Howdy Again
Markings on Firearms are very important, particularly to the collector.
As mentioned, the patent dates on the 1911 are the patents that Colt bought from John M Browning when they decided to manufacture the pistol. Some of these patent dates go much farther back than the 1911, back to ideas that Browning patented on much earlier guns. And let's not forget the government inspector's cartouche, GHS for Gilbert H Stuart.
When Daniel Wesson was a young man he worked for his brother Edwin, a manufacturer target rifles. Daniel learned two very important financial lessons from his brother. He learned the importance of securing patent rights. And when Edwin died suddenly and everything in the shop, including Daniel's tools, were seized by creditors, he learned to never over extend himself financially.
Years later, when Wesson partnered with Horace Smith to form Smith and Wesson, he developed a design for a small cartridge revolver that could be loaded with cartridges from the rear, a vast improvement over the Cap & Ball revolvers of the day. But when they did a patent search, Smith and Wesson discovered that a man named Rollin White had already patented the idea. They approached White and attempted to buy the patent from him. White refused to sell the patent rights, but instead agreed to license Smith and Wesson to produce revolvers using the technology he had patented, for a royalty of 25 cents for every revolver S&W produced.
The April 3, 1855 patent date on this little S&W No. 1, 3rd Issue represents the White Patent. Securing patent rights this way,
and stamping them on the gun gave S&W exclusive rights to produce cartridge revolvers in the US all through the Civil War, when all the other manufacturers, Colt included, were only able to produce Cap & Ball revolvers. And clever old Daniel had written into the contract that it was White's responsibility to pursue patent violators. White died a poor man, while Wesson became rich.
Another important aspect of markings is being able to detect refinished firearms. This Schofield revolver has been refinished. It was professionally refinished, but it can be seen how the refinisher polished the steel a little bit too much, causing the markings to become slightly indistinct. Being able to recognize a refinished gun can save the buyer a great deal of money.
As patents expire, they are no longer stamped on firearms. These are the markings on a M&P Target Model that shipped in 1917.
Smith and Wesson was fierce about protecting their patents. There were unscrupulous firearms manufacturers in Europe who copied their designs and even forged the Smith and Wesson name on their cheap copies. S&W could not do much about international trade violations, but they could influence what could be imported legally.
Patents expire over time. Trademarks do not. In the 1920s and 1930s inexpensive copies of Smith and Wesson revolvers, mostly manufactured in Spain, were flooding the American firearms market. S&W was able to trademark the color Case Hardening process that they used on their hammers and triggers to prevent cheap copies from being imported.
So, there is a lot more than simple vanity involved in marking firearms. It can be fascinating to study what is revealed by the markings on a firearm.
1911 and 1911A1 are the military designations, and while commonly used to identify them in conversation, the guns that Colt built and sold to the civilian market were not 1911s. They were "Government Models", and so marked.
The one that I have was made in 1918. It does not say Government Model on it anywhere. Instead, on the right side of the slide it says COLT AUTOMATIC CALIBRE 45.