To celebrate the 100^th anniversary of the 1911 I am researching the feasibility of building 100 exact reproductions of an original military 1911 pistol that was built before serial number 3186.

To create an exact reproduction of this pistol requires the manufacture of many of the internal parts to specifically match the original parts used in that time frame of manufacture of the 1911. Many people are unaware that there were many slight changes in some of the internal parts as time went by.  As with any newly designed firearm, there were breakages of some of the internal parts as the number of rounds fired through the pistols increased.  So, Colt redesigned the parts that failed to increase their strength but still allow direct replacement of the original parts without other modifications of the pistol.

The most noticeable changes to the exterior of the pistol came in 1928 with the introduction of the 1911A1 pistol.  The visible changes were the changing of the flat mainspring housing to an arched mainspring housing, the grip safety tail was lengthened to stop hammer bite, the hammer spur was thinned and shortened, the slide stop checkering was changed to serrations, the thumb safety was changed from a small thumb piece to a longer style with serrations instead of checkering,  machining of the relief cuts behind the trigger guard to allow more finger access to the trigger, the front and rear sight changes for improved sight picture, the ejection port was enlarged downward,  and the lengthening of the of the cut under the slide nose on the recoil spring plug housing.  Another very subtle but significant external change was the magazine catch lock.  The very early magazine catch lock had a concave head instead of a screw slot.  The removal of the magazine catch lock required that the magazine catch be pushed to the right and then turned to unlatch the magazine catch lock.   The finish of the pistol was changed from a polished blue to a grit blasted parkerized finish. The wooden grips were also changed to the plastic grips for improved durability and less manufacturing costs.

The internal parts that were changed over the years were the firing pin stop, the trigger went from being machined from one piece of steel to two pieces, the recoil spring guide was strengthened, the barrel was changed externally to allow faster production, the disconnector cut in the slide was changed from a hole with relief angles to a ½ moon cut, and of course the inspectors marks changed as the inspectors changed. 

So, as you can see creating an actual reproduction of an original 1911 pistol will require quite a lot of work and expense for a small run of 100 pistols.  I am currently researching the costs to reproduce the pistol. 

The marking on the pistol will be slightly different as I cannot use the Colt name or the horse.  I will roll mark the slide with the same type style.  The patent dates will be the same.  The name will be changed to Cylinder & Slide.  The address will be changed to Fremont Ne.  The horse will be changed to an entwined CS in proper type style.  The manufacturer’s line on the frame will be changed to Cylinder & Slide Fremont Ne.  The US Property marking will be rolled on the left side of the dust cover of the frame in the large lettering.  The serial number will be put on the right hand side of the dust cover.

The serial numbers will be 001 through 100.

Please fill out the questionnaire with your contact information.   I will not give your contact information to anyone else and I will not start bombarding you with emails.  I will send you an email when I get more information so I can keep you posted on the progress.  Once I have a firm price on the pistol I will send everyone an email offering you the chance to place your deposit of 50% of the purchase price.  The serial numbers will be issued on a first come first served basis.  Serial number 1 is mine so don’t even ask.

I hope that enough of you want a true reproduction that I can build these pistols.  The target for the completion of production will be Shot Show 2011 so I really have to get this project rolling to meet this schedule.

 

Click here to send me your information and have your name added to the list of people interested.  There is also a comment section you may add your suggestions, thoughts and comments.  Your input is greatly appreciated.

Bill Laughridge