This is an excellent pre-war Colt Government Model 1911 type semi-automatic pistol manufactured in late 1937. These early commercial pistols have the Colt high polish blue finish with all hand fitted parts. The left side of the slide has Colt two-line Hartford address and patent dates (April 1897 to August 1913), and the right side has the early markings of "COLT" AUTOMATIC/CALIBRE .45" followed by the Rampant Horse Colt logo. The right side of the frame is roll-marked "GOVERNMENT MODEL" over serial number "C186823". It has all the same features as the later military model 1911A1 pistols, such as, checkered thumb safety and slide stop release, checkered arched main spring housing with the lanyard loop, and the wide spur hammer with the full checkering on the spur with the longer trigger with the checkered face. It has walnut grips with the full checkering on both sides. This pistol is complete with one, unmarked half-blued magazine.

Excellent with 95% of the original blue finish overall with edge and high spot wear overall with some minor blue loss on the front edges of the slide with some minor ding on top in front of the ejection port. The grips are in near excellent condition with nice distinct checkering on both sides, showing light wear across the tops of the checkering with a few minor handling marks. Mechanically excellent.