Getting Up Close with some Rarely Seen Military M1911s

By Chris Eger

The U.S. Army first adopted what is typically described as the Government Issue .45 in the year 1911 and it remained standard through 1986, although for many it will never be replaced. (Photo: Springfield Armory National Historic Site)
While John Browning’s venerable M1911 .45ACP design has shown it has the strength to endure, there are some of these guns that are much rarer than others.
Besides commercial production which had gone on at a steady pace for over a century, the U.S. Government ordered over 2.5 million M1911/M1911A1 pistols between 1912 and 1945, with wartime production in the Great War and World War II accounting for most of those contracts.
While there are lots of Colt-produced military M1911s floating around…
This U.S. Property-marked Colt military M1911’s serial number is 15639, dating it to 1912, the introductory year for the model, and it is unconverted to the later A1 standard. This old veteran is looking for a good home.
There were also M1911s produced by a host of other stateside manufacturers. In the Great War, this included the U.S. arsenal at  Springfield Armory, ammo maker Remington-UMC, and slim few made by North American Arms of Quebec.
Fairly common World War II GI .45s include those made by

Source: Guns.com