AFPG marked Colt 1911 A1

A friend of mine showed me a .38 caliber Colt the other day. It had a MR serial #suffix, a national match barrel marked with 2 stars but I do not recall an H or a W marking to indicate Hardball or Wadcutter. The right side of frame was stamped A.F.P.G. which I understand is Air Force Premium Grade. Evidently the Air Force competition shooters were top notch as were the armorers at Lackland AFB. The pistol had adjustable rear sights and an aluminum trigger. There is some information as to the years these competition pistols were made and one reference indicated possibly 10,000 were put together. If anyone has any more info on these as far as markings or history I would appreciate it. The pistol was in excellent condition.

I am not aware that any .38 pistols were made in hardball, as the .38 wadcutter is about the maximum length the 1911 receiver can handle.
I believe all the branches of the military ordered some of the Colt GCNM pistols in .38 Wadcutter, but not aware of any being stamped AFPG. Of course this could have been done in later modifications of the Colt pistol, although it sounds like it has it's original barrel.

Thanks for the reply. I got this info from the GunSight. In 1958 the Air Force begin to intensify their competitive marksmanship program. The Air Force Marksmanship school, which trained range instructors, became the nucleus of this activity. By 1960 they were installing special barrels, bushings, triggers and sights and hand fitting their pistols. These pistols were designated AFPG or Air Force Premium Grade. The earlier models were just marked A F. While the total production of these conversions is unknown, ten thousand would be in the ball park, probably. The accuracy requirement of these pistols was to fire, from a machine rest, three consecutive ten shot groups at 50 yards, with no group exceeding 3" (center to center). Some of these pistols were built up Army National Match and early Gold Cup Models. A custom section built up weapons for the top AF shooters (Blue Team). These pistols were often customized with extended front sights, muzzle weights, etc., and were marked AFPG also. An H or W was stamped on the barrel to indicate a hardball or wad cutter model. The Gunsmith's mark was placed on the right side, below the magazine.

The H or W was on the .45ACP pistols. There was no hardball .38 pistol.
The marksmanship program was kicked off by Gen. Curtis LeMay in 1957.

Once again thank you. The info did not make a clear distinction on the caliber in regards to the barrel marking. I only inspected the pistol for a short time and did not write anything down but did recall the two stars on the barrel. If Scott G. is at the gun show in Lexington this weekend my friend is going to take the pistol there.