My research of Sedgley stamped 1911's.

[cplnorton]

I have always though that Sedgley S stamped 1911's probably had a connection to the Marines, but there isn't a lot of info on these out there and no firm connection to the Marines.

I found something interesting. I've had this S stamped 1911 for a long time. When I took off the grips, both grips have the name William Abraham, and the serial number of the pistol 515669 written on the grip. Also one grip has more info as it is written:

*William Abraham
1-3-58 9215
515669 Serial No


I have always been puzzled by the name but didn't know the connection. I never thought of it till today but you can research Marine rosters on Ancestry.com. I found a William Abraham (no middle name) did serve from July 1956 at least until April 1958 in the Marines. In Jan 1958 he is listed as a PFC at Mt Maint Co Matsup-Maintbn 2D Fsr, Mri 2 Camp Lejeune N C. I do not know what he did after this as the Freedom of information act only goes up to 1958.

But I find it interesting that a William Abraham was serving in the Marines in January of 1958. And it would correspond well with the 1-3-58 on the grips. I suspect 9215 is the last four of the social security number, but I don't know for sure. I've search the death records for a William Abraham with the last four of 9215, but I cannot find one. So either he might still be alive or the 9215 means something else.

I just found this interesting and thought I would pass on the info as someone else might be researching Sedgley pistols as well.

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150295_zps5a6950b4.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150290_zpsa34c9d45.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150292_zps414e9fe5.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150287_zps82cf228c.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150288_zpsf21c045a.jpg

[kwill]

Great stuff! Thanks for posting. I wish we knew more about Sedgley.

[cplnorton]

I don't think a lot is known just because there isn't a lot of them out there. I've only seen them mentioned a half dozen times in the past 10 years or so. I know Scott had one in the 6 hundred thousand range that he also thought it had a USMC connection. Other than that, I don't really remember seeing any. And if anyone has any, I would love to see more of them.

I do have one more Sedgley. This one was a suprise though. I was contacted by a gentleman that was selling this father's wartime pistols. His father was an Army Captain that was a forward observer on Okinawa. His father would patrol with the Marines and call in coordinates for close fire missions from the naval guns offshore. His father told him he carried two 1911 pistols, one in a holster, one tucked in his belt. His father said the pistols were the best defense as the Japs would overwhelm your position and get so close you couldn't use a rifle, especially at night. His father said the pistols saved his life on more than one occasion from getting overrun.

One was an 100% original 1918. The other one was this one. After cleaning it, it was really dirty, I found the S stamp. I suspect that the original 1918 was his service weapon, that he was issued and this one was picked up of a WIA or KIA Marine and put to use. But of course I have no way of knowing. But the stamp was applied before it was parkerized, and the parkerization looks wartime done.

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150298_zps11dc3e49.jpg

http://i1282.photobucket.com/albums/a535/cplnorton11/P1150301_zpsae8a0188.jpg

[Shooter5]

Interesting. Did you also look up the FO records?

http://www.archives.gov/veterans/

[gbethu]

I joined the US Navy in September 1958 and we were issued serial numbers . Social Security numbers weren't used until the very late 60's or early 70's when they replaced military serial numbers for identification. I have no clue what the 4 numbers may have represented but I doubt (although I don't know) it is the last four of a social security number. Interesting topic.

[Ken Hill]

I looked at the USMC shooting team for 1958 and there is no William, Abraham or Abraham, William. There were 981 candidates that tried out without record of their names.

Remember in the Corp, you are listed by your last name, first name and middle initial. Most all Marines would do that when marking their gear. i.e. Puller, Lewis, B.
I was Hill, Ken (NMI)

Your grips may have belonged to an armorer or permanent range personnel ... possibly a secondary MOS entitled to an issued sidearm back then and those #'s may have been 9000 series.

Doubt it was an MP issue as they were rack guns.

AJ .... any ideas?

[usmc69]

I looked at the USMC shooting team for 1958 and there is no William, Abraham or Abraham, William. There were 981 candidates that tried out without record of their names.

Remember in the Corp, you are listed by your last name, first name and middle initial. Most all Marines would do that when marking their gear. i.e. Puller, Lewis, B.
I was Hill, Ken (NMI)

Your grips may have belonged to an armorer or permanent range personnel ... possibly a secondary MOS entitled to an issued sidearm back then and those #'s may have been 9000 series.

Doubt it was an MP issue as they were rack guns.

AJ .... any ideas?


I used both My SSN and a Service Number when on active duty. We did use the last four numbers of our SSN as a laundry number. I was Glaser, A (Initial Only) J III on rosters. My laundry number was G7767. All just pure supposition on our parts as to those numbers.

AJ