British Ballester Molina for Special Operations Executive 

This is like a 1911 written in cursive

So American steel, an Argentine factory and use by British special operations. Man war makes for interesting origins

Greetings from Argentina. It is not uncommon to find Ballester Molinas of the British contract with mismatching slide and frame serial numbers. The story here goes that when the first batch of these pistols arrived to Great Britain to be tested, the chief Royal Armourer was not particularly happy with having to deal with guns made in what he regarded as a colonial backwater. He was greatly suspicious of the weapons and therefore he had them disassembled and the component parts thrown in individual drums. Barrels in one, slides in another, frames in another and so on. He then had them reassembled at random and had them tested. The pistols worked flawlessly, having obviously been well manufactured using modern methods as well as to homogeneous and highly precise tolerances. Clearly impressed, the Royal Armourer then gave the approval to the weapons to be issued to Her Majesty's soldiers. But that first batch of pistols was never reassembled with the proper matching slides and frames and so they served in that fashion and some are still to be found around.

My grandfather was a cop here in Argentina. The regular version was the standard service pistol for police officers in Buenos Aires.

I think Ian generates 80% of the internet's Ballester Molina related content.

*Ba•yeh•ster* Is a catalonian name meaning soldier armed with a crossbow or crossbow maker. It's a good name for a gunsmith.

BRITAIN 1942 : 'Hey Argentina we'll buy some of your guns' BRITAIN 1982: ' I think we should stop seeing each other"

Secret agents buy non standard firearm from a non traditional source to have plausible deniability, promptly proceeds to add own unique serial numbers.

A WAG regarding the numbers: every so often, they needed actual cash so they pulled some guns from the production run and sold them.

Some curious: In the 50s two provinces of Argentina changed their names. Chaco Province became "Provincia Presidente Perón" and La Pampa Province became "Provincia Eva Perón". The BMs of the police of this provinces have the respectives Marks. After the revolution of 1955 That provinces return to their original names and the marks of Pistols were erased. So few Pistols survived this erased procedure and actualy are very scarce. Another curiosity: the personal pistol of Engineer Carlos Ballester Molina is a model "Campeón" (Champion), the only Campeón in 45 ACP with 7 inch barrel, with fins, and the engraved leyend: " No me gustan los importadores" (I don´t like importers). Unas curiosidades: en los 50s 2 provincias argentinas cambiaron sus nombres, Chaco pasó a llamarse Provincia Presidente Perón y La Pampa Provincia Eva Perón. Las BMs de las respectivas policías fueron marcadas así. Después de la revolución de 1955 las provicias volvieron a sus nombres originales y se borraron las inscripciones, muy pocas BMs sobrevivieron a esa borrado y por lo tanto son escasas. Otra curiosidad. La pistola personal del Ingeniero Carlos Ballester Molina era una modelo Campeón (la única campeón calibre 45 ACP que existe según entiendo) con cañon de 7 pulgadas y aleteado, con la inscripción "No me gustan los importadores"

I imagine that angling the slide serrations to match the lines on the grips would look really sharp.

Gorgeous looking pistol, and fascinating history. Never knew about the SOE contract!* *which, I concede, is kind of the point with the SOE

Ballester Molina: "Hey can I copy your homework?" John Moses Browning: "Sure, just change it so the teacher doesn't know you copied." Ballester Molina:

1911 without a grip safety. Perfection.

I wish I had bought a couple Ballesters back when they were $175 out of SOG.

The polishing looks especially beautiful

Such a beautiful gun.. Condition is superb.. Like it was taken out of the factory a week ago instead of so many years back 👍

I love my Ballester, solid steel instead of grip safety makes the recoil much better.

