In House Shipping:
Make: Colt
Model: Government Model
Serial Number: C97613
Year of Manufacture: early 1917 (https://colt.com/serial-lookup), shipped April 20, 1917.
Caliber: .45 ACP
Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto with Removable Magazine
Barrel Length: 5”
Sights / Optics: The front sight is a short blade fixed to the front of the slide. The rear sight is a "U"-notch dovetailed into the rear of the slide.
Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are two-piece checkered walnut with smooth “double diamonds" around the grip screws. The grips have minor handling wear. There are a few compressions and light tool marks in the diamonds. The checkering is well defined. There are no chips or cracks. Overall, the grips are in Excellent Condition.
Type of Finish: Blued
Finish Originality: Original
Bore Condition: The bore is mostly bright with sharp rifling. There is infrequent minor erosion and some stubborn fouling in the bore. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates 9 out of 10.
Overall Condition: This pistol retains about 98% of its metal finish. The finish is thinning at some leading edges. There are a few minor nicks and small scratches. There is a light "idiot mark" under the slide stop on the left of the frame. The screw heads are sharp. The markings are clear. Overall, this pistol is in Excellent Condition.
Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this pistol. As with all previously owned firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.
Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with one original US WW1 era “lanyard loop” 7-round “two-tone” partially blued magazine, and a Colt Archives factory letter indicating this pistol shipped April 20, 1917 to W. S. Brown in “Pittsbourgh, PA” [sic] as one of 20 guns of the same type in the shipment. W.S. Brown was a well established wholesaler and retailer in Pittsburgh at the time, and a dealer of Colts, Winchesters, Remingtons, etc.
Our Assessment: The Colt 1911 .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol was designed by the legendary firearms inventor John Moses Browning, and developed for the US Army after the .38 LC revolver failed to stop charging Moro warriors in the Philippines. The US Army issued the powerful .45 to officers, NCOs, and machine gunners in the Punitive Expedition and World War 1. The Model 1911 was the end-result of a series of developments by Browning, starting with his Model 1900. The advances made by Browning were revolutionary at the time, and were so successful that they are considered commonplace today. Browning not only developed first a pivoting and then a tilting barrel to allow for a locked system, but he also developed the concept of "the slide", a feature now synonymous with semi-automatic handguns. Having secured the contract for the Model 1911 US military issue sidearm, Colt also offered the pistol to the commercial market as the "Government Model". Many Government Model 1911s were privately purchased by servicemen who may not have otherwise been issued a pistol, especially after the US entered WW1 in April 1917. While serial number records show approximately 22,000 Government Models produced in 1917, those numbers include Colt's foreign contracts, thus there were significantly few available for the domestic US market.
This Colt US WW1 Era Commercial Government Model 1911 .45 Semi-Auto Pistol was made in early 1917 and shipped April 20, 1917, just two weeks after America entered the Great War, and is in Excellent Condition. It features a 5” barrel, 98% of its lustrous, original commercial “high polish” blued finish, crisp two-piece checkered walnut grips with smooth “double diamonds” around the grip screws, a gorgeous original “lanyard loop” 7-round “two tone” partially blued mag, clear markings, solid mechanics, and a mostly bright bore with sharp rifling, infrequent minor erosion, and some stubborn fouling, and comes with a Colt Archives factory letter indicating this pistol shipped April 20, 1917 to W. S. Brown in “Pittsbourgh, PA” [sic] as one of 20 guns of the same type in the shipment. W.S. Brown was a well established wholesaler and retailer in Pittsburgh at the time, and a dealer of Colts, Winchesters, Remingtons, etc. Overall, this is a fantastic example of a Colt Commercial Government Model 1911 from the Great War era.