Keyword: singer
Some of the most desired 1911A1 pistols made are the Singer 1911 handguns. The Singer Sewing Machine Company was contacted by the US Army for the purposes of determining if the company could be converted to manufacture the handguns in the event of war.
In 1940, Singer produced 500 pistols for the US Army, and an unknown number for employees. Singer was not given a larger contract and these pistols were the only ones produced by the company, making them quite rare.
The Singer M1911A1 variation is one of the most sought after M1911A models. In recent years, values have increased significantly and as a result, many fakes have emerged. Most specimens are now recognized by serial number and be very cautious when contemplating a purchase. Some collectors unsure of authenticity are now requiring X-ray testing to determine originality (slide restampings, serial number changes, etc.).
In 1925 The Army Ordnance department requested from Singer an engineering study concerning the feasibility of mass production of M1911 pistols. This study was conducted at the Singer Elizabethport facility. The study took a year to complete and included a survey of existing production facilities and methods, and estimates of the additional machinery and production capacity which would be needed to produce 25,000 pistols per month.
As a result of the initial 1925 study Singer was awarded a Production study of the Model 1911A1 pistol, in 1939. On April 17th, 1940 Singer was awarded an educational order of 500 units to manufacture of the Model 1911A1 pistol. The educational study was a comprehensive examination of production processes which included mechanical drawings, photos, time study information and tooling setup for every part and operation required to build the M1911 pistol. The objective of this educational study was an ambitious goal, the production of 100 pistols per hour.
The 100-pistol per hour target was never achieved, nor did Singer ever engage in large-scale production of pistols. Once Singer had completed its 500 pistols specified by the 1940 order, pistol production by Singer was stopped and the Ordnance Department placed no further orders for pistols with Singer. The tooling and study documentation was distributed to Remington Rand and some went to Ithaca. The 500 Singers were delivered to the Ordnance Department and used as models. The Singer pistols represent the highest production values of all of the WWII M1911A1 pistols. Serial numbers for the pistols are S800001-S800500. An unknown number of pistols were produced for Singer employees. These were not given serial numbers or inspector marks.
Original and correct Singer pistols are highly desired by collectors and when sold, bring significantly higher prices than more common 1911A1 pistols. The Krause Publications 2002 “Standard Catalog of Firearms Price Guide” lists (Original) Singer pistols in excellent condition (96%-98%) at $25,000, in very good condition (92%-95%) at $18,000, in good condition (85%-95%) at $12,000, in fair condition (65%-85%) at $7,000, and in poor condition (60%or less) at $3,500.
These are the markings you should expect to see on the barrel of an authentic Singer 1911.
Please Note: The Webmaster does not own any of the guns portrayed in the Gallery.
This is a collection of pictures from a variety of sources. The Sight M1911 does not deal in firearms.
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The USA Patriot Act and the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act
Is the “War on Terrorism” becoming a war on Freedom?
Life is not safe. Freedom is an inherently risky proposition. Security is an illusion and safety a myth. The apostles of the nanny state continue to try to convince us that if we just pass enough rules and regulations and give up enough freedom, we will someday be safe and secure. Anyone who has lived more than a week on this planet knows that this just isn’t so. Recently, the bid to entice us to surrender our freedom for the illusion of security has taken the shape of two laws, The USA Patriot Act and the Model State Emergency Health Powers Act.
The USA Patriot Act
It falls like an obscenity on my ear to hear this radical assault on our civil liberties named “the USA Patriot Act.” “The Big Brother Act” or the “KGB Act” might be more appropriate handles.
Since September 11, 2001, I have been concerned about the use of “war” rhetoric in respect to the terrorist situation. Initially, it was just a vague discomfort with the analogy, but in time, my feelings have crystallized into some specific objections to the characterization of the 9-11 attack as an “act of war.”
Fundamentally, I consider the 9-11 attack to be not an act of war, but a criminal act. War is a transaction which takes place between armies composed of warriors who battle against each other, generally for particular political aims. If the armies intend to establish moral legitimacy for their political aims, they will operate under a code of rules. Put another way, they tend to behave with a nominal degree of honor and civility toward their foes and noncombatants. When this baseline standard of civilized behavior is crossed by torture, rape, and the slaughter of civilians and prisoners, we call this “war crime” and the perpetrators of these acts are prosecuted as criminals.
The 9-11 attack is noticeably missing armies, warriors, coherent political aims, and the nominal standards of civilized behavior which legitimate armies employ. The 9-11 attack was a crime, not a war. Warriors? Here are some warriors: Sitting Bull, Sgt. John Basilone, Baron von Richthofen, General Joe Fosse, Saladin, Rommel, Nathaniel Greene, T. E. Lawrence, Stonewall Jackson, Leonidas of Sparta, Moshe Dayan and the millions of other guys who have put on their nation’s uniform and gone in harm’s way. To call the Al Qaeda thugs “warriors” is to impart to them a dignity they do not deserve and have not earned.
Fascinating, but why is this important? It is vitally important because historically We the People have been willing to tolerate a temporary suspension of our civil rights during times of war. The Sedition Act Of July 14, 1798 declared that any treasonable activity, including the publication of “any false, scandalous and malicious writing,” was a high misdemeanor, punishable by fine and imprisonment. By virtue of this legislation twenty-five men, most of them editors of Republican newspapers, were arrested and their newspapers forced to shut down. Wartime restrictions of our civil rights often result in consequences far beyond their stated purposes. Nevertheless, certain restrictions of civil rights are necessary in times of war. One’s freedom of speech should not include the broadcast of convoy schedules which would allow the U-boats to pick them off the minute they sailed from port.
