Make: Colt

Model: Government Model

Serial Number: C89177

Year of Manufacture: 1917 (https://colt.com/serial-lookup)

Caliber: .45 ACP

Action Type: Single Action Semi-Auto with Removable Magazine

Barrel Length: 5”

Sights / Optics: The front sight is a short blade fixed to the front of the slide. The rear sight is a "U"-notch dovetailed into the rear of the slide.

Stock Configuration & Condition: The grips are WWII-era Keyes Fibre panels with reinforcement ribs on the interior and reinforcement rings around the screws. The grips have general light handling wear with a few more notable marks on the left panel. The checkering is generally well defined. There are no chips or cracks. Overall, the grips are in about Very Good condition as not original to the gun.

Type of Finish: Blued

Finish Originality: Refinished

Bore Condition: The bore is mostly bright with sharp rifling. There is no erosion in the bore, but there is some stubborn leading in front of the chamber. In this writer's opinion, the bore rates about 8 out of 10.

Overall Condition: This pistol retains about 87% of its current metal finish. The finish is thinning at most edges. Most of the balance is handling wear in the grip areas, some of the worn areas show surface erosion. There are some small nicks and scratches. The action shows operational wear. The screw heads range from sharp to tool marked with usable slots. The markings are clear. Overall, this pistol is in Very Good Condition as refinished.

Mechanics: The action functions correctly. We have not fired this pistol. As with all previously owned firearms, thorough cleaning may be necessary to meet your maintenance standards.

Box, Paperwork & Accessories: This pistol comes with one unmarked blued 7-round magazine.

Our Assessment: The Colt 1911 .45 ACP semi-automatic pistol was designed by the legendary firearms inventor John Moses Browning, and developed for the US Army. The Model 1911 was the end-result of a series of developments by Browning, starting with his Model 1900. The advances made by Browning were revolutionary at the time, and were so successful that they are considered commonplace today. Browning not only developed first a pivoting and then a tilting barrel to allow for a locked system, but he also developed the concept of "the slide", a feature now synonymous with semi-automatic handguns. Having secured the contract for the Model 1911 US military issue sidearm, Colt also offered the pistol to the commercial market as the "Government Model". Many Government Model 1911s were privately purchased by servicemen who may not have otherwise been issued a pistol, especially after the US entered WW1 in April 1917. While serial number records show approximately 22,000 Government Models produced in 1917, those numbers include Colt's foreign contracts, thus there were significantly few available for the domestic US market. 

This Government Model was made in 1917, just around the time that America entered the Great War, and is in Very Good condition as Refinished. It has been equippd with WWII-era grips along with its new finish. It has a couple of interesting markings, with the top of the frame marked "G" and the bottom of the slide marked "89177". Slides wouldn't be numbered by Colt until late 1920 and the typical Commercial Government model would be marked "S" on top of the frame for "Sales". The "G" marking was typically for military Model 1911 pistols, for "Government". It's very likely that the frame was originally produced for the US Army, but was rejected for some minor reason that the factory later addressed before assembly into a Commercial pistol. That may explain the slide serial marking, or it was simply applied later. Overall, this is a neat example of a Colt Commercial Government Model 1911 from the Great War era. Please see our photos and good luck!