1911 Government info

[fjb43]

I would like info on my Dad's 1911 serial #C 27718. He was in the 1st Marine Division in the Pacific in WWII

[Col. Colt]

A Colt "C" Serial Number is normally only for a Commercial Sales pistol, NOT generally a GI Issue 1911. Nothing is impossible, but I have not heard of a verified C numbered pistol of that vintage that somehow made it into US Government service.

However, it is known (by personal reports from that time) of soldiers, sailors and airmen who shipped overseas with personally owned 1911s, some family gifts, or some that were passed down from older, former service members in their family and some purchased by them personally before leaving. Not everyone was going to be issued a .45 - so this ensured you would have one. And the military of the time was much less "rules and regulations" rigid than it is today. Once you acquired a holster to wear it on your belt, it was just "another .45" to most.

Another very common happening is for a service member to return to the US and purchase a weapon "just like the one he carried in the War" shortly after he returned home and after many years of ownership for that to later be confused (accidentally or deliberately) by the veteran or his family with the actual weapon he "carried in the war". (And Some guys are just great storytellers, too!) Hope this helps in your search for your family history. CC

[ignats]

And the military of the time was much less "rules and regulations" rigid than it is today.
(And Some guys are just great storytellers, too!) . CC

So were most local laws governing firearms ownership in general. You dad's pistol was made during 1916.