Model of 1917 revolvers made by Colt and Smith & Wesson provided sterling service in that capacity until production of the standard firearms could be ramped up. Army ordnance, authorized the adoption of substitute standard weapons to serve alongside the standard Springfield Model of 1903 rifle and Colt M1911 pistol for the war in Europe. This raised the question: how would they arm this million-man force? The United States had thus found itself amidst a dire shortage of military firearms and equipment of all kinds, though most pressing was the need for rifles and pistols. government had prevented the funding and procurement necessary for entering the conflict which currently raged on an unheard-of scale, and the United States was suddenly faced with the prospect of having to raise a one-million-man army. But there was a significant problem: the official stance of neutrality by the U.S. On April 6, 1917, Congress formally declared war on Germany and its allies. While Woodrow Wilson narrowly won reelection in 1916 against Republican candidate and Supreme Court Justice Robert Evans Hughes, as a series of international crises unfolded, the United States found it impossible to stay out of the European conflict. history's most famous broken presidential campaign promises. The implied promise that followed the Wilson campaign slogan "He kept us out of the war," is one of U.S. Through our efforts, we seek to correct this and bring to light an interesting and often misidentified variant of the M1911 pistol, which has what we believe is a Springfield Armory-produced and -marked slide and a Colt frame, assembled by Colt as factory pistols.īefore getting into details, it's worth exploring why Colt ended up in the position of needing help in completing guns. There is one story, though, which has gone largely unnoticed by the modern collecting community. The involvement of the United States in World War I resulted in many interesting stories of the production of small arms to equip the rapidly expanded military that was required for the conflict.
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