While the case can be made that our struggle with the forces of international terrorism is a sort of war, it is not a war in the traditional sense. We are at no risk of invasion, occupation, or the destruction of our government or military forces. The risk we face is for more suicidal vandalism and murder, again, crimes which will most likely be fought and handled more by law enforcement than by military forces. Soldiers aren’t trained to investigate crimes and track down bad guys; cops and spooks are.
So, why have our leaders and the mass media been so quick to embrace the “war” rhetoric rather than characterizing the event as the crime that it is? The answer is that we don’t willingly suspend our constitutional rights in response to crime in the way we have been willing to do in the past when war threatens. The USA Patriot Act gives sweeping new powers to law enforcement and does away with many restrictions on domestic surveillance by federal law enforcement and intelligence services. Many of these restrictions were put in place in response to the COINTELPRO operation of the 1960’s in which civil rights activists and anti-war protestors were spied upon and harassed by the FBI and the CIA, not because of any suspected criminal or espionage activity, but because of their politics.
The USA Patriot Act opens again the possibility of widespread domestic surveillance on dissident groups and individuals who may be critical of the federal government or particular politicians. The USA Patriot Act was rammed through the congress in the hysteria following the 9-11 attack and it did not receive the careful review and discussion which should be given a piece of legislation which has such far-reaching implications for the citizens of this country. Most of our legislators didn’t even read the 343 page law prior to voting on it. We the People deserve better attention to our civil rights from our elected representatives than this law represents.
“This law is based on the faulty assumption that safety must come at the expense of civil liberties,” Laura W. Murphy, the director of the American Civil Liberties Union’s Washington National Office, said in that group’s analysis of the law. “The USA Patriot Act gives law enforcement agencies nationwide extraordinary new powers unchecked by meaningful judicial review.”
“At times like these, I think our constitutional rights are even more important,” she said. “There have been times when we relaxed these things — the McCarthy era, the ’60s civil rights struggle, the detention of the Japanese-Americans in World War II. We look back at those times with shame. … I think this will be another time we look back on with shame. That’s what I fear.” – Ann Arbor City Councilwoman Heidi Herrell
“It is my opinion that never before have we, as a nation, stood in greater danger of losing our individual liberties as we are today,” he said. “We, the people of this great nation, are being punished for the transgressions of our leaders and their consorts.” – Frank Serpico, the whistle-blowing ex-New York City cop.
I continue to hear the talking heads, particularly the media wonks, talking about 9-11 as “the day that changed America.” In my most charitable mood, I hope they mean that this day shook us out of our complacency and shattered our sense of being insulated from the rest of the world. But even if this most hopeful interpretation of a “changed America” is correct, and I doubt that, the statement is still an error of the highest magnitude and demands rebuke. America is not changed. You can’t change America with four jet airliners or a thousand because America is not a building, a piece of real estate, or even a border. America is an idea, a dream, and a vision. As long as there is one soul who believes in liberty, justice, and equality for all people, America will live, undimmed and unchanged.
That sounds pretty and poetic, but the fact of the matter is that we need a lot more than one soul to get concerned and motivated about the erosion of our civil rights that has occurred since the 9-11 attacks. If, in fact, the message is that we must give up our civil rights and cherished freedoms because “America has changed” then we have to preach, protest, demonstrate, sue, lobby, send cards and letters, and whatever else it takes to send the message that we are not willing to trade our liberty for some talking head’s vision of “security.”
Justice Dept. Drafts Sweeping Expansion of Anti-Terrorism Act
Center Publishes Secret Draft of ‘Patriot II’ Legislation
By Charles Lewis and Adam Mayle
(WASHINGTON, Feb. 7, 2003) — The Bush Administration is preparing a bold, comprehensive sequel to the USA Patriot Act passed in the wake of September 11, 2001, which will give the government broad, sweeping new powers to increase domestic intelligence-gathering, surveillance and law enforcement prerogatives, and simultaneously decrease judicial review and public access to information.
The Center for Public Integrity has obtained a draft, dated January 9, 2003, of this previously undisclosed legislation and is making it available in full text (12 MB). The bill, drafted by the staff of Attorney General John Ashcroft and entitled the Domestic Security Enhancement Act of 2003, has not been officially released by the Department of Justice, although rumors of its development have circulated around the Capitol for the last few months under the name of “the Patriot Act II” in legislative parlance.
Click Here for Full Text of Article
Presented here are some study resources for your consideration to inform and hopefully alarm you about this back channel cancellation of the Bill of Rights.
The USA Patriot ACT
The Alien and Sedition Acts of 1798
USA Patriot Act-2001
Uniting and Strengthening America Act (H.R. 3162)
EFF Analysis of USA PATRIOT Act (Oct. 31, 2001
This is an excellent condensed summary of the points of concern in this law
How the USA-Patriot Act permits indefinite detention of immigrants who are not terrorists
How the USA PATRIOT ACT puts the CIA back in the business of spying on Americans
Thomas summary of H.R.3162, USA PATRIOT ACT,
“Although a number of its provisions are not controversial, the USA PATRIOT Act nevertheless stands out as radical in its design. To an unprecedented degree, the Act sacrifices our political freedoms in the name of national security and upsets the democratic values that define our nation…” Nancy Chang, Senior Litigation Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
http://www.ccr-ny.org/whatsnew/usa_patriot_act.asp
“Morton Halperin, a defense expert who worked with the National Security Council under Henry Kissinger, worried in The New Yorker that if a government intelligence agency “thinks you’re under the control of a foreign government, they can wiretap you and never tell you, search your house and never tell you, break into your home, copy your hard drive, and never tell you that they’ve done it.” Moreover, says Halperin, on whose phone Kissinger placed a tap, “Historically, the government has often believed that anyone who is protesting government policy is doing it at the behest of a foreign government and opened counterintelligence investigations of them.”
http://www.commondreams.org/views01/1109-02.htm
“The Federal Bureau of Investigation is, and should remain, not a police but an investigative service. … In my opinion, locally established and controlled police can never develop into the menace to general civil liberties that is inherent in a federal police.” U.S. Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson
http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0620-06.htm
Repeal the USA Patriot Act
The USA Patriot Act And The Us Department Of Justice: Losing Our Balances?
