** Singer U.S. Model 1911A1 Cutaway Prototype with Provenance

World War II

.45 ACP. 5" barrel length. SN: NSN. Du-Lite blued metal finish over highly polished steel with Keyes Fiber Corporation checkered synthetic stocks. Single action short recoil operated autoloading factory cut-away pistol. Fiber stocks are slab backed with the darker color consistent with early Keyes Fiber stocks and are devoid of reinforcing ribs around the screw holes. Stock additionally lack the hollows that appeared on later Singer produced 1911 pattern pistols. The handgun has no serial number and lacks the P proved marking on the barrel that a firearm produced for service would receive. A D mark is struck into the underside of the slide behind the breech face. Despite this, all the components of this handgun bear the hallmarks of Singer manufacture, including the high polish milling of the slide, the brightly polished feed ramp devoid of finish, and the distinctive finger relief cuts applied to Singers. Furthermore, the grip strap and recoil spring contours follow the pattern of Singer 1911s. Comes with one Singer magazine identifiable by the round front to the polished baseplate with Du-Lite blued finish overall, and the singer style feed lips bent inwards at the rear. Item features viewing cuts over the barrel locking lugs, the grip safety, the left side of the sear, and on the right frame exposing the sear, hammer, behind the slide lock port, and over the grip safety mechanism. This lot additionally comes with the employee records of Singer employee Robert C. Popielarski, who preserved this handgun when the company began liquidating obsolete inventory in the 1960s. Popielarski worked for the company for more than thirty years, and the buyer will receive employee records proving both the length of his career as well as his appointment to staff responsible for clearing out obsolete stocks. Furthermore an authenticating letter dated October 18, 1996, signed by a notary public, attests to the authenticity of all documents provided. Finally, the handgun has been completely inspected and authenticated by 1911 and Singer expert Scott Gahimer of M1911info.com, whose full inspection notes and over 120 photographs will be provided to the buyer. Offered here is the only known example of a Singer factory cut-away 1911 and it comes complete with authentic Singer components down to the last screw. No such handgun has ever appeared on the market before, and this item represents a once in a lifetime opportunity for the advanced collector of 1911 pistols.

The United States of America entered the First World War woefully unprepared to fight the war at hand. The Army lacked gasmasks, tanks, competitive aircraft, adequate stocks of automatic weapons, modern artillery pieces, and the most basic instruction in the realities of trench warfare. Even modern handguns had been in short supply, prompting the Army to order revolvers in lieu of the Model 1911 pattern. Bitter lessons were learned about the costs of poor preparation, and as Europe slipped toward another World War in the late 1930s, the United States Government issued a series of Production Studies to companies that might be called upon to make weapons of war. In the middle of 1939, Singer Sewing Machine Company of Elizabeth, New Jersey, began such a study of the M1911A1 pistol. In 1940, the company received Educational Order No. W-ORD-396. The order required Singer to complete five hundred pistols, along with machinery in order to mass produce them, by May the First, 1942. While the company collaborated with Colt to ensure that parts would be interchangeable, Singer still approached the manufacture of these pistols with the precision and polish that made their sewing machines internationally renowned. In the process of preparing for the five hundred handguns, Singer produced pre-production prototypes and three cutaways. Of those latter pistols, only a single example is known to have survived. This very cutaway. It is unmarked, typical of pre-production prototype pistols, but it still bears all the hallmarks of early Singer production.

The quality of the pieces produced by Singer proved that the company's time was wasted manufacturing something as simple as a handgun. In the midst of fulfilling the Educational Order, the company received a production order for Artillery Fire Control Detectors M5 and M6. An additional order of 15,000 1911s was awarded, but Singer and the government agreed that the company's time and equipment were best expended manufacturing the Fire Control Detectors. Accordingly, the order for 15,000 was canceled, and only the initial 500 handguns were actually produced. Tooling manufactured by Singer was transferred to Remington Rand, and evidence suggests that the Singer 1911s were provided to the United States Army Air Corps.

WARNING: This handgun contains a firing pin and could detonate a cartridge if one was placed into the chamber. The presence of the viewing cuts has compromised the integrity of the handgun, and it cannot be safely fired. Do not attempt to fire this handgun.

This lot is located in Cincinnati.