Colt’s Government Model, the commercial version of the Model 1911 pistol adopted by the U.S. military, proved to be an overnight success when it was released in 1912.

The company tied the commercial model to the coattails of the durable and dependable military pistol built on a simple John Moses Browning design. Colt advertised how closely related the guns were in an early pamphlet that read: “The proven best by Government test… This new Colt Automatic Pistol caliber .45 (known as the Government Model), was officially adopted by the United States Government after years of searching investigation and the most rigid tests of American and foreign makes… 6,000 consecutive shots being fired from one pistol in the final Government test, without a jam, misfire or broken part.”

A brilliantly embellished Government Model engraved by William H. Gough and presented by Connecticut Gov. John H. Trumbull to Florida Gov. John W. Martin in the late 1920s leads an outstanding roster of the M1911’s commercial sibling in Rock Island Auction Company’s May 2-4 Premier Auction.

This beautifully engraved Colt Government Model was a gift between Connecticut Gov. John H. Trumbull to Florida Gov. John W. Martin after Martin hosted Trumbull and a group from the Nutmeg State for a hunting party in 1926.

Colt Government Model between Governors

Connecticut Gov. John H. Trumbull and Florida Gov. John W. Martin shared similarities beyond serving in their respective office at the same time in the late 1920s. Trumbull, who was a pilot, was known as “the flying governor” for flying himself to appearances. He was a businessman turned politician, while Martin was an attorney and businessman turned politician.

The beautiful cased Colt Government Model presented to Martin has spectacular floral scrolling leaping from the blued finish and complimented by ivory stocks with the gilt seal of the state of Connecticut on one side and the Florida state seal on the other. This magnificently engraved piece appears to be a thank you gift to Martin for hosting Trumbull and some political associates from Connecticut for a hunting trip in December 1926.

The beautiful bluing shows the immense engraving performed on this Colt Government Model pistol by Master Engraver William H. Gough.

Trumbull praised Martin’s hospitality on the trip saying, “Hunting trips are not to be measured by the amount of game taken, but by the good fellowship and opportunity to live close to nature, if only for a short time." It was a sentiment also shared by Robbins Stoeckel, whose name is on the gun case plaque along with J. Henry Roraback and Col. Charles H. Allen. Stoeckel penned a letter to Martin to thank him.

The gun itself appears to be an “old style” Government Model that mirrors features of the government contract 1911 including a smooth, flat mainspring housing and no bevels on the sides of the frame near the trigger. The gun was shipped unfinished to William H. Gough in Utica, N.Y. The gun was originally shipped intended for a Mexican revolutionary but was returned to the factory in 1926 for an unknown reason.

Another view of the outstanding engraving by Master Engraver William H. Hough that pops from the blued finish.

Colt Government Model: The Commercial Model 1911

For several years, the U.S. Military sought to add a semi-automatic handgun to its arsenal. Colt had a simple design from John Moses Browning that was submitted for testing with several other guns, including a Luger pistol and a gun from Savage. Except for Colt and Savage, the other gun designs were withdrawn. Colt’s pistol went through a number of design changes and the rise of the .45 ACP cartridge before the Model 1911 was adopted by the military after doing exactly what Colt said it did in the advertisement mentioned earlier.

An early production, first year Colt Government Model pistol, serial number "C666".

In another Colt catalog, the company stated, “…the Colt was adopted in consequence of its marked superiority to any other known pistol – a decision that settles the question of Automatic Pistol Supremacy.”

This Colt Government Model was manufactured in 1913, the second year of production.

The Government Model, so named to connect it to the militarily-adopted Model 1911, followed with a high-polish blued finish starting in 1912 with a production run of 1,899. At the same time, the War Department requested a dulled finish on the 1911 to make it less reflective. Four years after that limited production run, Colt was manufacturing 47,400 of the Government Model annually.

In house at the factory, the Government Model is referred to as “Model O” which encompasses a number of models built on the 1911 platform, including the military 1911 and 1911A1, National Match, Super .38, Super Match .38, Ace, Service Model Ace, Commander models.

