COLT 1911 GOVERNMENT MODEL PREWAR 1917 WW1 Listing ID: 3003064

Colt Government Model shipped in 1917. This example is entirely original and retains nearly all of its high polish blue. The barrel is mint and correctly "P" proofed on the underside. The bore is excellent and the finish left on the barrel tells me this gun was hardly fired. The double diamond grips are near perfect. The magazine is the proper varation with the lanyard loop attached. WW1 era commercial pistols are difficult to find in any condtion let alone minty like this one. The Russian Goverment received over 51,000 pistols from 1916-1917. Charles Clawson reported in his book that 73% of Commercial production were sent overseas. We should assume most were lost in the destruction of revolutions and two world wars. The Commercial Government Model was also purchased privately by many US Military Officers of the period. This pistol was sold by Amoskeag Auction years ago and the receipt will accompany the pistol. At the time of the sale, it was reported the pistol was the property of a General JP Parker. I have only found reference to a BG JH Parker who was a period officer with an extensive service history in many campaigns. The next owner may want to further investigate this potential connection. An old Amoskeag auction catalog may yield some addtional info that has since been lost. Regardless, the pistol stands alone as an excellent example of WW1 era commercial.