Manufactured c. June to July 1945, after Brig. Gen. Guy H. Drewry was reassigned to Washington D.C. and John S. Begley became the new District Chief and Army Inspector of Ordnance, with the last few thousand Colt M1911A1 pistols manufactured from then to the end of World War II in September 1945 bearing the scarce Begley "J.S.B." inspector stamp on the frames. These pistols fall into some of the last shipments of M1911A1 pistols sent out in the final months of the war, and are a difficult to find variation for the completionist collector of Colt Model 1911 pistols. Features fixed blade front and notch rear sights, a replacement blued barrel marked "COLT 45 AUTO" on the left of the chamber with "P" and squared "C" on the recoil lug, standard two-line, two-block address and patent dates and Rampant Colt on the left of the slide with "P" on top, along with a checkered thumb safety, replacement slide stop, wide spur hammer, short trigger, and a seven-rib serrated arched mainspring housing with lanyard loop at the bottom. The left of the frame bears the John S. Begley "J.S.B." inspector mark and "P" stamp, while the right side bears the serial number, model, U.S. property markings, and "ordnance wheel" acceptance stamp. The left of the trigger guard is marked with "1" over "triangle/VP" and "13" on the right side. Fitted with a pair of brown checkered plastic "Coltwood" grips and a blued magazine marked "L" on top of the base and "C-L" on the underside. Provenance: The Thomas Whiteman Collection

Excellent, retaining 95% original parkerized and 80% plus original blue finish on the replacement barrel with light cycling wear, some limited light holster type edge wear, some limited tiny patches of visible brown patina, a few light handling marks, and clear markings. The grips are exceptionally fine with a few minor handling marks in the otherwise crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent.