THE HOLY GRAIL! | 2.5 Singer 1911A1 Pistols in one place! | Walk-in Wednesday 

The Singers were considered the best made 1911's than those manufactured at Colt, Remington Rand, Ithaca and US Switch and Signal during the War. How that guy came across 2 Singers and had the resources to purchase them is pretty incredible. I always fantasize about going to a gun show and picking one up for $500 from an unsuspecting private dealer.......fat chance! Lol

A friend of mine let me handle his Singer. He died a couple of years ago. The CEO of Colt Industries bought it from Jim's wife. Jim's father carried it during the Nuremberg Trials. That documentation increased it's value dramatically.

35 years ago, as a stockbroker, I had a customer who was an old time retired Singer manager. He was really proud of that. The significance was over my head. Thanks for the explanation.

There's a joke from Serbia in the late 90's: People were scraping to make a living even before NATO bombing. It got even worse once major infrastructure and factories were hit. People raided whatever ruins were left behind in search for parts and equipment they could use or sell. A now out of work employee of a destroyed sewing machine factory is complaining to his neighbor that he's unable to find enough parts to assemble a sewing machine. He says: "No matter how many components I collect and assemble it always turns out as a machine gun!" Now seriously, sewing machine factories are some of the easiest to adapt to firearm production. I don't find anything surprising in the fact that Singer made handguns.

Rick from Pawn Stars will give you $100. He’s taking all the risk.

"International Harvester" switched from farming implements to weapons. Kind of the opposite of the biblical quote "Beat your swards into plowshares" I also love the fact that an IBM 30 Cal. carbine is still technically an "International Business Machine"

Believe it, or not... In 1985 I was a Private in the 82nd Airborne Division (3/325 AIR). I was issued a Singer 1911. It was in the most horrible of shape. If you shook the gun, the slide rattled. I shot it on the range once and about every other round would stovepipe. Pretty scary being a 19 year old kid issued a 46 year old piece of scrap metal. I was pretty happy when about a year or so later we got the new Beretta 92 simply because it was brand new. Years later I finally learned the story of the Singer 1911 and how rare the truly were. If that gun could have talked?

I have a Singer sewing machine, now i need to get a matching 1911.

I was stationed in Friedberg Germany in '88 and '89 in a tank company with 3rd Armored Division--SPEARHEAD--. My last 6 six months before rotating back to the USA and going right to Saudi Arabia was spent in the company arms room. We still had the 1911A1 pistol at that time, and if my memory is accurate we had a bunch of Ithaca and Remington Rand pistols and I believe about 20 Singer marked pistols. Had no idea of the significance as a 19 year old kid back then.

In 1986 I was a unit armor in a Armor battalion, we had a singer amongst other manufacturers. When people tell me they have a 1911 and it’s a fill in the blank gun, we typically cleaned our weapons in a rather unconventional fashion, the 1911’s we broke them down, and either steam cleaned them in the motor pool, or we would soak them in Break Free and set them in a hot shower. Now here is the improvement part, we only cared about the rack number on the grips, and that you got your receiver that matched your weapons card. The rest of the parts we just reassembled our platoons weapons out of. This was typical of the 5 different armor battalions I served in. Being. Tankers these were our issues side arms. When you explain this to someone who is not a veteran or did not serve in a combat arms unit they look at you like “oh no that would not happen” anyhow great videos

My wife's late uncle worked at the Singer plant in Elizabeth. He was a machinist, I was given some of his tools.

When I saw the word "singer" in the title I was stunned and held my breath a second while it sank in. It bugged me that you were handling those guns bare handed because there's only so much life in the finish of those guns. Well, thanks for the very unique video!

I had one of these in 1976 .Bought for about $100. Sold for 250. Thought I did pretty good. I kick myself every time I am reminded of it. Beautiful Parkerized finish.

I don’t know much about military equipment but as a collector of old sewing machines, especially Singers, I can totally see the connection. Singer sewing machines made prior to 1960 are the best of the best. They were built to last a lifetime and built with such precision and quality that they have lasted more than one lifetime! They have a stitch quality that far surpasses any sewing machine made today. They are also far more quiet than today’s machines. I have restored several old Singer sewing machines and I am always in awe of each one. I rarely get to know the history of a sewing machine I get but I always think…If only you could talk. What would you tell me? A lot of unknown history I imagine. I enjoyed your video. Thanks.