Manufactured in 1928 an included factory letter confirms this Colt Government Model shipped with a nickel finish and walnut grips to famed Fort Worth retailer Wolf & Klar.

All Government Model pistols received a “VP” verified proof mark that they passed final inspection. The stamp had the “VP” in an inverted triangle usually stamped on the upper left side of the trigger guard. The Company explained, “A Colt has to earn its VP – the `Verified proof’ mark. It is truly a badge of perfection which the final inspectors strike on after they have given an arm a clean bill and a license to go out into the world and uphold the Colt reputation for building the world’s finest hand guns.”

This Colt Government Model was shipped “in the white” for engraving outside the factory to noted collector Herb Glass who had Master Engraver Alvin A. White embellish it. About 50 percent of the gun has floral scroll engraving with punch dot backdrop.

Colt Government Model in World War 1

On the verge of entering World War 1 and faced with a shortage of M1911 pistols, many officers and organized militias  ̶  that would become National Guard units in 1916  ̶  purchased the Government Model. Some examples shared by author Charles W. Clawson show 500 Government Model pistols going to the Home Guard in Waterbury, Conn. In February 1917, and 75 shipped to the 1st Troop Provincial Cavalry of Brookline, Mass. six months later.

This exceptional World War 1 era Colt Government Model was manufactured in 1917 near the time of the United States’ entry into World War 1.

In March 1918, the Ordnance Department learned that Colt’s chief inspector rejected a number of 1911 parts – 10,000 receivers, 5,600 slides and 5,666 barrels – for minor reasons, then Colt  used in commercial sales and to fill a British contract. To keep this from happening again, the Ordnance Department prohibited Colt from doing that without permission.

Because of a lack of military preparedness, privately sponsored military training was encouraged prior to World War 1. In 1916, Congress created the Reserve Officers Training Corps. One such unit was the flying club at Yale University, “Aerial Coast Patrol Unit 1.” The unit commander purchased Government Model pistols for the unit from Abercrombie & Fitch. Of the first 100 Navy aviators, 25 were from Yale’s unit.

This Colt Government Model manufactured in early 1914 was part of a shipment of 1,000 pistols to the Canadian government. Canada ordered approximately 5,000 of the pistols.

The Colt Government Model and the Model 1911A1

Following World War 1, Colt made changes to the 1911 making it easier to shoot for users with smaller hands. The newly designated M1911A1 received a shorter trigger, cutouts in the frame behind the trigger, an arched mainspring housing, a long grip safety spur, a wider front sight, a shorter hammer spur and simpler grip checkering from January 1920 to April 1924. The Government Model received the same modifications.

This Colt Ace manufactured in 1939 was shipped to the loan account of Colt advertising manager L.C. Davis, Colt’s Patent Fire-Arms Mfg. Co. before being returned to the factory on July 12, 1939 and then shipped out six days later to a retailer in Chicago. It is accompanied by the original Colt box.

Colt began to offer variations of the Government Model as the 1920s rolled into the 1930s. The Colt Super .38 was first shown off at the Camp Perry National Matches in August 1928 and went on sale in January 1929. The pistol was the same size and near identical in construction to the Government Model except for a modified slide breech for the smaller barrel, a modified extractor, a wider ejector, a larger ejector groove, a smaller firing pin, a shorter recoil spring and a smaller barrel bushing.

The Camp Perry National Matches seemed to be a popular event for Colt to announce new products because two years later, Colt introduced the National Match pistol in .45 ACP there in August 1930 before production began in 1932.

This Colt Ace was manufactured in 1939 and shipped to Fred Kroner Hardware Company in LaCrosse, Wis., on Oct. 31 1939. It is accompanied by its original box.

Shortly after the adoption of the 1911, the U.S. military ordered Springfield Armory to develop a pistol that could shoot .22 short for target practice. In the same weight shape, dimensions and mechanism. It stopped the project in 1927. Colt worked on the target pistol from 1915 and found alternations had to be made to make ensure its semi-automatic function worked and that components couldn’t be interchanged. The Colt Ace for .22 Long went into production in 1931 and continued to July 1941.

