The Holy Gail of 1911 Documents

SmokeEaterPilot · Apr 8, 2018

Hey Guys, been a busy year. Been doing a lot of box diving at the archives.

During my last haul of files I'm digitizing to my website I found this one. And it's too good not to share.

Any 1911 fan knows the date, a simple google search can find it.

When the Office of Chief of Ordnance announced to Colt....

"The 1911 passed the tests and we will buy your pistol, send us a quote for uhhh 30,0000. Thanks"

You can read "about" the moment in history, or "read it for yourself."

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

somd_mustangs · Apr 8, 2018

Very cool !
John T Thompson started out as an ordnance inspector and you'll see his stamp on early Colts especially.
Also the inventor of the "Tommy" gun

FFBWMD · Apr 8, 2018

Very freaking cool documentation!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Tapatalk

John from MD · Apr 8, 2018

Now that is a real piece of history! Thanks for sharing. :thumbsup:

Chevy Guy · Apr 8, 2018

Very cool piece of history!

Blacksmith101 · Apr 8, 2018

Very interesting...now I want to "see" 2053, 2067, 2089, and 2095.

SmokeEaterPilot · Apr 8, 2018

Blacksmith101 said:
Very interesting...now I want to "see" 2053, 2067, 2089, and 2095.

I "may" be able to help you with 2089 NO PROMISES. PM me if that's your pistol.

28Shooter · Apr 8, 2018

Wow! That is a very important bit of history.

newmuzzleloader · Apr 9, 2018

30, 262 is a very specific number of new pistols to order. Very cool document.

trailtoy · Apr 9, 2018

That is very cool! Even nicer to know one them is in the family.

Is this document available in a form that can be printed?

Blacksmith101 · Apr 9, 2018

SmokeEaterPilot said:
I "may" be able to help you with 2089 NO PROMISES. PM me if that's your pistol.

Not my pistol just interested in the history and those other document numbers are referenced on your posted document.

SmokeEaterPilot · Apr 10, 2018

Blacksmith101 said:
Not my pistol just interested in the history and those other document numbers are referenced on your posted document.

Sorry took me a minute to understand. Those are not serial numbers to firearms. They're OCO Document or File Numbers the Office of Chief of Ordnance used prior to the War Decimal filing system. Kinda like a case number to a particular file folder in his office. If that makes sense.

Blacksmith101 · Apr 11, 2018

SmokeEaterPilot said:
Sorry took me a minute to understand. Those are not serial numbers to firearms. They're OCO Document or File Numbers the Office of Chief of Ordnance used prior to the War Decimal filing system. Kinda like a case number to a particular file folder in his office. If that makes sense.

I understood they were documents so they must be related to the "holy Grail" I just was wondering what was in them and what additional documents those might reference. Sort of like a treasure hunt or doing genealogy follow the trail and see where it leads.

SmokeEaterPilot · Apr 11, 2018

Blacksmith101 said:
I understood they were documents so they must be related to the "holy Grail" I just was wondering what was in them and what additional documents those might reference. Sort of like a treasure hunt or doing genealogy follow the trail and see where it leads.

Oh my apologizes. Well I am currently digitizing those files, you can PM if you're interested.

Blacksmith101 · Apr 12, 2018

SmokeEaterPilot said:
Oh my apologizes. Well I am currently digitizing those files, you can PM if you're interested.

Thank you for all your efforts and for posting things of general interest I am sure you will share the interesting bits and pieces you find so no point in adding to the workload. :thumbsup:

SmokeEaterPilot · Apr 12, 2018

Blacksmith101 said:
Thank you for all your efforts and for posting things of general interest I am sure you will share the interesting bits and pieces you find so no point in adding to the workload.

Will do. I just documented a 1903 to a cavalry unit with the individual trooper to boot. The client gave me permission to post pictures and I cut him a deal. Thatll be next. That's was a really interesting rifle

fred55 · Apr 13, 2018

This will certainly be more interesting than Oak Island Mystery It would be cool to see the order request for the B A R Browning Automatic Rifle, or any other historical documentation. Fred55

Ashecrimson · May 15, 2018

Great piece of history right there. Wow

Boxcab · May 15, 2018

SmokeEaterPilot said:
Hey Guys, been a busy year. Been doing a lot of box diving at the archives.

During my last haul of files I'm digitizing to my website I found this one. And it's too good not to share.

Will your website be something that you can share with us?

.

SmokeEaterPilot · May 15, 2018

Boxcab said:
Will your website be something that you can share with us?

.

Oh sorry I didn't mean to be vague or shady, I just wasn't trying to do "tacky" self promoting. I mean the watermark keeps people from stealing it as their own but also makes it easy to find me.

Just came across the file and thought it was worth sharing. Since we're all collectors and this was an exciting one even if you don't like 1911s. Just been finding neat stuff later so I throw it on here

This probably was one of the single most important dates in American military small arms history when you think about it, considering how long the 1911 was in service.

But feel free to shoot me a PM if you have any questions, be happy to answer them. I love talking old US firearms.

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