Colt 1911 in .38 Special

Art Eatman

Staff in Memoriam
I vaguely recall reading about 1911 target pistols set up for this cartridge, but not any details.

In rummaging through family artifacts I ran across a magazine for a 1911 labelled "Colt" and ".38 Special", which is what brought up this quest for a bit of info...

Anybody have one? Want another magazine?

:), Art
 
We used to have several National Guard shooters at our club, years ago, that had .38 Special 1911's made by the Army AMU.
The NRA matches in those days were 3 gun matches...a .22, a .38, and the 45.
 
Not very many of these were made. They were brought out in an attempt to capture some of the market owned by .38 revolvers and the S&W 52(?) for centerfire shooting.

They apparently didn't make much of a splash, which is very surprising given the universality of the 1911 for bullseye shooting.

I sold one of these when I was working at the gunshop back in 1994/95 or so.

IIRC the price tag was $1,150.

Extra magazines are very difficult to obtain, and I've seen them going for $100 or more for Colt-mfg.
 
Colt made the 38 special wad cutter pistol starting about 1961. They tried too butt heads with Smith & Wesson`s fine Model 52. Colt recalled the first pistols for an upgrade, but they never proved their worth and were discontinued..They did in fact fire .38 mid-range wad cutters...
 
I seem to remember reading about
the Colt 1911 in cal. 38 Super or was it 38 Special that was to be
issued to Generals during WWII
The article was in the NRA magazine
" American Rifleman " The article
said that they are amongst the
rarest 1911 to be found.
I guess the Gens. took them home
after the War and whatever was still
in storage mysteriouslly vanished .
Very few were made .
Ponty
 
Clark Custom

will still build one for you on a 1911, but it ain't exactly cheap, and the price of the magazines, woohoo!;)

clark78.jpg


http://www.clarkcustomguns.com/bullcon.htm#heavy
 
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