Colt .45 pistol

[Phoenixent]

Originally Posted by joffeloff

I'm not sure if it matters who made it first. It was designed by John Moses Browning, produced for the commercial market by Colt and then made by all sorts of industrial plants and sewing machine makers (Remington Rand, Ithaca, US&S, Singer, and Colt too) during WW2. We all know how many make them now..

Colt built them first for military and civilian sales. The heritage on the 1911 series started back to the Colt 1902 pistol offered to the US Military. No other company built 1911's until the WWI then Colt, REM-UMC, Springfield Armory (The Government Arsenal) and North American Armaments in Canada. After World War One it was just Colt again until 1942 the Colt, Remington Rand, Ithaca, US&S and Singer built the for the the US Military. After World War Two it was only Colt until the late 60's that built the 1911 series pistol. Only Colt built them for Civilian sales from 1913 to 1970 so hence the name Colt .45 or Colt Government Model.

It like calling a B-17 bomber a Boeing B-17 even though Douglas and Vega Aircraft built them also.