Manufactured in 1915, this pistol was one of 25,748 total M1911's produced by Springfield Armory, with few of those marked N.R.A. This example was later released to the public through the Civilian Marksmanship Program which supplied quality military style firearms to the American public primarily through National Rifle Association-affiliated shooting clubs. Such weapons would be stamped "N.R.A." to prevent possible confusion by the authorities on how U.S. Property-marked weaponry wound up in civilian hands. Fitted with integral blade front and flat-top notch rear sights, the three-line patent dates and "SPRINGFIELD ARMORY/U.S.A." on the left side of the slide, "flaming bomb" proofs on the slide and frame, and "N.R.A." on the right side of the frame below the serial number. The U.S. property marking on the left of the frame is double stamped. Fitted with a long smooth trigger, wide knurled hammer, short grip safety, flat mainspring housing with lanyard loop, correct two-tone folded base magazine, diamond pattern checkered grips, and a replacement later production blued barrel marked "COLT 45 AUTO" and "G/R" on the bottom left of the lug. It is photographed on the bottom right side of p. 141 of "The Government Models" by Goddard. Provenance: The Gus Cargile Collection

Very fine, retains 70% of the original blue finish with the balance having thinned to a smooth grey patina, primarily on the grip straps and edges. The grips are also very fine with a few scattered minor blemishes in the overall crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent.