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Title:	PISTOL, SEMI-AUTOMATIC -  COLT PISTOL COMMANDER .45 SN# 680LW
Maker/Manufacturer:	BROWNING, JOHN MOSES
Date of Manufacture:	1950
Eminent Figure:
Catalog Number:	SPAR 1378
Measurements:	OL: 19.3CM 7 5/8" BL: 10.7CM 4 1/4" 27.5 oz.

Object Description:

COLT PISTOL COMMANDER .45 SN# 680LW
Manufactured by Colt, Hartford, Ct. in 1950 - Standard specimen of the Colt Commander in .45ACP. Same design as M1911A1 but shorter and lighter with alloy-frame and rounded spur hammer. Blued finish and checkered plastic grips. Weapon weighs approximately 27.5 oz. Weapon complete with 7-round detachable box magazine. Weapon listed as "unserviceable" by Army.

Markings:
Frame: 680-LW Ordnance acceptance mark.
Slide: COMMANDER/MODEL. COLT. AUTOMATIC/CALIBER .45/Rampant Colt. (Right): COLT'S MFG. CO. HARTFORD CT. USA.
Barrel: COLT .45 AUTO.
Grips: Colt Logo.
Triggerguard: 95. V over P in triangle.

Weapon transferred to the Museum on 31 March 1955. At that time weapon was appraised at $65.

Exhibit label: "COLT COMMANDER .45 caliber, 1951-present. The 'Commander' was produced by the Colt company in response to a request for a lighter pistol to fire the .45 ACP cartridge. Lighter weight was achieved by shortening the barrel and forging the frame from a special aluminum alloy. The light weight, however, greatly increased the recoil. The pistol was also produced in .380 caliber and 9 millimeter versions."

Notes: Introduced in 1949, the Commander is still, as of 1998, being manufactured.

"Colt caused quite a commotion in the firearms world when the Commander first became public knowledge in 1949. The pistol was a shortened and lightened version of the M1911. Quoting from the American Rifleman of September of that year: 'Early in 1948 the Colt Company, in the course of development work for a more universal acceptance of lightweight, heavy-caliber automatic pistols, decided to see what would happen if a receiver was made from aluminum rather than the standard alloy-steel forgings. Working with the Aluminum Corporation of America it was decided, after experimentation, to try one of the high-tensile strength aluminum alloys. Several forgings of this amazingly light metal were specially made and issued to the Colt receiver-machining department. The result was a half dozen .45-caliber automatic pistol receivers that seemed to jump over one's head when they were picked up off the bench. These were assembled into pistols chambered for 9-mm. Parabellum,.38 Super automatic, and .45 ACP cartridges.
The new slide was fashioned from forged gun steel as before, but was shortened from 7 3/8 inches to 6 5/8 inches....the barrel was correspondingly cut down from 5 to 4 1/4 inches....A Mauser-like hammer was built (and various internal alterations instituted)....Sight heights were altered to conform with the reduced lengths of barrel and slide and to conform to the ballistics of the test-caliber cartridges. The new lightweight, with magazine, 'weigh-in' at about 26 1/2 ounces compared to its all-steel counterpart's (M1911, M1911A1, and Super .38) weight of about 40 ounces. An anodizing process produced a blued finish on the receiver and housing that was comparable to the standard blue of the steel parts....A new gun has been born....'
Throughout production Commander calibers have remained at 9mm Luger, .38 Super, and .45 ACP. Serials began with 001-0065, then from 66LW to 66277LW (1968), and from CLW 1001 on up from 1969. All pistols contain model and chambering markings on the left side of the slide, and calibers also on the barrel breech and magazine. Commanders show relatively little variation over the years, despite the number produced now in excess of 100,000." - Wilson

References:
Wilson, R.L. COLT: AN AMERICAN LEGEND. Abbeville Publishing Group. N.Y., N.Y. 1985.