The USA PATRIOT Act Six Months Later: A Statement by Members of the Free Expression Network
This is an excellent summary of how H.R. 3162 impacts free expression and privacy
The USA Patriot Act: We Deserve Better
by Robert A. Levy, Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute
Behind the USA Patriot Act
The Case of the Dirty Bomber
How a Chicago street gangster allegedly became a soldier for Osama bin Laden
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,262917,00.html
‘Dirty Bomb’ Suspect’s Case Goes Nowhere, Time Says
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The case against Jose Padilla, whose detention for allegedly plotting to build a “dirty bomb” was dramatically announced in June by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft, is going nowhere and appears to have been “blown out of all proportion,” Newsweek reported on Sunday.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020811_115.html
Patriot Revolution?
Cities From Cambridge to Berkeley Reject Anti-Terror Measure
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/usapatriot020701.html
Is the police state here?
The American police state of the future may well work like Mexico, but with better plumbing
http://civilliberty.about.com/library/weekly/aa112601a.htm
The Press and the USA Patriot Act
Where Were They When It Counted?
http://www.counterpunch.org/presspatriot.html
Serpico Decries Anti-Terror Measures
Whistle-Blowing Ex-NYC Cop Frank Serpico Says Anti-Terror Measures Hurt ‘Individual Liberties’
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20020706_472.html
Dictatorship at Your Doorstep
Why “Anti-Terrorism” Laws Threaten You
http://www.isil.org/resources/lit/dictatorship-at-doorstep.html
The Terror of Pre-Crime
John Ashcroft recently released his guidelines for investigating people he suspects as terrorists, and these guidelines exceed even J. Edgar Hoover’s contempt for due process.
http://www.progressive.org/sept02/hen0902.html
Terror War Has Taken a Big Bite Out of Privacy, Report Says
There has been a rapid erosion of the right to privacy since the September 11 attacks in the United States, a top international privacy advocate group charges, and although Britain gets the most criticism for privacy violations, the U.S. comes in for some harsh censure.
http://www.newsmax.com/archives/articles/2002/9/5/230518.shtml
FBI Grabbing More Wiretap Powers
Senators complain that the Justice Department is trying to assert more authority in federal wiretap cases than it was authorized to have under last year’s USA Patriot Act.
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,62671,00.html
Rights Groups Oppose Expanded Wiretap Powers
The American Civil Liberties Union, the Center for Democracy and Technology, the Center for National Security Studies, the Electronic Privacy Information Center, the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and the Open Society Institute said expanding government surveillance powers would jeopardize constitutional protections.
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/reuters20020920_444.html
Law Permits Surveillance by FBI
Surveillance Law Permits ‘Black-Bag’ Searches, Phone-Bugging by FBI
http://abcnews.go.com/wire/US/ap20021120_1532.html
The Attack on Civil Liberties
George W. Bush signed the USA PATRIOT ACT on October 26, after both the House and the Senate overwhelmingly approved most of John Ashcroft’s outline for fighting terrorism. The military tribunals and diminishment of laws that protect American’s privacy is meant to protect us. But is the legislation also terrorizing our fundamental rights?
http://villagevoice.com/specials/civil_liberties/
The Day the Constitution Died
http://www.capitolhillblue.com/artman/publish/article_1865.shtml
Ashcroft Takes Questions on Patriot Act
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,88649,00.html
Google News Search on USA Patriot Act
http://news.google.com/news?q=Patriot-Act&edition=usa
Adding Privacy to Patriot
Immediately after 9/11, many conservatives were understandably worried first and foremost about national security. This concern was shared by virtually all Americans whatever their political beliefs. In response, the Congress rushed through the legislation that came to be known as the USA-Patriot Act.
http://newsmax.com/archives/articles/2003/8/8/142618.shtml
PATRIOT ACT: Law’s use causing concerns
Use of statute in corruption case unprecedented, attorneys contend
http://www.reviewjournal.com/lvrj_home/2003/Nov-05-Wed-2003/news/22521283.html
Comments from the founding fathers on the USA Patriot Act
Samuel Adams
“If you love wealth more than liberty, the tranquility of servitude better than the animating contest of freedom, depart from us in peace. We ask not your council or your arms. Crouch down and lick the hand that feeds you. May your chains rest lightly upon you and may posterity forget that you were our countrymen.”
Ben Franklin
“They that would give up essential liberty for a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
Patrick Henry
“Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!” March 23, 1775
William Pitt
“Necessity is the plea for every infringement of human freedom. It is the argument of tyrants; it is the creed of slaves.” Nov. 18, 1783
Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA)
The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act (MSEHPA) would empower public health officials to impose police state conditions that would make ordinary martial law look like the Second Continental Congress in comparison. This boilerplate legislation was drafted at the Center for Law and the Public Health at Johns Hopkins, “A CDC collaborating center promoting public health through law,” and is being submitted to every state legislature in the United States for passage. Notice that you have heard next to nothing about this national campaign to put in place radical legislation which would abrogate the Bill of Rights whenever public health officials decided there was a threat to public health. They don’t want you to notice because they know that if you do, you will object to it in the most strenuous terms.