I own a monarch lathe that was used at the singer factory during the war to make these guns. Interesting to finally see an example of the guns it produced.

Brooklyn brassiere and gaurderr company, made magazine pouches and such, during the war. They are certainly rare and obscure.

I am a retired Colonel in the Brazilian AF. When I was a Lieutenant in Santa Cruz AFB, some 30 miles south of Rio, I remember there was a 1911 Singer in the inventory of the Armament Section of the Base. We did not care very much about it during our regular training because it was not as precise as the others available. It just an example of the immense industrial mobilization capacity of the US. Only in recent times did I learn through Legacy, of its value. Some years ago, the Brazilian Armed Forces changed its standard handgun caliber to 9mm and all the 1911 pistols were converted to 9, probably the Singer one too.

When I was in the ARMY in the early 1980's as a 11C, the barrels for the 4.2 inch mortar was made by Whirlpool. They were made in 1955 and were in great shape! I was the driver of the M106 mortar carrier and assistant gunner. Fun times in Baumholder West Germany!

I have a Remington Rand 1911 45 acp handed down from my dad , don't actually know when he got it but it was probably in the 50's maybe earlier , I'm going to hand it down to my boys , I'm 67 my #1 son is 47 and my baby is 44

Singer definitely is the most unthinkable company to produce such magnificent 1911s. Thank you. Zaffar Baloch

H.J Heinz (yes the ketchup) of Pittsburgh, Pa made gliders, shell canisters, pontoons, and aircraft seats.

Thanks for the help I didn't need. I used to have a very small chance of finding a U.S. Navy issued Singer 1911. because of this video EVERYONE knows they are desirable and now I have NO CHANCE of finding one. Thanks again ( and don't expect ANYTHING for Christmas! )

In Australia in the late 80's the army adopted the Steyr AUG as the F88, these rifles have a lot of plastic components made by Tupperware.

Oh... and as a follow-up... In 1994 I was working in Northern Iraq as a part of Operation Provide Comfort. At the time, there were only about 15 of us US soldiers in all of Northern Iraq coordinating for the coalition. Our Turkish "allies" would not allow us to bring weapons into country through Turkey for fear we would arm the Kurdish insurgents. So, we procured all of our weapons on the local Kurdish weapons market in the nearby town of Zakho, Iraq. Mostly we had AK's, but a few odd weapons would occasionally be bought up. The weapon that I got, and loved was the Colt Commando XM177! Loved that gun because I knew it had most likely somehow made it way from a SOG Recon team, or Special Forces team that had lost it in Southeast Asia. Kick myself in the behind for not copying down the serial number...

My Dad was a military surplus dealer, he sold every part of a US military firearm at gun shows. He didn't sale any thing that had paper work. He had 2 of these, one was bran new in cosmoline and wax paper, I even want to say it was in a cardboard box too, not sure, and one that had 80% of it's blueing still. When he passed away we looked for them because he told us these were worth a ton. Never did fined them, but when he passed away he had over 6000 hand guns and rifles. all collector pieces. Do a clip on a German Luger .45 acp.

I was stationed at Marine Barracks NAD Hawthorne, Nevada from September 1975 until roughly September 1977 when it was turned into an Army Ammunition Plant. The Admin building had an armory in the basement where the bulk of the M-14s (yes we used M-14s for stationary guard posts--and qualified with them!) as well as a number of M-16A1s, M1911A1s, Remington 870 police model shotguns, and even a bunch of Colt Woodsman .22 semi-autos we could check out for recreational use. But the weapons we used on post starting in the late afternoon and through evening were stored in a large fortified closet in the Guard Shack. I worked as an assistant to the Sgt of the Guard for a while, manning the radio to the roving sentries and had access to this closet. One evening I ventured inside and found a container which looked like a small wooden footlocker which held a number of unused M1911A1s. I don't remember asking the SOG what they were for but I imagine they were there as back ups in the event one was broken out on post; or perhaps to issue to a reaction force if one was needed somewhere in the vast guard area. I was 17 when I was first staioned at NAD Hawthorne but I loved hand guns and by the the time I joined my dad had given me a Ruger Super Bearcat .22 and a Colt Pocket Automatic in .32 cal. When I got out of Boot Camp he surprised me with a new 1970s era 1911A1 because I raved about them having shot them for the first time on Parris Island. All this to say, I had more than a mild interest in hand guns because I want you all to take the claim I'm about to make seriously. In that box of unused M1911A1s was at least one produced by Singer as well as a number made by Remington and Ithica. There must have been Colts in that box too, but I don't recall them. We used Colts on post and so they wouldn't stand out in my mind. But I distinctly remember those off brand hand guns because I couldn't wait to tell my dad about them the next time I called home. My SOG could care less when I excitedly told him nor did any of my buddies care, but I was kinda blown away! I got out of the Corps in late 1977 and went to college putting my hand gun loving days behind me and didn't give this amazing find a thought for decades until the dawn of the internet. I've since learned about various manufacturers making M1911A1s for the war effort. But I've remained puzzled about the Singers for two reasons: first, if only 500 of these were made, how did one of them end up at NAD Hawthorne, Nevada? It seems to me like that contract was only a test and that the guns would have never entered into the field, so to speak. The other thing is, unless the pistol in question said "Singer" on it, how would I know it was manufactured by Singer Sewing Machine? Yet I distinctly remember telling my dad I had a .45 made by Singer in my hand. Were there others marked "Singer" instead of "S. Manufacturing"? Thanks for the Vid!

