GUN FALL 2016
This lot is closed for bidding. Bidding ended on 10/4/2016
FINE SINGER MANUFACTURING CO 1911A1 PISTOL.SINGER1911A1580005045ACPMODERN; C&RCal. 45. One of the 500 Model 1911A1 pistols manufactured by the Singer Manufacturing Company during WWII under the Ordnance Educational Order No. W-ORD-396. This educational order required Singer to furnish the government with a complete set of drawings, operation sheets, time studies, tooling, and a complete set of manufacturing fixtures so that a complete manufacturing operation could be set up using only the supplied documentation. In addition, 500 pistols were to be delivered along with the documentation package. Conventional wisdom indicates that most of the 500 pistols went to the U.S. Army Air Corps, surviving examples are scarce. Surviving all orig examples are much harder to find. The left side of the slide is marked in 2-lines ahead of the slide serrations as follows: "S. MFR. CO" over "ELIZABETH, N.J., U.S.A." with no markings to the right side of the slide. The top of the slide is stamped with a single "P" proof mark oriented to read with the muzzle down. All other manufacturers marked the "P" on the slide to be read with the muzzle up. An identical "P" proof mark is stamped on the left side of the frame immediately above the magazine release. The pistol is correctly unmarked under the firing pin, stop plate (FPSP). The left side of the frame is stamped with the "JKC" initials of Col. John K. Clement, the Ordnance Inspector of the New Jersey Ordnance District. The right side of the frame is stamped "UNITED STATES PROPERTY". "No. S800050" in 2-lines with "M 1911 A1 U.S. ARMY" above and forward of the slide stop pin hole. The pistol has the wide spur hammer with borderless checkering, with fine checkering on: thumb safety, slide stop, milled trigger and mainspring housing. The reproduction stocks lack the correct checkering pattern for a Singer pistol, have the reinforcing internal ribs and have Keyes Fiber markings on the back side of each grip. The replacement bbl bushing has the wrong shaped front plate as well as the wrong finish. The all blued bbl is stamped with only a single larger "P" proof on rear left side of the lug with no other proof marks. The pistol has a replacement pinned re-blued former two-tone magazine with no markings anywhere (Not Singer production). No advanced .45 Auto collection is complete without a Singer, and this is a fine example of Singer Model 1911A1 WWII pistol with only a few replaced parts. CONDITION: Fine with 80% of the orig blue finish showing wear and finish loss on the edges and high spots. The front grip strap and mainspring housing both show a light grey patina finish. All markings are clear and sharp. The brown checkered plastic reproduction stocks are both in excellent condition with nice sharp, distinct checkering with only a few minor nicks on each side. This is a rare opportunity to obtain a mostly orig WWII Singer manufactured WWII M1911A1 semi-automatic pistol, the "Holy Grail" of all .45 automatic M1911A1 pistols! 51033-54 KXK (40,000-60,000)