While biological weapons remain a concern which should be addressed by prudent planning and the stockpiling of antibiotics and vaccines, the bio-terrorism threat has proven thus far to be more scare than reality. Biological weapons are notoriously difficult to handle and deploy. Nevertheless, we are being conditioned by our alarmist news media to respond to this possibility in a manner which is totally disproportionate to the actual threat. Current investigation into the postal anthrax attacks is focusing on researchers and those who may have had access to U.S. bio-weapon research, not Al Qaeda or Hamas terrorists. While we cannot minimize or discount even a single death from anthrax, only five people died as a result of gobs of the powder being spread around in Florida, Washington D.C. and New York City. Even this “weapons grade” anthrax was not very effective as weapons go. A simple bomb would have done a lot more damage.
Recently, researchers at Stonybrook made a big splash in the media by producing polio virus in a lab with mail-order DNA and “instructions found on the internet.” (They neglected to mention that virtually every member of the U.S. population has been vaccinated for polio and its threat potential is about zero). Nevertheless, we are being conditioned to think that super deadly bio-weapons are hidden behind every rock and tree ready to destroy our civilization with anthrax, polio, and bubonic plague. With so many other threats on the radar screen that are far more concrete and immediate, it leads the inquiring mind to ask why this stealth legislation demands such an extreme sacrifice of our civil rights to address a threat which remains largely theoretical.
So what does this law do?
In the event of a declared public health emergency, MSEHP grants the governor extraordinary powers. These powers include the collection of data and records, the control of property, the management of persons, and access to communications. These powers include such things as forced vaccination and treatment (Section 504), the tracking of individuals (Section 202), access to patient records (Section 506), and the prohibition of firearms (Section 402(c)). The act requires judicial review for some actions. For example, for mandatory quarantine to be instigated, a written court order must authorize the action, unless delay would pose an immediate threat to the public.
http://www.hslda.org/docs/nche/000010/200112201.asp
“This law treats American citizens as if they were the enemy,” – George Annas, chairman of the Health Law Department at the Boston University School of Public Health
“One seemingly unrelated ‘anti-terrorist’ proposal with potentially devastating effects on gun owners – already introduced in 14 state legislatures – is coming straight out of President Bush’s Health & Human Services Department, specifically, the Centers for Disease Control. It’s the 39-page Model Emergency Health Powers Act (MEHPA), which would give state health officers and their bosses new powers in the event of a public health emergency – including the power to seize and/or regulate the sale of ‘private property.’ It specifically includes the power to ‘control, restrict and regulate […] firearms [….]’ – Neil Knox
http://www.nealknox.com/sgn/sgn-archive/2002/sgn1-10-02.html
Of particular concern in the Act are the following provisions:
Broad Definitions
Loss of Civil Rights
Medical Privacy Violations
State Control
http://www.sierratimes.com/archive/files/dec/11/arbt121101.htm
The Model State Emergency Health Powers ACT
Center for Law and the Public Health at Johns Hopkins (the authors of the MSEHPA)
Draft of the MSEHPA in Acrobat Reader format
Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, Inc.
ACLU: What is wrong with MEHPA?
What You Need to Know About The Proposed Model State Emergency Health Powers Act in Your State
Review of The Model State Emergency Health Powers Act
Security Bill Raises Constitutional Concerns
Many States Reject Bioterrorism Law
Emergency health bill passing in many states
Measure grants government ‘dictatorial powers’ during crisis
“Although a number of its provisions are not controversial, the USA PATRIOT Act nevertheless stands out as radical in its design. To an unprecedented degree, the Act sacrifices our political freedoms in the name of national security and upsets the democratic values that define our nation…”
Nancy Chang, Senior Litigation Attorney, Center for Constitutional Rights
“…never before have we, as a nation, stood in greater danger of losing our individual liberties as we are today.”
– Frank Serpico, the whistle-blowing ex-New York City cop.
Big Jim Charles
For many of us, the terms “1911” or “Government Model” bring to mind the original blue steel and walnut gripped classic that John Browning, Gen. John T. Thompson and the U.S. Army Ordnance Board created in all it’s venerable, traditional glory.
The grand old gun that truly would make the ghost of Gen. George S. Patton admit with shame that he was wrong when he referred to some long gone, obsolete rifle of all things as the “greatest battlefield implement of all times.”
There is nothing like the traditional “Army .45” to bring a lump to the throat of any real pistoleer or warrior. Many a raw doughboy owed his very life to the genius of Mr. Browning, and we all enjoy our limited and diminished freedoms thanks in no small part to this great gun. Each month, it seems somebody is always rushing to bring out the latest, newest, trendiest, High techiest, polymer-based blaster worthy of a starring role on the hip of some Hollywood Starship Trooper, but despite being considered (by those who don’t know much) as obsolete, the grand ole’ .45 is more popular now than it was when released nearly a century ago.
These days hardly a gun store, let alone pawnshop doesn’t have a wide variety .45’s, chopped and channeled, full sized, compact, alloy framed, two toned, dull matte finished or military original parkerized or ten.
Such was not always the case. Today’s Cooper troopers may take the staggering and bewildering variety of 1911’s from a veritable barbarian horde of manufacturers for granted, but go back a couple of decades and the pickin’s were slim. For example, you could get the full size 1911 from Colt or the alloy framed Commander. You could get military surplus 1911s’ from Union Switch and Signal, Singer Sewing Machine or other wartime makers and….well, that was about it.
Finishes were commercial blue, military parkerized and nickel, and…outside of custom gunsmiths that was that.
One of the first makers to change all this was a small firm that had its’ beginning in the airline industry. Yep, I’m talkin’ ’bout the Randall.
Randall may not have been the first maker to produce a stainless steel government. Model. Some would argue the firm of AMT (then known as Ordnance Manufacturing Company) or Vega were first, but there can be no doubt that Randall was one of the best, and Randall paved the way for other companies like Colt and Springfield to dip into the increasingly popular customization market.
Randall produced a variety of well made 1911 clones of investment cast 17 ph stainless steel. The guns were sturdy, generally well made, and eagerly sought by users as well as collectors. Randall made exact copies of 1911’s, left handed 1911’s, 1911’s with (then) state of the art “combat” features, and chopped down officers model 1911’s, thanks to inspiration from Legendary General Curtis Lemay.
