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2 Attachment(s)
Canadian M1911 ?
Got this neat piece from a dealer in UK (right, in UK! And it's NOT deactivated).
He offered it as a Canadian M1911, referring to the eletro-penciled markings. Didn't buy it for that, as the price was still hot enough for a M1911 but wanted to know if there were really such M1911s:
Attachment 19838
Attachment 19839
S/N is in the 350.000 range (1918 production), Eagle-head S14 markings on the left side of the reciever.
Regards,
Georg
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Yes we had such creatures. Unfortunately the C broad arrow can be faked. There is very little proof about these by number. It could have been bought by an individual at some point.
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Were those pistols bought in WWI or in WWII due to the paper box it was delivered with? And is there any possibility to identify a real from a faked Canadian M1911?
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Hi Georg... I strongly sugegst that you contact Colt and order a letter from them to document where (and when) your pistol initially shipped. I believe that the Canadain pistols were all shipped directly to Canda from Colt. I am highly suspect of this pistol being a correct Canadian shipped pistol. The Canadian broad arrow was a stamp - not electro-penciled, and was placed on the slide and frame - as I understand it. I suspect someone who actually has one of these will chime in shortly with first hand knowledge.
Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC > Customer Services > Archive Services
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Could you get a little closer than the 350,000 serial number range? I can't tell from the picture, but does it have an inspection and acceptance stamp on the left side of the receiver above the mag release?
The early Canadian Colts were Government Models, and the WWII Lend-Lease Colts were Canadian broad-arrow C stamped on the receiver and slide.
https://www.milsurps.com/images/impo.../2mcg5ky-1.jpg
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S/N is not only 350.000 range, it's 350.XXX :) . No acceptance marks except for the eagle head S14. There might have been one on the slide behind the serrations, as there was some abrasion at the place where your M1911A1 has the C.
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The Eagle Head/S14 indicates the pistol passed all inspections and was accepted by the U.S. Ordnance Department and was not sold commercially.
Virtually all of the pistols in the serial number range of 348960 to 358189 went to Bush Terminal, Brooklyn NY, and were shipped to the AEF in France.
If the pistol shown ended up in Canada, it somehow got there from the U.S. Military, and was not originally shipped there.
Some pistol records that show up in the 350XXX range.
350XXX 7/1/18 SA Function Test
350XXX 4/24/28 USATC Provost Guard
350XXX 2/1/41 HQ Trp. 115th Cav. (H-Mecz)
350XXX ---"--- -------------"-------------------
350XXX 12/3/40 ------------"-------------------
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I don't believe lettering a US Property marked 1911 would help much if at all.
A US Property marked 1911A1 may be more effective.
Canadian WWI contract 1911's are in Colt's "C" commercial serial number block, likely WW2 useage would have been from USGI stocks overseas, or one of the cooperative North American defence unit operations (eg. Devils Brigade, Aleutian campaign, Alaska Highway ect.)...
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In 1914 Canada orderd 5000 Colt Government Models, and these are recorded in Colt's records, and are in the C3000 to C13500 serial number range. The 1515 Colt 1911A1 pistols Lend-Leased to Canada in WWII were first shipped to Springfield Armory, and then to Canada. Any Colt letter will show original shipment to Springfield Armory.
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Thank you Johnny and Lee - I didn't realize the early Canadian pistols were all Government Models - or that the Lend-Leased Canadian A1's were first shipped to Springfield.