This Day in History: North American Arms Obtains 1911 Contract

By Logan Metesh

Quebec, Canada -(AmmoLand.com)– On July 1, 1918, the North American Arms Company Limited in Quebec City, Quebec, Canada, secured a contract with the US Army for 500,000 M1911 pistols. The United States was in the throes of World War I and needed all of the guns it could get, so they couldn’t turn down any manufacturing opportunity.

The goal was to produce 2,000 guns per day for $15.50 each. With no manufacturing facility of their own, North American Arms leased the recently-defunct Ross Rifle Company factory. Ross closed after the Canadian Army switched from the Ross straight-pull rifle to the British Enfield rifle.

In addition to North American Arms, M1911 contracts were made with Winchester Repeating Arms Company, National Cash Register, Caron Brothers Manufacturing Company, Burroughs Adding Machine Company, Lanston Monotype Company, A.J. Savage Munitions Company, and Savage Arms Corporation in an …Read the Rest

Source:: AmmoLand