Like many people who bring something out that is too good too soon, the company folded, but oh, what a legacy they left. Would there have been a Detonics, or for that matter a Colt Officers Model if it weren’t for Randall? Probably, but it definitely would have taken longer.
Were Randall pistols as good as everyone says? Well, like the products of many makers, it depends. At different times in the companies brief but glorious history quality control could be sporadic, but Randall’s have a reputation for being solid, well made guns, and if my own experience is typical, that reputation was well earned.
As a young man growing up in eastern Kentucky, I frequently saw Randall pistols in better gun stores that catered to serious shootists (as opposed to the types of places that specialized in poke stock shotguns and .25 autos). Last year I stopped in at Mert’s Guns and Ammo in Allen, KY, and Mert, a fellow who knows this customer by heart had two things to show me. A used enhanced Colt .45 GM and a well worn but sound Randall Service Model. Being a man of some dignity and self restraint, I informed the pistol peddler I had two full size .45’s with stainless finishes, and did not need another. I got about halfway to Pikeville before turning around and running back to put the Randall on Layaway until payday.
The pistol was in very good condition, and at a very good price. It had an extended thumb safety, a full length recoil spring with a hexagonal cut on the end, and high visibility (for them days) sights. It was smooth operating, and actually fairly tight, much tighter than a Colt GM from that era. There were myriad scratches as well as some rust stains on the thumb safety, and the skip line checked wood grips showed the dings of the years. But all in all this was still a beautiful pistol.
Taking her immediately out to the woods, I discovered two things. Number one, she shoots as straight as a brand new 1991A1, and two, she doesn’t like hollow point fodder. But with the 1911 you don’t really need hollow points now, do you?
For that matter, my brand new Colt Combat Commander doesn’t like hollow points either, and is nowhere near as accurate as the Randall. Soon, I found myself carrying the gun regularly, and in no time at all it was my primary defense gun.
Oh, every so often I break out the snub .357 revolver for comfort, but sooner or later the big stainless Randall returns to my hip. The 1911 may be “obsolete” but it is no less deadly efficient than it was when it came off the assembly line. Powerful, accurate, proven durable and dependable with ball ammo, it is as good as anybody could possibly need in a serious self defense piece. And it shoots as straight as a long barreled magnum revolver. How many plastic frame .40s’ have owners willing to make that boast and sign their names to it?
The medieval broadsword is obsolete, but it will still deal death in a second. Same thing for the old Colt Peacemaker and the 1911. And, just like the Randall, quality never goes out of style.
Occasionally I toy with the idea of replacing the 80’s style sights with either the currently popular Novak style “Evel Kneval motorcycle ramp” sights and the traditional quick draw spur hammer with a burr head thumb bruiser, but I look at my prize and realize that it is just fine the way it is. There are plenty of Colt’s, Springfield’s and Kimbers out there that are as trick as trick can get. I think I’ll leave this classic the way it is, as a working piece of pistol history.
The Randall is gone, but pieces like my prize acquisition remain, to remind us of the pioneers of today’s .45 industry. One other gun from that era remains, and is almost identical to the Randall in my own experience, the AMT Hardballer. One of my pistolero buddies packed a long-slide Hardballer for a decade, and the two pieces are very similar. With all the new players on the block this old .45 toter hopes the AMT doesn’t follow the Randall into obscurity.
by Robert Gibson
Several have posted over last couple of months asking how to ID the M1911A1 Govt 45 Auto, as in “I’ve got one, who made the darn thing?” Good question since the frame usually just says “GOVERNMENT MODEL” or “UNITED STATES PROPERTY M 1911 A1 U.S.ARMY”…or some such.
I’m certainly no Govt 45 expert but I dug up some info, maybe it will help, but first a bit of history.
World War I production: Four (4) manufacturers made M1911 pistols that actually saw use during the war years:
* Colt
* Remington-UMC
* Springfield Armory (U.S. Government owned & operated)
* North American Arms Co. of Quebec (just a VERY FEW)
Seven (7) manufacturers were tooling up to produce M1911 pistols but the Armistice stopped it all and program was cancelled:
* National Cash Register Co.
* Savage Arms Co.
* Caron Bros. of Montreal
* Burroughs Adding Machine Co.
* Winchester Repeating Arms Co.
* Lanston Monotype Co.
* Savage Munitions Co.
World War II production: five (5) manufacturers made the M1911A1 pistol:
* Colt
* Ithaca
* Remington-Rand
* Union Switch & Signal
* Singer Sewing Machine Co. (approx. 500)
The problem with ID’ing M1911A1’s is that parts are totally interchange- able, and during the lives of many examples their slides were many times switched or replaced. Since the slide is the only part actually marked with the manufacturer’s name, you can see the problem that arises.
The following taken from an article by Charles W. Karwan in the 3/1/95 issue of Classic Firearms will shed some light.
“All is not lost, however. The guns themselves can help you reveal which company made the pistol’s frame. First, if you encounter an M1911A1 – identified by the finger cutouts and/or the M1911A1 markings on the frame – and it has a slide made by Remington-UMC, Springfield or Savage, you know the slide is not original to the gun since the first two manufacturers only made M1911 pistols during WWI, and the latter only made M1911 slides.
The slide is also not original if it has a drawing number on the side, usually 7790314. These are replacement slides made long after WWII by Colt and SanColMar. The same is true if the slide is marked Drake – the company that built National Match slides for the government.
Looking at the pistol’s frame, here are some rules to help you identify its maker:
1. The presence of VP proofmark in a triangle at the left front of the triggerguard; a GHD inspector marking or an M1911A1 marking without any spaces between the figures indicates an M1911A1 manufactured by Colt.
