In May 1942, U.S. Ordnance placed an order with the Union Switch & Signal Company for the production of 200,000 Model 1911A1 pistols, an order which was later reduced to just 55,000. All of the completed pistols were delivered to U.S. Ordnance throughout the course of 1943, while World War II was still at its height. According to the table on page 144 of "U.S. Military Automatic Pistols: 1920-1945" by Meadows, this specific pistol falls within a shipment of 7,770 pistols (serial numbers 1,076,065 to 1,083,834) sent in August 1943. Features fixed blade front and notch rear sights, a correct blued barrel marked with "P" and "HS" (High Standard) on the recoil lug, along with checkered short stamped trigger, magazine release, thumb safety, narrow spur hammer, slide catch, and arched mainspring housing with lanyard loop. The left side of the slide bears the "USS" monogram and Swissvale, Pennsylvania, address, with circled "R.C.D." (Robert C. Downie) inspection and "P" stamps on the left of the frame, while the right side of the frame bears the U.S. property marking, serial number, and model designation. Fitted with a pair of Keyes Fibre Co. brown checkered plastic grips marked "star/K" on the interiors and a full-blued magazine marked "R" on the toe. Provenance: The Thomas Whiteman Collection

Very fine, retaining 75% plus original Du-Lite and 90% plus original blue finishes with minor edge wear, minor cycling wear, scattered minor visible patches of brown patina/freckling, some light handling marks, and clear markings. The grips are also very fine with some light handling marks in the otherwise crisp checkering. Mechanically excellent.