Springfield 1911a1 Serial Number Lookup
Serial Number Lookup For Guns
Springfield Armory, Inc. Of Geneseo, IL bears no relation to the original government-owned facility of the same name. The original Springfield Armory had origins dating back to the Revolutionary War, and in 1794 began building muskets for the then-new Continental Army. Up until 1968 it was a major manufacturer of US Martial Arms, including weapons on contract that were designed by civilian gunmaking firms. An example of this was the Colt Model 1911.45 caliber pistol, which although primarily manufactured by Colt for the US military, rights were granted for Springfield to manufacture roughly one-third of the needed production once Colt had already received orders for 50,000 pistols*. From 1914-1916 Springfield manufactured a total of 25,767 pistols, discontinuing production only to concentrate on manufacturing more Model 1903 rifles* (a much greater priority once the USA became involved in World War One).
Springfield 1911a1 Serial Number Search
While Springfield never resumed production of the 1911 pistol after war's end, a few barrels were made as field replacements that are occasionally found in the hands of collectors or inside rebuilt pistols. Springfield Armory continued to manufacture rifles such as the illustrious M1 Garand and M14 until finally being closed by the government in 1968, after which it was transferred to the US Park Service and converted into a museum. In 1974 a commercial enterprise in Geneseo, IL was formed and incorporated, taking the name of Springfield Armory. Again, this new private company was completely unrelated in everything but name to the old government armory, however they began offering replacement parts and builder's kits for M1 Garand, M1A (a civilian-legal M14), and 1911-type firearms.