Inb4, "molester ballerina" model pistol

I love all the M1911 Variants. Used to have a STAR collection, well sort of a total of 3 pistols in the Star Line up, a BK BKM and a wonderful little PD. I got the PD for cheap because it was missing a front sight insert that had been installed at some point in it's life. I took a red tooth brush and carved an insert to fit, epoxied it in place and polished her with some 4000 grit emery paper to give it that almost factory look and when she was done she served me as my conceal carry till one of my buddies on the Police Department talked me out of the little jewel. The BK and BKM were only with me for a few months when an old high school pal purchased my entire collection of firearms from me (with a damn bad check but that is another story) and the whole collection ended up in our confiscated property room after he went off the deep end and holed up with my gun collection at a point where I was called to talk him out. I was both embarrassed and must have looked a bit sheepish as I cataloged his (my) firearm collection into the property room. Eventually his family claimed the guns as he was in the State Mental Hospital (transported by me and the good sheriff, it was screwed UP!) for the criminally insane (some 400 miles in the Sheriff's Car) for his assault against myself and the County Sheriff as we arrested him for assaulting the Chief of Police of a neighboring town. One of those deals, where we were the very best of friends when in our youth, he is better now but will no longer even speak to me. Being a police officer is not a happy occupation.

i love those Ballester Molina guns... i had a friend who had a Ballester Rigaud which belonged to his grandfather, these are classics here in Argentina and very cared by their owners... in fact, they are so cared that they are sold with a lot of extra charge in them. There are also 1911s that belonged to policeofficers in Argentina, produced by Fabricaciones Militares, which were nicknamed "sistema colt" these are a little more weared but are way cheaper

I don't know what it is with me and the 1911's design. I see a 1911 or a 1911-looking gun and I drool. That is one gorgeous piece!

I suspect the "missing" guns are at the bottom of the ocean, courtesy of the U-Boat arm. It's a long journey to Britain from South America, so lots of chances for a Type VII or Type IX to have found the ship. Even if Argentina was neutral, lots of neutral shipping was sunk by U-boats, whether by accident or on purpose.

Always there to calm my mind on a rough night. Thanks Ian also talked my dad into getting one of these years ago

The British using a gun made in Argentina? I bet that was real popular after 82.

Gun Jesus has blessed us with another gem

Nice! I always liked 1911 pattern guns, not everyones cup of tea I know but I like them. That's a particularly nice looking gun, don't know if its as its in such nice condition or the little differences in the design? But I think it looks pretty spiffy.

Thank you for showing us different and interesting firearms day after day, Ian. I never want to know youtube without you

What a beautiful pistol! Love how that bluing just picks up every single swipe of the finger! That shows that this pistol is in almost like new condition and that bluing was very carefully and lovingly applied. What a gem. I wold love to add this to my arsenal!

If only I knew how many tons per square inch my pistol's barrel could handle.

I am familiar with the B-M, it seems like a good solid design. I can certainly see the Star elements in it. Never heard of the British contract though. Makes sense. They would not have wanted to use Lend-Lease 1911's or Victory Model S&W's in SOE, certainly. Probably used all the captured German arms they could. The condition on that sample is incredible. Glad to see that there are some in such good condition. Great video as always. Thank you

Wasn't some of the steel supplied reputedly recovered from the Graf Spee? or is that an old wives tale?

i wonder how many people have a gun like that and think it is just an old 1911

One possibility of the missing serial numbers might also be that if indeed these were transported under the lend lease act, it's very possible that one or more of the ships that might have been carrying certain batches of the guns might have been sunk by German u boats in the Atlantic. This does not account for the mismatched serial numbers, but it does account for some that might be missing from the total percentage that the British bought on paper.

Owned 2 of these shot surprisingly well.

Looks like a pretty decent quality handgun.... :) the finish looks very nice to me :)

I tought that the british contract Ballester Molina were chambered in .455 Webley & Scott Auto. My grandfather was an argentine officer and had one chambered in .45 ACP. beautiful pistol. When he die, the Army claims the pistol and surely was destroyed. sigh....

Nuestra Ballester-Molina 💪🇦🇷

Thank you , Ian .

