Send us your own comments about this object.

Title:	PISTOL, AUTOMATIC -  U.S. PISTOL MODEL 1911 SECTIONALIZED .45
Maker/Manufacturer:	BROWNING, JOHN M.
Date of Manufacture:	1917
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 2144
Measurements:	OL: 21.5CM 8 1/2" BL: 12.7CM 5"

Object Description:

U.S. PISTOL MODEL 1911 SECTIONALIZED .45
Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. in 1917 - Modified Model 1911 semi-automatic pistol. Blued finish, two piece checkered wood grips. Weapon has been experimentally converted to full-automatic. One of five modified to fire from an aircraft. Modifications took place on 13 October 1917. Right side of frame and part of grips cut-away to reveal functioning of action.

Markings:
Slide: PATENTED APR. 20. 1897. SEPT. 9. 1902/DEC. 19. 1905. FEB. 14. 1911. AUG. 19. 1913. COLT'S PT. F.A. MFG. CO. HARTFORD, CT. U.S.A. Rampant Colt.
(Right): MODEL OF 1911 U.S. ARMY.
Frame: UNITED STATES PROPERTY. Ordnance bomb on left side.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 20 July 1932.

Army: #5028 - "Letter of Aug. 8, 1917, from the Chief of Ordnance O.O. 474.6/102 S.A. 474.6/210 on the subject 'Alteration of five automatic pistols, calibre .45, to fire automatically; is quoted below:
1. The office is in receipt of memorandum of August 4th from Gun Division (O.O. File R-474.6/92), extract which reads as follows:
In connection with correspondence had with Major Souther office of the Chief Signal Officer, in regard to the development at Frankford Arsenal of a method of mounting several automatic pistols in a frame to be used on an aeroplane in such a manner that all of the pistols can be discharged simultaneously, Major Souther has made a request as follows:
In this connection, it is requested that five automatic pistols, Caliber .45, altered to fire full automatically be furnished this office for test in comparison with the assembled pistols.
2. It is requested that report be made to the Small Arms Division as to the practicability of complying with the above request.' - (Five pistols shipped to the Ordnance Office December 24, 1917, S.A. Invoice 1811.)"

Notes: "An automatic pistol has been successfully arranged with no material alteration of the mechanism, to fire automatically, and there appears to be no doubt that the object can be accomplished if desired. Instructions are requested as to whether the five pistols referred to should be prepared for automatic firing." - Signed W.S. Peirce, Colonel, Ord. Dept. dated 20 August 1917.

"On August 4, 1917, the Ordnance Department, Gun Division, in connection with correspondence from the Chief Signal Officer, requested five automatic pistols, caliber .45, be altered to fire fully automatic. They were required at Frankford Arsenal for the development of a method for mounting automatic pistols in a frame on a airplane in such a manner that all of the pistols could be discharged simultaneously. The five pistols were successfully altered at Springfield Armory without major modification of the mechanism and were shipped on December 24, 1917. Results of the experiment are unknown." - Charles W. Clawson

"Julian S. Hatcher, then in charge of the experimental department at Springfield Armory, later recalled this experiment in these words: 'During the early part of the World War an automatic pistol was changed over at Springfield Armory so as to work automatically with the idea of possibly using such a weapon in aircraft combat. The mechanism functioned so rapidly that when the trigger was pulled all the shots went out at one time and it was hardly possible to distinguish the report of seven shots from one prolonged report. Moreover, the rapidly repeated recoils of these different shots coming one after the other, threw the gun upward and backward so that it was impossible to hold it down even when using both hands. The writer fired this gun a number of times and it was a very curious sensation to fill the magazine, load the gun, take careful aim at the target, and suddenly find the gun empty and pointing at the sky, regardless of the amount of effort made to hold it down.'
No further correspondence on the subject was found and the project was apparently abandoned in favor of a more suitable alternative." - Edward Scott Meadows

While the military expressed little interest in the full-auto .45, the criminal world found use for it. Accordin
Colt in 1917:
"O.O.W. DEPT.
721.5/171 ENCL. 16
COLTS PATENT FIRE ARM MANUFACTURING COMPANY, HARTFORD, CONN.
Colonel W.C. Skinner, President
F.C. Nichols, VIce President
Inspected November 9, 1917
TWO NEW FACTORIES: One not yet completed, 5 stories. Others old ones.
MANUFACTURING: Revolvers, automatic pistols, and machine guns. Capacity 700 automatic pistols increasing to 2,000 daily.
EMPLOYEES: 6,000.
Excellent heat, light and ventilation.
WATER SUPPLY: Hartford public supply filtered through a sand and alum filter, 18 in. x 3 ft. to remove vegetable organisms. Bubbling fountains throughout factory.
SEWERAGE: Through public sewer to Connecticut River, raw.
POWER: All machines driven by electric power.
HOSPITAL: Constant attendants.
RESTAURANT: NONE.
TOILETS: Flush to sewer. Urinals. Ratio 1 to 35. Lockers.
WASHING: Individual porcelain sinks with cold water only, in old buildings. Hot and cold water in new buildings.
INDUSTRIAL: Pickling room. Solution of Sulfuric Acid used for metallic work, the parts staying in the solution for one hour. Quite irritant to the mucous membranes. Four men employed in this room, and show no signs of irritation. All wood working and polishing machines equipped with hoods and blowers. In new building belts for driving machines come from under the floor, thus keeping room lighter and free from belting above the machines."

See, Clawson, COLT .45 SERVICE PISTOLS, pg. 207; Meadows, U.S MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 1894-1920, pg. 196.

References:
Clawson, Charles W. COLT .45 SERVICE PISTOLS: MODELS OF 1911 AND 1911A1. Charles W. Clawson. Ft. Wayne, In. 1993.
Clawson, Charles W. COLLECTOR'S GUIDE TO COLT .45 SERVICE PISTOLS: MODELS OF 1911 AND 1911A1. Charles W. Clawson. Ft. Wayne, In. 1993.
Meadows, Edward Scott. MILITARY AUTOMATIC PISTOLS 1894-1920. Richard Ellis Publications, Inc. Moline, Il. 1993.
Newton, Michael. ARMED AND DANGEROUS: A WRITER'S GUIDE TO WEAPONS. Writer's Digest Books. Cincinnati, Oh. 1990.