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John Browning’s 1911 is arguably the most iconic handgun of all time. Everyone knows what you’re talking about and can picture one in their head. A total of 2.7 million 1911s were made during its unprecedented 75-year-run as the standard sidearm of the United States military. And that doesn’t take into consideration the massive number of civilian guns made in that same timeframe and right on up to current production.

So you’ve decided that you want to collect 1911s. Or maybe you just want to know a little bit more about them as you peruse the tables at your local gun show. Whatever the case, with so many 1911s floating around out there, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. It can be hard to figure out what makes a 1911 rare. In an effort to make life a little easier for you, let’s cut to the chase and talk about the Holy Grail of 1911s.

In an effort to fulfill the need for 1911s during World War II, unconventional companies started making handguns. Union Switch and Signal put their railway equipment aside and made 1911s. Remington Rand put away the typewriter components and made 1911s. But the rarest of all 1911s were made by sewing machine maker Singer Manufacturing Company – and all of their guns were made prior to the bombing of Pearl Harbor.

Testing the feasibility of 1911 mass production, the Ordnance Department contracted with Singer in 1925 for an engineering study to see how many guns they could produce in a month. After the study was complete, it was determined that Singer could turn out as many as 25,000 1911s in a month.

In 1939, the Ordnance Department awarded a production study to Singer. This allowed them to fine-tune their production methods, come up with standard sizes for raw materials, and research the best production methods. The following year, under Educational Order W-ORD-396, Singer set out to make 500 1911A1 pistols. The goal of the order was a lofty one: eventual achievement of a production rate of 100 guns per hour.

Singer never hit the production rate goal, but they did fulfill their contract for 500 1911A1s. By 1941, Singer had divested themselves of the 1911 business and transferred their tooling and documentation to Remington Rand. As a result of this, Singers have the lowest production numbers of any 1911 model.

Obviously, this makes them incredibly rare and very valuable. It also makes them susceptible to fakes and forgeries. So how do you spot a genuine Singer 1911A1?

First off, start with the serial number. The range for Singers was S800001 to S800500. Anything outside of that range is bogus. Next up, check the markings. The left side of the slide will say, “S. MFG. CO. / ELIZABETH, N.J., U.S.A.” Then, look for a “P” in front of the rear sight and point the gun muzzle up. If the “P” appears upside down, it’s genuine. The left side of the frame will also be marked “JKC.” These are the initials for Col. John K. Clement, the Army Inspector of Ordnance, in the district where Singer Manufacturing Company was located.

With all of these clues, you’ll be in pretty good shape to spot a genuine Singer 1911A1 if you every run across one, but you still have to be wary of well-made fakes. After all, this is a gun that can sell for $30,000 or more, depending upon the condition.

At any rate, if someone offers to sell you an old 1911 that was made in Elizabeth, NJ, for $500, pay the man and run. Then, once you’re in a safe place, you can evaluate it to see if it’s a real-deal Singer. If it is, you just scored big-time. If it isn’t, well, it’s still a John Browning-designed 1911.

Logan Metesh is a firearms historian and consultant who runs High Caliber History LLC. Click here for a free 3-page download with tips about caring for your antique and collectible firearms.

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32 COMMENTS

  1. The singer store is still there in Elizabeth. Used to be a great city once. Now it umm well. Not so much. At least i get alot of expierience treated gun shot wounds there as a medic.

  2. Didn’t we just have a post on TTAG that said Winchester made 100 1911″s? Wouldn’t that make the Winchester 1911 the Holy Grail?

    • This would be the holy grail of WWII-production M1911A1s. There are definitely rarer 1911s, such as the 50 that were actually manufactured in 1911 (see my link below).

  4. Now, if somebody made a 1911 out of THE holy grail, that’d be super cool. I wonder what super power it would have.

    • A .45 ACP made from *the* ‘Holy Grail’?

      Why, after you get shot by it, it would instantly heal you and return the soul stolen by the round that wounded you.

      I suppose… 🙂

  5. I used to have a USS. Traded it off years ago. I’ve seen a Singer at a gun show. If I see one again, I’ll know what to look for.
    Cool stuff!

  6. I have a 1943 Remington Rand. I know it has a High Standard barrel in it. It is in great condition but I know it is a parts gun with not much value other than historic.

