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LOT 1346
Outstanding, Rare and Highly Desirable, Unserialized World War II Singer Manufacturing Co. Prototype/Presentation Model 1911A1 Semi-
Automatic Pistol with Unique Factory Polished, In-The-White Finish - NSN, 45 ACP cal., 5 inch round
bbl., bright finish, plastic grips. This is an outstanding and extremely rare variation of a World War II production U.S. Model 1911A1 pistol that was manufactured by the Singer
Manufacturing Company. Singer Model 1911A1 pistols certainly need very little introduction, and their desirability in
the 1911 and 1911A1 collectors market is unmatched. There were 500 of these extremely rare pistols produced for the U.S. as part of Educational Order No. W-ORD-396 awarded April 17,
1940. It is reported that almost all of the 500 that were produced were issued to the Army Air Corps early in World War II. Standard
production Singer 1911A1 pistols are incredibly rare in their own right, but this pistol is a true rarity, as it bears no serial number or
inspector markings, meaning it was likely intended for presentation to a high ranking official or important member of the Singer company.
These guns are often referred to as presentations or prototypes, examples of which can be seen from all of the manufacturers of 1911A1
pistols and were often produced at the beginning or during production runs, or alternatively pulled off the production line by employees with
“sticky fingers”. This example appears to have been pulled off the standard assembly line early in the process. It displays the same high quality fitting
that makes the standard production Singer 1911A1 pistols so desirable to collectors, along with a nearly mirror polished “in the white” finish that was likely
left as is by the factory until allocation for presentation and finishing. It is very likely that, after assembly, this specific pistol sat at the Singer factory in its present
state awaiting a presentation that never came, before eventually ending up in private hands decades later. A similar presentation example bearing serial number
“X00” is known which was presented to Wilbur S. Peets, Singer’s Vice President of Manufacturing, upon his retirement in 1968.
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