[cginn]

I was just reading the "Colt Commercial/Miltary mod 1911A1 dated 1943" thread and have a question about my 1943 Colt. It has a Swartz safety hole in the frame but no cutout on the slide. Is this normal for this serial number range? Serial 891039

 

[Piexcel]

Maybe Colt just ran out of slides cut for the Swartz safety. Or the assembler just randomly picked a slide from the parts bin. If the serial numbers on the frame match the numbers under the firing pin retainer plate on the slide you are good to go.

 

[cginn]

Thanks for the reply. I picked this up at an estate auction and everything appears to be original. I have not read anything about the Swartz safety hole in the frame with the exception of the Commercial/Miltary models. The serial numbers do match and 2 CS magazines came with it.

 

[dsk]

Colt re-allocated all the unsold commercial pistols as well as unfinished slides and receivers in 1942 for the government contracts. Yours obviously was assembled from one of the unfinished commercial receivers and a fresh GI contract slide put on. Nice pistol and a good example of that chapter in Colt's arms making.

 

[Melter942]

That's a really interesting variant. Hang on to that one!

Throughout the period immediately following the C/M pistols, any serviceable commercial parts were being used to fill government orders.

Many pistols through the 89xxxx range were shipped with S marked barrels. What barrel is in your pistol?

 

[cginn]

There is a S in front of the link and a P on above the link pin on the left side. See attached photos.

 

[Infidel525]

I see a G stamped on the slide , Government contract slide , that was built with a mixture of both commercial and govt. parts it appears.

 

[Melter942]

The G inside the slide is an inspector's mark. It just happens to be a G on this one. My Commercial/Military has a "C", my USGI 869469 has an "S", and my USGI 1102457 is unmarked.

Left to right:
Colt C/M, 869469, 1102457

 

[vette]

Very nice variation. Thanks for posting.

 

[cginn]

Thanks everyone for all the great info. I was a little concerned that having a commercial frame and a gov't slide would hurt the gun's value.

 

[Infidel525]

The G inside the slide is an inspector's mark. It just happens to be a G on this one. My Commercial/Military has a "C", my USGI 869469 has an "S", and my USGI 1102457 is unmarked.

I thought I read somewhere on the forum that the G was for government contract parts ?

Thanks everyone for all the great info. I was a little concerned that having a commercial frame and a gov't slide would hurt the gun's value.

You have a frame and a slide that are serialized to each other , it doesn't matter if one or the other was slated as commercial parts considering what was going on then.

 

[dsk]

"G" stands for Government contract. "S" stands for commercial Sales. #1102457 is unmarked because by then there was no reason to be marking parts as either government or commercial production. Melter942's C/M might possibly have a broken "O" which would indicate contract sales to Argentina. However I think I can also see an "S" just below it partially obscured by whatever marking is underneath it. Maybe somebody else like Karl has more info.

 

[Sergio Natali]

Beautiful gun, it's a keeper.
I think it's a Commercial/Military Model, the commercial "Swartz" safety was removed, in 1943 Colt made its best to put together all the unfinished slides and receivers that they had made for the civilian market.


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