    • Remington-Rands were the most-produced WWII M1911A1s. There’s not much value to be had there as a collector’s piece. I’ve seen some go for $500 just a couple years ago. Now they’re all at least $1000, I think.

  7. I would really like to get into collecting classic (old) guns, but accountant says NO !. My book collecting already costs as much as an ex-wife. So, I get my “fix” reading about gun things here.

    • Your accountant is probably an anti. Invest in Enfields, 1903s, rare 1911s, and German Mausers and Lugers and you can’t go wrong. Go watch some Forgotten Weapons.

  8. Nice article- love all the gun history stuff. My neighbor has an RR 1911 he’s mighty proud of. It’d be great to one-up him with a Singer, but I doubt that will ever happen!

  9. Had a mix of various and sundry M1911A1’s in my arms room, 165 of them all together. One of our platoon sergeants was assigned X-3910, and I had X-3959 in my holster. All the rest, iirc had 6, and mostly 7 digit sn’s. Pretty sure those two were original production 1911’s that were converted to A1 standards at some point. Mostly Remington, some Colt, wanna say at least a few Ithaca’s, but might be mistaken there. May have had one or two Singers but don’t quote me.

    For a DivCav troop we were way oversupplied with small arms. Mostly brought back when the unit rotated out of ‘Nam and they never did get around to turning in the excess. As far as I know when the unit was deactivated everything excess to requirements within the division (2AD) was disposed of for scrap and destruction.

  11. Back in the 80’s I was an Armorer in a National Guard Unit. We had 63 1911’s and one of them was a Singer. I did not know the value or think anything of it at the time. It’s almost comical to think that one of our grunts was out there trying to qualify with a $40,000 dollar pistol.

  12. My father worked retail for Singer Manufacturing Company (Simanco) his entire adult life. While I was in high school I worked in his store (all company owned in the 70s) and learned to clean and repair sewing machines and vacuum cleaners. A multitude of bad corporate decisions and over diversification led to Simanco’s eventual bankruptcy and subsequent ownership by the chinese. America’s industrial strength in the 30s and 40s is what allowed us to prevail over the Axis powers in WWII. Like Singer so much of that strength is gone and this fact scares me much more than a “North Korea”.

  13. I have a friend that lived in Elizabeth NJ at the time that these guns were manufactured by Singer. The management group at Singer were given a gun at the time of production and my friend has one. It does not have a serial number on it. It is in new condition and has only had about 20 rounds fired through it. Do you have any idea on the value and if he wanted to sell it is there going to be a problem because the gun does not have a serial number?

  14. If he lives in NJ I would not doubt there would be a problem with no serial number. I still doubt that if it was a production of Singer it would not have a serial number. Even Federal law states that if it has no frame serial number, it cannot be transferred to another party (other than LE).

    • The law did not require a serial number be placed on any gun until the 1968 GCA. It is very common to find older guns that have never had a serial number at all.

  17. I have an Ithaca 1911 that was from WW11. A friend of mine brought it back from England at the end of the war. I have shot it several times and even bought a converter kit to shoot .22lr. I would never part with it. A piece of history. CMP is going to be selling some WW11 1911’s, but I feel ok with what I have.

    Ed

  20. Hi, I worked at the in question, Singer starting in late 60’s, and a few were still around, one engineer had one still in the cosmoline wrapping which I tried to purchase, but he said no, it was for his retirement. They knew then what the value would be, plus the quality was perfect. There also were some manufactured without no’s, personal friend specials made behind the scenes.

  21. The U.S. Navy was shipped 3,982 1911A1s on July 24th, 1942. These guns where shipped to the Officer in Charge, Naval Supply Depot, in Oakland, Calif. and Sewalls Point, Va. This gun was shipped as part of the Virginia shipments. The U.S. Navy only received 3,982 pistols as DIRECT shipments during WWII. After this first shipment, all pistols were delivered to Ordnance Stores (OS) at Springfield where they were disbursed. These direct Navy delivered pistols are seldom encountered due to their small initial number, their relatively high loss rate as all pistols were normally lost when a ship went down, and pistols aboard ship as well as in Navy shore installations were generally kept more securely than Army pistols. Therefore the number of Navy pistols that went home in duffel bags was far less than in the other services. This direct Navy delivered Colt 1911A1 pistol is completely original and bears the W.B. final acceptance mark applied under the authority of Col. Waldemar S. Broberg WB is the most valuable

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