Lot 3523: North Vietnamese/Viet Cong Copy of a Model 1911A1 Pistol

Manufactured by an unknown party, this pistol bears a strong resemblance to known "underground" pistols from the Indochina/Vietnam region. Such weapons were pressed into service for the First Indochina War against the French, and would continue to be used by factions on both sides of the North/South split after the French left; such weapons are often associated with the Viet Cong, and a very similar weapon pictured on page 837 of "Small Arms of the World" by Ezell is identified to the "Cao Dai' religious sect from the South. Made chiefly by hand in crude workshops, Ezell notes that these weapons have been seen with finish "surprisingly good considering the circumstances under which they were made". Made in direct emulation of the 1911A1, the frame and slide of this pistol are assembled from multiple, smaller sub-components which were assembled and brazed together, in lieu of single piece forged components. There are no visible markings apart from a faint five pointed star, a symbol seen on both the North Vietnam and Viet Cong flags, brazed into the bottom of the slide just in front of the frame. Fitted with blade and notch sights, hand-filed slide serrations, checkered wide hammer, not functioning grip and thumb safeties, checkered plastic grips, serrated mainspring housing with lanyard loop, and a crude full blue magazine. Provenance: The Gus Cargile Collection

Very good, retains traces of the original blue finish showing the typical marks of a crude war-expedient handmade weapon, with tooling and assembling marks throughout. The grips are also very good with a small crack near the left upper screw, a few minor handling marks, and otherwise crisp checkering. Mechanically fine.