Colt 1911 govt serial C61535

[LimeyCarbineLover]

Got it Johnny and read the posting on there...was sent it via PM.

we never did sort my Colt Commercial out did we ?.....(serial C1601*)....will get pics pmed to you.....soon buddy......for appraisal

regards

Lloyd

[jmoore]

Why the Canadian connection?

Is there a C broadarrow marking somewhere?

Well, for those of you who don't want to hunt for a photo of the Canadian property marking, here's one out of vinson's Photobucket album (photo 8 of 28, also see photo 7):




Thanks for the link, Johnny Peppers! And thanks for your effort on vinson's behalf, especially! Some folk are kinda combative over on that forum, no? Might put some people off "help mode" altogther!

[Johnny Peppers]

Thanks for the link, Johnny Peppers! And thanks for your effort on vinson's behalf, especially! Some folk are kinda combative over on that forum, no? Might put some people off "help mode" altogther!

The moderators on the forum are a pretty patient bunch, but for his efforts the guy that disagreed with everything finally managed to get himself banned from the forum.

[AlanD]

I first saw this pistol discussed on the 1911 Forum. It is particullay interesting in that it is the only 1911 Government Model -not 1911A1- that I have seen, with the Released by British Govenment markings. It has British commercial proof marks including the Not English Make, which was used from 1925 to 1955. It does not have any British military inspection or ownership marks that I can see.
Without a Colt letter it is really imposeble to tell if it saw service with Canada first and then ended up with the British, or the other way around. It certainly ended its service with the British and entered Britain after 1925.
Under Lend Lease the following is listed in official records. Pistol M1911/1911A1 British Empire 39,592. Canada 1,515.
Note that the above description is M1911 AND 1911A1. One can only wonder how many 1911's were supplied in the above. As the pistol is a commercial example I would tend to favor it going to Canada first and then ending up in British service, this is only supposition though.
This pistol certainly warrants a Colt letter.
I am currently writing a book on British Mititary Secondary Issue Small Arms 1920-1980. I would like to include this example in the book.
Vinson - I will contact you by PM.

Regards

Alan David
Sydney

[Johnny Peppers]

The pistol could have entered England at any time after it's manufacture rather than only after 1925. It would have been proofed under the 1925/1955 proof law at the time it was sold commercially rather than when it entered England. On that particular pistol, it would have been proofed in 1952.

The 1515 pistols Lend-Leased to England would all have been the Model 1911A1 military pistol. No Government Model (1911 type) would have been Lend-Leased. While there is no record of the serial numbers of the 1515 1911A1 pistols Lend-Leased to England, it is know what shipment originally sent to Springfield Armory they came from, and the serial number range of that shipment which is in the 930000 to 940000 range. The M1911/1911A1 designation found in the War Department records was used to group all the models together rather than an actual record of Model 1911 pistols being shipped. The record also groups all the models of the 1903 rifle together which includes the Model 1903/1903A1/1903-A3. It is almost 100% certain that no Model 1903A1 rifles were shipped.

This is one of the 1515 Colt 1911A1 pistols Lend-Leased to Canada. It is in the 938000 serial number range.