Page 340 - Auction84-Book1
P. 340

 For Colt Automatic and U.S. Military Collectors Alike
  Important Historic Note
This extremely early, two digit serial numbered Colt 1911 was in the second-ever shipment of 1911 pistols to Springfield Armory, which was shipped January 18, 1912.
 LOT 567
Very Fine Early Production Two-Digit Serial Number 95 U.S. Colt Model 1911 Semi-Automatic Pistol - Serial
no. 95, 45 ACP cal., 5 inch round bbl., blue finish, walnut grips. Assembled very early in 1912, this is a very fine example of
an extremely early production U.S. Contract Colt Model 1911 pistol. This pistol was also included in the second shipment of 50
pistols sent to Springfield Armory on 18 January 1912. The pistol was then subsequently shipped from Springfield Armory on 2 April
1912 to Fort Oglethorpe in Georgia, near its border with Tennessee. The fort was originally established as a cavalry post in 1904 as an effort to move a previous military post/training facility away from
the Civil War battlefield of Chickamauga. Various cavalry regiments
were stationed there during the fort’s early years, with the 6th Cavalry eventually becoming the most permanent resident. The fort was
expanded greatly with the outbreak of World War I to process and train the vast numbers of recruits coming into the Army. During World War II, the fort initially continued in this role; however, by September of 1943, all men had been relocated from the base which was converted into
the largest training facility in the country for the Women’s Army Corps (WAC), bringing in 1,000 women a week to begin their four week training course. These women were then sent to perform various roles within the Army allowing more men to be moved to combat roles at the front. By the end of the war, roughly 150,000 women had served in the WAC, with famous generals like Dwight D. Eisenhower stating, “their contributions in efficiency, skill, spirit, and determination are immeasurable.”The pistol itself bears all the extremely early features one would expect to see on an example with a serial number this low. The left side of the slide has the two-line, two-block patent dates and address, with the address in a slightly larger font as normally only seen on pistols below serial number 83 (Meadows). The Rampant Colt marking on the left rear is lightly struck and very fine (writer believes this to be a factory error in that a worker used a heavily worn roll die stamp). It is possible that this slide was switched from a pistol with an earlier serial number.
Serial Number 95
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