,401-216,986

216,987-594,000 1-13,152

13,513-21,676 594,001-629,500 629,501-700,000

helped arm the Doughboys of the American Expeditionary Force. As was the case with the Colt and Springfield Armory pistols, the vast majority were subsequently overhauled (rebuilt) after World War I, and few are found today in their original "fac­tory" condition. Surviving examples of all World War I and ear­lier vintage M 1911 pistols in unmodified configuration are quite scarce today.

North American Arms Company Ml911 s Even with increased production at Colt, and with the addi­

tional pistols being turned out by Remington-UMC, the demand for M 1911 pistols continued to outpace supply. In order to address the continued demand, the Ordnance Department con­tacted a number of commercial firms regarding the production

AMERICAN RIFLEMAN' June 2001

Manufacturer

Colt

Colt

Colt Springfield Armory

Colt Springfield Armory

Colt Springfield Armory

Colt Springfield Armory

Colt

Colt

Colt Remington·UMC

Remington·UMC Colt

Unknown

The only one of those companies known to have produced any complete M 191 I s was North American Arms Co. of Quebec, Canada, which turned out a small pre-production run of approximately 100 pistols. The North American Arms pistols were marked "Manufactured by/North American Arms Co. Limited/Quebec, Canada" on the left sides of the sl ides.

The North American Arms pistols were essentially identical to the Colt, Springfield Armory and Remington-UMC guns except for the markings. It is not known if any of the guns were actually issued, and surviv­ing examples are very rare today.

Winchester's M19l1 production pro­gram apparently did not progress beyond the blueprint stage, and some of the other proposed manufacturers did not even get that far. If the war had lasted into the Spring of 1919 as antici­pated, at least some of the additional manufacturers would have been able to begin delivery of complete MI911s. As events tran­spired, however, that did not happen, and the only M 1911 s to have been manufactured during (and before) World War I were the Colt, Springfield Armory and Remington-UMC guns along with the mere handful from North American Arms.

The names "Colt" and "M 1911 .45 automatic pistol" are virtually synonymous today. While the Hartford , Conn., firm did indeed produce the overwhelming number of those hand­guns, the other "Non-Colt" M 1911 pistols are historically significant anns. ~R~

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