Manufactured in 1914, this pistol was included in a shipment to General George M. Cole, State Arsenal, Hartford, Connecticut on 26 September 1914, which is listed on p. 517 of "U.S. Military Automatic Pistols: 1894-1920" by Meadows. Many of these early Model 1911 pistols saw hard use through World War I. The left of the slide is marked with the two-line, two-block patent dates and address with the Rampant Colt behind the serrations, while the right has the standard "MODEL OF 1911 U.S. ARMY" marking. The left of the frame has the U.S. property marking and "WGP" inspection mark and the serial number is on the right. The full blued barrel is marked "J" on the left of the lug. Fitted with blade and notch sights, wide checkered hammer, long smooth trigger, short grip safety, diamond pattern checkered grips, and an unmarked two-tone magazine with a lanyard loop base. Includes a canvas belt with U.S. canteen pouch and canteen, a canvas Mills dual-magazine pouch, two extra two-tone magazines, and a "US" and "R.I.A." marked M1912 leather holster. Provenance: The Mel Raucher Collection

Fine, retains 40% of the original blue finish with the balance having thinned to mostly a smooth grey patina in the form of typical use/holster wear. The grips are very good, showing fairly even mild wear, slightly heavy towards the bottoms, some scattered minor handling marks, and otherwise well-defined checkering. Mechanically excellent. The holster and belt rig are fine overall showing some mild wear and fading.