Rare Colt Government Model 1911 - Philippine Contract

Description

10/20/26 - This is a rare Colt Government Model 1911 manufactured in 1914 and chambered in .45 ACP. It is one of only 302 pistols shipped to the Philippines in 1917 under Colt's "Deliveries Abroad" program, making it a scarce, historically interesting variation for the Colt 1911 collector. True to these contract guns, it carries commercial markings rather than U.S. military markings: the frame lacks the "United States Property" and inspector markings, the right side of the slide reads "Colt Automatic Calibre .45," the left side of the slide has the correct Colt patent and address markings with the Rampant Colt at the rear, and the right side of the frame is marked "Government Model" with the "C" prefix serial number. It has a 5" barrel, smooth front and rear grip straps, finely serrated hammer, slide release and thumb safety, and a lanyard ring on the butt. The bluing rates about 85%, with thinning on the grip straps and general high edge and muzzle wear. While there is not a ton of actual finish loss, there is noticeable, obvious spotty brown patina under the finish on most of the gun, and we believe there are a couple of small areas of cold blue touch-up here and there. Fitted with very nice period-correct wood grips with some minor bruising on the right side, and comes with a proper original two-tone magazine with an "L" stamp on the base plate. The bore is 8.5/10, with very nice, strong rifling and just very light frosting in the grooves.