2. A serial number preceded by an “S” indicates an M1911A1 manufactured by Singer _(not many of these around – an understatement)_
3. A serial number preceded by a “NO” instead of a “No” indicates manufacture by Remington-Rand.
4. An RCD inspector mark or double spacing between the M and 1911A1 indicates manufacture by Union Switch and Signal.
5. A geometric-shape proofmark, like a triangle, arrowhead or such, on the front left of triggerguard indicates an M1911A1 made by Ithaca.
6. An “X” prefix to the serial number indicates a gun that has been re-serial numbered by ordnance, and the maker is neither identifiable or relevant.
These rules will not allow you to identify every single frame you encounter, but the will suffice for 99 percent of them.”
BTW, when M1911A1 pistols were rebuilt a military facility they were rebuilt without any regard to the maker of the frame, slide or other parts…mix ‘n match, first in – last out, whatever was expedient to get the pistol in and out was the rule of thumb. Any such rebuilds will normally be stamped with a code indicating the facility that did the work. It might be any of the following (and there may have been others not shown):
AAA – Anniston Army Depot
AA – Augusta Arsenal
OG – Ogden Arsenal
MR – Mt. Rainier Ordnance Depot
RA – Raritan Arsenal
RR – Red River Arsenal
RIA – Rock Island Arsenal
SAA – San Antonio Arsenal
SA – Springfield Armory
BA – Benecia Arsenal
Anyway, hope some of this is of help to someone out there.
Robert Gibson
Inspectors’ Marks
These are the commonly seen ordnance inspector marks found on M1911 and M1911A1 pistols.
Click Here for More Inspector Marks
See also Arsenal Rebuilds
by Jeff Lesemann
John Moses Browning (1855-1926) was born and raised with an arms making heritage. His father, Jonathan, had been born among the sparsely settled Tennessee hills, northeast of Nashville, in 1805. In those early days the flintlock rifles, fowling pieces, and pistols of the era were among the basic tools of daily life, necessary for self defense and hunting. Jonathan took a strong interest in guns at an early age, attracted by their mechanisms and construction, rather than by their utility. While he was still in his teens, he apprenticed himself to a blacksmith near his family’s homestead, in order that he might learn the gunsmith’s craft. Later, he made his way to Nashville, where he worked at the shop of an established gunmaker until his own skills were fully developed. In 1824, while he was still only nineteen years old, Jonathan completed his apprenticeship by making his own fine flintlock rifle. He then set up shop in Sumner County, Tennessee, married, and settled down to his life’s work and the raising of a family.
Jonathan Browning was not destined, however, to remain in Tennessee. In 1834 he loaded his family and their belongings onto wagons and set out on a four hundred mile trek to Quincy, Illinois, a new and fast growing town on the Mississippi River, squarely in the path of westward migration. It was here, during the next eight years, that two elements came together in Jonathan s life, with results that would shape the destiny of his yet unborn son, John M. Browning.
The first of these elements was a rifle which Jonathan invented and built in his Quincy shop. Percussion cap ignition had been invented just a few years earlier, and it quickly swept the flintlock aside. The cap was far more reliable than the flintlock, and it opened new possibilities for further developments, such as repeating arms. Jonathan exploited this potential by inventing a truly elegant repeating rifle. It was a .45 caliber underhammer design, with a horizontal opening cut through the receiver. The magazine was a simple steel block, made to fit into the opening. It was bored with five or more chambers, which could be preloaded with powder and ball. At the base of each chamber, a snug nipple held the primer cap. The block was placed in the rifle, and each charge could be locked into position by means of a simple lever mounted on the side of the weapon. As each round was fired, the shooter would unlock the block and move it into position for the next shot. Although the rifle had flaws, such as poor horizontal balance, the possibility of losing the primer caps, and the necessity of handling the hot magazine manually, it was a remarkable gun for its time.
The second factor that was to shape the remainder of Jonathan Browning’s life was part of a much larger turn of events, over which he had little control. Joseph Smith had founded a new religious sect, called the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, otherwise known as Mormons. Their theology was based on a series of prophesies, which, according to Smith, had come to him in visions. The zeal of Smith’s followers was to intense that the Mormon Church was the fastest growing religious group in the United States, but there had also been serious problems. Some of Smith’s teachings were viewed with scorn by more orthodox society, and the Mormons aggravated the uneasiness of outsiders by adopting a clannish and isolated lifestyle. This led to suspicions and to several incidents of persecution and violence against Smith and his Mormon followers.
In response to these difficulties, the Mormons embarked upon a mass migration, in search of a homeland where they could practice their beliefs freely. In 1839 they established a settlement in Illinois, a little more than forty miles north of Quincy. They named their new town Nauvoo, and it quickly became a model Mormon community, from which they reached out in search of still more converts. One of these converts was Jonathan Browning.
In 1842 Jonathan moved to Nauvoo, where he again set up his gunsmith’s shop. Just a few years later, however, he and his family were swept up in the great Mormon exodus. Joseph Smith 5 was set upon and killed by a mob in 1846, and Brigham Young, one of Smith’s more ardent followers, decided that he would lead the faithful westward, in search of a safe haven. In 1847 the Mormons moved to Kanesville, Iowa, which is now the city of Council Bluffs. There Jonathan once more set up shop, remaining for five years, while the main body of Mormons moved on to Salt Lake, Utah. It was Jonathan’s task to furnish as many of his rifles as possible for the Mormon settlers. Finally, in 1852, he joined the migration and settled in the town of Ogden, Utah. In 1854 Jonathan married the second of this three wives, polygamy being an accepted Mormon practice at the time. On January 23, 1855, John M. Browning, the first child of this second marriage, was born.