The Colt Ace had reliability issues that David M. “Carbine” Williams solved with a floating chamber that increased the gas pressure and recoil power of the .22 to match the recoil of the .45. The Service Ace went into production in February 1936 until December 1942.

Manufactured in 1933, this Colt Ace was shipped to Abercrombie & Fitch in New York City in January 1934.

Colt Government Model, World War 2 and Beyond

As a company, Colt didn’t hold onto inventory, but in 1910 the company began carrying a surplus of 15,000 firearms with 25,000 to 30,000 in continuous production. That still didn’t prevent a shortage -- yet again -- of side arms as World War 2 loomed. Along with Colt, the U.S. government contracted with Remington Rand, Union Switch & Signal, Ithaca and Singer to make M1911A1 pistols. Singer produced 500 pistols before declining to make any more.

This Singer Model 1911A1 was one of only 500 made by the Singer sewing machine company. Most were issued to members of the Army Air Corps, making them a rarity. This pistol was sent to Springfield Armory to be refurbished.

Colt did move 6,575 Government Model pistols to a military contract, pounding out “GOVERNMENT MODEL” on the receiver and restamped as a M1911A1. All told, Colt manufactured 629,000 M1911A1 pistols of the nearly 1.9 million made during World War 2. As the war came to a close, the U.S. government canceled its manufacturing contracts for pistols. Commercial production of the Government Model resumed in October 1946.

Changes were made to the Government Model when production resumed and included a different bluing process, the lanyard loop was eliminated along with the Swartz safety and serial numbers on the slides. In 1949 as the military looked for a lighter pistol, Colt introduced the Colt Lightweight Commander made with an aluminum frame and weighed nearly a 13 ounces less than the Government Model.

This matching pair of Ben Lane Jr. master engraved Colt Mk. IV Series 70 Gold Cup National Match pistols were manufactured in 1978 and have scrimshawed grips. Lane Jr. was a founding member and past president of the Firearms Engraving Guild and a founding member of the Colt Collector’s Association. The pistols have near full coverage vine scroll engraving on the frame and sides of the slide.

The Colt Gold Cup National Match pistol came on the scene in 1957 as a more accurate version than the pre-war model. Among the changes were a skeletonized slide hand-fitted to the receiver, Colt-Accro adjustable square notch rear sight, a long, wide and grooved adjustable trigger, a hammer half-cock notch, serrated front grip strap, slide serrations slanted and moved forward, an improved ejection port and custom fitted slide stop.  A .38 Super version arrived in 1960.

In 1970 Colt introduced the Government Model Mk. IV Series 70 with an accurized split barrel bushing, while the Series 80 followed in 1983 that is still available today. The Government Model remains in service today, with the Los Angeles Police Department SWAT, the FBI Hostage Rescue Team and some Special Forces units as adopters, along with a number of foreign countries’ military and police.

This documented David Wade Harris engraved Colt Mk. IV Series 70 Government Model was carried on duty by Texas Ranger Lt. J. Rodney Odom of Company B out of Garland. This gun has about 80 percent coverage of the floral scroll engraving.

Colt Government Model for Sale

Only slightly younger than the Model 1911, the Colt Government Model has served as the commercial version of its military sibling for more than 100 years. Its famous blued finish makes it an outstanding canvas for engraving. Pieces made by master engravers including one presented to Florida Gov. John W. Martin that are available in the May 2-4 Premier Auction are beautiful examples of their work.

Sources:

Colt .45 Government Models (Commercial Series), by Charles W. Clawson

This Government Model, manufactured in 1914 is one of 1,000 pistols purchased by the Canadian government and is documented to Alfred William Bowser, of the 64th Canadian Infantry Battalion who transferred to the 25th Infantry Battalion as a lieutenant with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. He was wounded twice during World War 1.