I find it quite funny how basically every nation just waited to see who would win before they got involved

I was give my grandfather's, (WWII Vet), B-M .45, years ago. I'm doing my research. This has a B6xxx S/N with proofing stamps on frame and slide. Nothing on the barrel. Mags have "H/A" diamond stamps. So, is it my understanding that if the handgun has proofing stamps that it was never issued?...and sold as surplus after the war? (Likely never seeing service?) Thanks for your video.

In the book, "A Man Called Intrepid," Intrepid (aka Mr. Stephenson) describes his approval of the purchase as pistols that could not readily be traced back to the United Kingdom as the point of origin. No doubt the B serial number made that harder which is probably why some of those did not go to the SOE (Secret Service).

Greetings from Argentine Patagonia, great video. Here There are two false rumours about BM. 1- The Steel used was obtained from German Crusier Graf Spee, sunk in Rio de la Plata in December 1939, in fact sunk in the uruguayan part of the river. 2- Like you say, the BM was request by UK for the 8th Army because it has not grip safety and, for that reason has not trouble with sand of Sahara. Both false. Some BM end in 8th army, but most of them went to SOE in places like Yugoslavia, Grece and Italy in the hands of Guerrilla/Partisans. Saludos desde la Patagonia Argentina, excelente video. Aquí hay 2 falsos rumores sobre las BM: 1- QUe el acero usado fue obtenido del crucero alemán Graf Spee, hundido en el Rio de la Plata en diciembre de 1939, de hecho en la mitad uruguaya del río. 2- Que el Reino unido requirió las BM para el 8vo ejército porque al no tener seguro de empuñadura no sería afectada por la arena del desierto. Ambos falsos. Algunas BM terminaron en el 8vo ejército pero la mayoría fue usada por el SOE en lugares como Yugoslavia, Grecia e Italia en manos de Guerrileros/Partisanos

Hi, Ian. Did you secretly take it out to the range and give it a go? It is a secretive gun, after all. Thanks for sharing! Stay healthy!

I always wanted a very simple 1911 with only the thumb safty and no grip safty.

Arguably makes sense to see that they didn't have a dedicated serial number range, plausible deniability and all that

The documentation regarding these pistols is of course still available ( the British secret service throws no documentation away) and is probably filed in the cabinet next to the one where the cheques Benjamin Franklin cashed are kept :)

Hola, Ian. Veo que tenes varios videos de armas argentinas y hace un buen tiempo tengo algo que pedirte; que, por favor, crees un "playlist" con nuestro nombre y bandera, porque veo que esta en una con el nombre "southamerica", no solo que no existe un continente ni subcontinente con ese nombre, sino que ningún otra playlist incluye un bloque geográfico. Sería un honor para mí que me des ese reconocimiento. Muchas gracias por tus vídeos con los que aprendo también Inglés (la parte escrita la debo🤗). Saludos de un argentino residente en Texas.

Oh look, another 1911 looking gun !

Lovely pistol.

For dirty deeds, done dirt cheap.

Nice pistol. Interesting back story.

00:05:04 is that Ian´s fingerprint on the slide??? if it is then the price of that pistol goes up by 100% now

Colt was selling them thousands of M1911 A1s. Why did they need a proprietary 1911 derivative that doesn't have parts that are interchangeable with M1911 A1s?

Oh Ian loves Molina's

Awesome and informative. Would love to see a lot more British based stuff.

Great video as always!

My grandfather had one exactly like that one but in 22. Lr.

Thanks for the vid sir.👍🏼👍🏼

So which would be more valuable, the one in lovely but unissued condition with postwar proof marks, or one in "fought a war" condition and no proof marks (meaning a war souvenir)? Does condition trump history in this case, or the other way around?

Anyone with a C&R can get a non-SOE Ballister Molina for 530 dollars on gunbroker right now. Just an fyi. There is another one on there for 3,250.

I really want an FN Five-Seven video but it's not a Forgotten Weapon.