Jonathan did not continue to manufacture guns after the move to Utah, but he did continue his work as a gunsmith. At an early age John became a pupil and helper in the shop, to such an extent that he would later refer to the gunsmithing shop as his only real school. Although John Browning’s apprenticeship was just a natural part of growing up around his father’s shop, he learned so well that the career which followed caused him to be recognized, world-wide, as the most prolific and successful genius in the history of firearms.
In 1878, while Jonathan was still alive to see his son’s talent blossom, John invented his first gun, a sturdy, single-shot, falling breech rifle, which was to become the Winchester Model 1885. He then went on to invent the famous Winchester Model 1886 lever action rifle, and a host of other guns, including all of Winchester’s subsequent lever action and pump action rifles and shotguns. When Winchester balked at accepting John Browning’s design for a semi-automatic shotgun, he sold the weapon to Remington, and went right on inventing! He next turned his attention to the development of one of the first successful automatic machine guns, and it was from this work that his greatest legacy emerged, in the form of the modem self loading pistol. All of Colt’s automatic pistols have been based on John Browning’s patents, and, of these, the Colt “Government Model” .45 caliber pistol has become the most widely built and used, high power, auto loading pistol of all time.
John Browning became interested in automatic and self loading weapons when he realized that much of the energy produced by the detonation of a cartridge was wasted. His first experiments aimed at harnessing this energy were focused on the gas pressure which built up behind the bullet. By tapping the gas pressure near the muzzle, and using it to operate an actuating lever, Browning succeeded in developing the gas operated machine gun. His gun was built by Colt, and later, under license, by Marlin, as the Model 1895 Machine Gun. It won acceptance by both the Army and the Navy, as well as by several foreign customers. Although machine guns and pistols may not seem to have much in common, Browning’s self loading pistols were, in fact, direct results of his work on the machine gun. Browning added a simple spring loaded disconnector device to the trigger mechanism in order to achieve interrupted, or semi-automatic fire, and it was this device which made semi-automatic pistols, rifles and shotguns possible.
Parallel developments of a similar nature had been taking place in Europe, and the early auto loading pistols designed by such pioneers as Bayard, Bergmann, Borchardt, Mauser and Schwarzlose were at least functional, though terribly complicated and unwieldy. In contrast, Browning’s first auto loading pistol was a gas operated, toggle action design which introduced the smooth and graceful lines that became common to all of his later models. The pistol made use of a detachable box magazine, housed in the grip frame, which also contained the firing mechanism. The mechanism was connected to the trigger by means of a cleverly designed link, which was wrapped neatly around the magazine. Compared to the early European pistols, Browning’s prototype was simple, compact, and highly reliable.
Good as this first pistol was, however, it was never placed into production. John Browning had no sooner completed fabrication of the prototype when he surpassed it with two entirely different designs! The first was a small pistol, in .32 caliber, with a blowback action. It became the prototype for the FN Model 1900 and the Colt Model 1903 pistols. This was quickly followed by a recoil operated pistol in the same caliber (.38 Colt Automatic) as the gas operated prototype. (see fig. 3). It was to become the Colt Model 1900, and it was gradually improved and modified until the Model 1911 emerged in final form.
Browning concluded that a recoil operated pistol would provide the most satisfactory means of locking the breech during firing, without the necessity of providing complicated linking and actuating mechanisms. A locked breech was absolutely mandatory in order to safely use high power ammunition, and Browning’s method of accomplishing a secure lock was so simple and effective that it has been used almost universally ever since.
The major components of the Model 1900 pistol consisted of the barrel, the slide, the magazine and the frame. The barrel was attached to the frame by means of pins which passed through pivoting links, located beneath the muzzle and the breach. The slide was fitted into channels in the frame, and with the action closed it covered the barrel almost to the muzzle. Corresponding ridges and grooves were machined into the top of the barrel at the chamber, and on the inside of the slide. With the action closed, the grooves would interlock and the firing pin housing closed off the chamber, completing the lock-up.
Upon firing, recoil forced the slide and barrel to travel rearward together for a distance of about one quarter of an inch. The links caused the barrel to pivot downward at the same time, in an action similar to that of a draftsman’s parallel ruler, until the slide and barrel were freed from the locking grooves. The slide then continued rearward to full recoil, extracting and ejecting the spent cartridge case and cocking the hammer. With the slide at full travel and the recoil spring fully compressed, the spring then took over, pushing the slide closed again as it stripped a fresh cartridge from the magazine and loaded it into the chamber.
The Model 1900 pistol worked quite well, and it was soon placed into commercial production. A small number of pistols were also sent to the Army for trials, but initial reaction to this new weapon was negative. The Infantry, Artillery and Cavalry all had their own ideas about the desired qualities of a side arm, and all three branches shared a deep-rooted preference for revolvers. Among the more valid objections raised by the first trials of the Model 1900 pistol were complaints about unreliable operation, the necessity for two hand operation during loading and cocking, and the lack of safety features. These problems would be corrected, one by one, as Colt and Browning worked together to refine the pistol.
In 1902 Browning added a slide stop to the pistol, so that the action would be held open after the last cartridge had been fired. Other changes included deletion of the early safety, a lengthened grip frame, with a corresponding increase in magazine capacity from seven to eight rounds, and the addition of a lanyard ring. A number of cosmetic changes were made to the pistol during its production life, including changes in the location and configuration of the slide serrations, and several variations in the hammer. The 1902 Military Model came closer to meeting the Army’s needs, and it was produced commercially until 1927, but it still was not the final answer.
Part of the problem, as seen by the Army, was the small caliber of the pistol. The .38 ACP round was hardly a pipsqueak, with velocity and energy levels that were superior to .38 Special. Nonetheless, the Army had determined that nothing smaller than a .45 caliber handgun round would deliver sufficient power for a sure knockdown. It is ironic to note that the thinking on military handguns has now gone full circle. The newly adopted Beretta, in 9 millimeter, returns to ballistics very similar to the numbers that were rejected back in 1902.
