1911 Commerical to Military

[hitch1911]

I'm not finding much info in Clawson's little book referencing 1911s that were originally produced for the commerical market but were transferred to the military. A friend has a 1911 frame with a S stamped near the disconnector hole rather than a G. The serial is 3285XX and was shipped in June or July 1918.
Would the finish be blue or Black Army, the slide does'nt have any commerical markings and they appear to match in color. I've only seen pics of it, but the finish looks excellent. Any info would be appreciated. Hitch

Information

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[Johnny Peppers]

Any 1911 Colt up to serial number 629500 would have been blue. The hurry up finish used from about mid 1918 to the end of production was still blue, but due to rough polish and second rate blue appears black, especially with a coat of oil. There was no transfer of commercial pistols to the military contracts in 1918, but it is not unusual to find receivers and slides that were already marked with S that were transferred as needed. Vice versa, it is not unusual to find Government Models of the time with G marked receivers.

[hitch1911]

Thanks Johnny, So a 1911 with a S marked reciever is not a big deal?

[Johnny Peppers]

A little unusual, but not much more. Some of the commercial slides transferred already had the commercial marking on the right side, and had the MODEL OF 1911 U.S. ARMY added to the slide. These are more collectible due to the additional markings.

[Rob Greer]

This is the slide from my 130XXX Colt that is both Military and Commercial marked. It is the slide Johnny is referring to.


I took this picture a while ago... sorry about the reflections!)

[Johnny Peppers]

Colt also furnished the double marked slides as spares to Springfield Armory.

[Emri]

Colt also furnished the double marked slides as spares to Springfield Armory.

Hey Johnny,

Have you ever seen a slide originally marked "model of 1911 us army" with those markings removed and then overstamped with the "Colt Automatic Calibre .45" in the usual place ??

I just ask as I have a 1920 commercial gun with just such a slide. The original "army" markings were not visible until the slide was highly polished for re-blueing. They show up as a faint image when held to the light in a certain manner.

Any info will be greatly appreciated and filed away in the grey matter file. My "opinion" and I have no hard intel is that it was a slide leftover after the gov't contract was cancelled and subsequently re-used by Colt after the war.

TIA,

Emri

[Johnny Peppers]

Colt didn't throw anything away. I have never heard of a marked 1911 slide having it's markings removed and then used on a Government Model, but I guess they did that also. It may be that the stamping hardened the metal and it shows up as a different color where the letters were when blued.
Could you get a picture of this?

[Emri]

I'll try for a pic when I get a chance. Don't know if the marks will show or not, but won't know if I don't try! As a matter of fact, I should measure that slide and compare it to a gov't issue one for dimensions. I haven't thought about it in a long time but this thread reminded me. And yes, the stamping displaces the grain of the metal so that old obliterated markings and serial numbers can be brought up. I did it once on an antique Winchester. Had to polish the SN area mirror bright and then etch it with an acid solution a LEO gave me out of their police lab. The original numbers showed a different shade of grey from the surrounding metal after etching. Don't hold your breath waiting on pics. I'll have to find lights, camera, suitable background, etc. At least the pistol is easy enough to locate in the safe!!

Thanks for responding,

Emri