Would you please do a "Guns of Peaky Blinders"? I'm in the middle of a Peaky Blinders marathon and love seeing the progression of their gun technology

@Gun Jesus @Forgotten Weapons Hey Ian, I wondered if you could imagine yourself doing some malfunction diagnosis videos. It would be very interesting to see malfunctions in slow motion with commentary, tear down and talk about options. I just ruminated about it when I saw the Wildey Survivor video with the adjustable gas system. Seeing iterations of something like that would be really cool. I hope you go to Finnish Brutality with Karl.

Elegant firearm.

Is Forgotten Weapons no longer on Full30? Just curious. I did like that because it went live before Work so I could have breakfast watching my favorite channel :(

Love those grips

Is it just me, or is that a particularly sexy 1911?

Refined 1911. Unicorn gun. Barter arrangements for the win.

Now if only there was a modern version with a double stack frame, better grips, flat mainspring housing, ambidextrous controls, and a light/laser rail

I love mine! And have for 20 years!

Great vid. Hey I though you have disabled ads on your videos but now there are some in the middle. it's on your older vids too. just you know.

Hi Ian! Could you possibly do a video on TE and MW, and how it pertains to M1 Garands you often see listed for sale with those numbers (what they mean, etc)?

So beautiful! And in the correct caliber!

The old Ballerina Molester model eh?

Ballester Molina orgullo argentino!!!

Nice looking pistol

I thought the thumb said ".50 AE Ballester Molina." Was much confuse.

They are excellent pistols, if you own one, be happy.

....so you're saying that it's a James Bond 1911 made from bits of the Graf Spee? Because that's what I heard.

Very minor nitpick for an excellent video, and an extremely common mistake by many Americans, England =/= UK. Great Britain fought in WW2, not England alone.

There had to be a huge "bribe" in steel too, to the Argentine govt, to allow the company to manufacture the guns. (In addition to the steel to make them and the cost in steel.) Because the steel to make them and the steel from the purchase is not very much steel.

Why an 1911 clon from Argentina? Any especific reason?

I am a sucker for anything linked to SOE and OSS. This is a very pretty pistol, I wouid very much like to own it.

Whilst this is just idle speculation, SOE may have contracted to not receive a single coherent block of serial numbers. I'm not sure how prevelent "Operational Research" (Statistical Analysis/Warfare) was in 1940 when the guns were ordered, but it seems fairly intuitive to note that if all your secret guns are in the same Serial Number range, it's easier for the enemy to track your secret guns. It may be a miniscule difference, but hey, they were inventing modern Spycraft/Special Forces. In the same vein how SEAL Team Six wasn't founded after SEAL Teams One through Five etc. Or they just pulled random guns off the production line. I know which possibility is more *fun.*

You use England and Britain interchangeably. They are not interchangeable. If you are referring to government or military or general nationality, it's Britain only. Yes, there is a country called England and you can go there and come from there just as you can go to and come from Scotland and Wales and N. Ireland. But Parliament and all departments answering to it are always and only British.

Who couldve predicted the chaos that would unfold between the two nations 23 years later...

Wow you guys are fast

A very handsome looking pistol in beautiful condition.

Nice color

It's very nice gun. I can tell from having years spent looking at both not nice and nice looking guns.

Yeah, look more like a Star Super B to me than to a M1911.

This is the "Hitman game" classic gun right?

El momento más esperado por toda latinoamerica unida! But why the british flag?

Please do a review of the PSA AKV-9.

I wonder if some of the rumours of these being used by British troops in North Africa might have a shred of truth? It makes sense to me that a British liason, or anyone serving in a mostly American sector, would want a powerful handgun that takes standard American magazines. So I suspect there were quite a few 1911s and, possibly, Ballester-Molinas, floating around, especially with the LRDP. This is kind of a dream gun for me, I very much want one. It'll compliment my old 45ACP double-action revolver!

It's a 1911 with weird stripes and a fat load of text on the slide and a strange grip

The gun is beautiful.

I'm pretty sure that I have at least one folder on my pc named hafdasa containing random stuff

One thing that confuses me is why would SOE want pistols in .45 ACP and not 9mm?