In 1905, Browning and the Colt factory made another step toward meeting the Army’s requirements with the development of the .45 ACP round. The Model 1905 pistol, made for this new round, was a scaled up version of the Model 1902. When the Army tested this basic design in 1905 and 1907, the results of these tests were finally encouraging enough to generate real interest in a .45 caliber automatic pistol. A formal competition was scheduled, with the promise of a rich contract for the winner.
The formal competition drew several other entries, including serious challenges from Luger and Savage Arms. Browning, in turn, continued to introduce refinements to the Colt pistol. A grip safety was added in 1908, followed by a major development in 1909, which brought the pistol to the brink of final success. The two-link system relied upon the slide block key to hold the entire pistol together. If this block should happen to fail, or if a careless shooter should happen to fire the weapon while the block was not in place, the slide could blow off, right into the shooter’s face! To solve this potentially deadly hazard Browning devised the single link recoil system. The new configuration replaced the front link with the barrel bushing, which encircled the barrel. The bushing was locked into the front of the slide, and it was held in place by the recoil spring plug. This system resulted in much greater safety and reliability, and the competitive pistols soon fell by the wayside, unable to match the performance of the Colt.
In 1910 the final prototype for the Model 1911 pistol, incorporating the addition of the manual safety lever, was put through an exhaustive test regimen. At one point, six thousand rounds were fired through a single pistol without a single jam or failure. On May 5, 1911 the Colt pistol was officially accepted as the “Automatic Pistol, Calibre .45, Model of 1911.”Following its adoption by the Army, the M1911 was also accepted by the Navy and the Marines. It was also adopted by Norway, for use by their armed forces. Supplemental production capacity was set up at Springfield Armory, in order to meet the heavy demand for the pistol. When the United States entered World War I, demand for the pistol was so great that contracts were let out to several other manufacturers. Only Remington/U.M.C. actually went into production, however, before the war ended, resulting in the abrupt cancellation of all outstanding contracts.
In service, the pistol was widely used as a side arm by officers and non-coms, as well as by such specialized units as the Military Police. It won a reputation for ruggedness, reliability and effectiveness, but a few more improvements were still to follow.
It was found that the pistol was somewhat difficult to control, especially in situations which required rapid fire. John Browning collaborated with the engineers at Colt, in what was to be one of the last projects of his lifetime, and the resulting modifications brought about significant improvement, without altering the basic design. In fact, all but one of the modifications involved components which were interchangeable with parts from earlier pistols.
The modifications made to the M1911 are described as follows. The main spring housing was arched and checkered, in order to fit the hand better, with a more secure grip. The grip safety tang was extended, in order to reduce the “bite” of recoil. Beveled cuts were machined into the frame, behind the trigger, in order to provide a more comfortable fit, and the trigger, itself, was cut back and its face was checkered. Finally, the front and rear sights were widened, in order to provide for a clearer sight picture. These changes were all adopted in 1924, and the designation of the pistol was changed to “Model 1911A1.”
Because all of the modifications, except for the cuts in the frame, involved component parts or sub-assemblies, the years between the two World Wars saw the use of surplus M1911 slides, mated to M1911A1 frames. The resulting “Transition Model,” as it is known to collectors, is a highly prized item, indeed. Of somewhat less interest, though no less authentic, are those M1911 pistols which were returned to depots or arsenals during their service and modified, using M1911A1 parts.
Following its adoption by the military, the pistol was also placed into commercial production. In addition to the .45 caliber pistols, it has also been produced in .38 Super and in .22 LR caliber. Other variations have been developed, including the lightweight “Commander” versions and the “National Match” pistol, with greatly improved accuracy and target sights. Colt has produced well over 3,000,000 pistols, and during World War 11 it was built under license by Remington Rand, Ithaca Gun, Union Switch and Signal Co., and in very small numbers by Singer Sewing Machine Co. Argentina also built both licensed and unlicensed versions of the pistol. In Spain, it has been copied by Star and Llama, and copies have also been produced in Poland and the Soviet Union. The original patents have long since expired, and in recent years Essex Arms, Arcadia Machine Tool Co. (A.MT), Randall Arms, Auto Ordnance, M.S. Safari Arms, Arminex, Springfield Armory (the private company), and others have all built their versions of the pistol. The compact and sophisticated Detonics pistol is a descendant of the original design, and the end of the line for the M1911 and its offspring is nowhere in sight.
Modifications to the pistol are also possible, and many of them can be accomplished by the home gunsmith. Such modifications can produce an “accurized” target weapon or a highly customized weapon for various forms of competitive shooting. Indeed, the shooter can literally design his own pistol in order to suit almost any preference.
BIBLIOGRAPHICAL NOTES
For those who wish to learn more about the pistol or its history, we recommend the following sources:
Colt Automatic Pistols, by Donald B. Bady; Borden Pub. Co.
John M. Browning American Gunmaker, by John Browning and Curt Gentry; Doubleday & Co. Handguns of the World, by Edward C. Ezell; Stackpole Books
Know Your Colt .45 Auto Pistols, by Hoffschmidt Blacksmith Co.
Syd Weedon, The Sight M1911, History of the M1911 Pistol
John Caradimas, M1911 Web Site, http://www.m1911.org
Sam Lisker, The Colt Auto Web Site, http://www.coltautos.com
Dave Arnold, “The Colt 1911/1911A1,” Guns & Ammo: The Big Book of Surplus Firearms, 1998.
Oliver de Gravelle, Model 1911.com WWII production of 1911A1’s by Colt, Remington, Ithaca, and Union Switch.
See Also Barrel Markings