The sound was enough to get me off. Siiiiilkkkkyyyy smooth!! Man I want American manufacturing back and that tolerance job just inspired me to do better

The war department sought out numerous companies that had high precision milling equipment for the purpose of decentralized production, or backup production of many firearms. If the main Colt production plant were to get sabotaged, others were already up to speed on how to swing into production and keep the numbers moving. Others that made similar short production runs include National Cash Register and Pitney Bowes.

Thanks for the story an history lesson about the Singer 1911's Sir. Also thanks to your friend, for showing them.

In 1982, Booty, my gunnersmate buddy, grabbed me and said he finally got permission to dispose of one of the U.S.S. Bainbridge's worn out .45's. He was going to unbox a new one, and wanted me to take it to the range first. It was the tightest, best firing 1911 I've ever had the privilege to shoot. The first five round group was about 2" at 25 yards. Yes, it was a Singer. I loved that pistol, and for the rest of my time aboard, that was my weapon. I've always wanted to get one, but hey, I had to buy a house.

A very interesting video. My Great Great Grandfather was an agent, machinist and authorised repair technician for Singer in the UK.

Lunchpail gun. Reminds me of a song...Built it one piece at a time and it didn't cost me a dime...

I owned one in 1963. I bought it from a coworker for $25. It was pitted but otherwise serviceable. I sold it when I moved to California. Old story..never sell a gun of any description..you will regret someday.

I always liked the story of GM's Guide Lamp Division making the FP-45 Liberator handguns.

I was issued a Singer 1911 in Viet Nam. I called it "my sewing machine"! I carried it for a year - I wish I had known how valuable it was!

When I was hired as a police officer in Hermosillo Beach Ca. in 1981 our carry weapons were 1911 .45 acp My issued was a very weary Remington receiver with an Ithaca slide and made more rattle noise than marbles in a tin can. Story was department received surplus weapons from US military(Korea) I think every officer passed and we all went out and bought our own. Watching these videos, I wish I could go through that whole armory now, never know where a treasure lies. Believe at one point they had even owned some Thompson’s But rumored was they managed to disappear

I have owned two Singers, a Singer Vogue car in the past and I recently inherited an antique Singer sewing machine, I don't think I could retire on those lol, didn't realise these 1911's were worth so much.

Loved the video. I've built a few 1911s. A former employer had a drug rep. Who had a union switch and signal pistol. He gave it to me to check out and clean and oil it. It was his dad's gun who was a career officer which started in the O.S.S. he served in Ww2, Korea, Vietnam. Was a nice pistol . No I didn't shoot it ,but I wanted to. I had it for 3.5 months before he finally came and got it back.

Union switch and Signal, Rockola. That's all the oddball companys I can think of at the moment. In Vietnam I had a Remington Rand 1911A1. I sold it before leaving country. I fell stupid got doing it. Cause the only 1911 I've had during my life was a handgun made by a New York company I want to say Numrich Arms or Thompson, It's been a while. I can remember what went on in Vietnam in 67/68 more clear than what happened a year ago. I got divorced about 20 years ago and have had to sell most of the firearms I had in my collection. I don't mind being divorced but it really bothers me about having to sell those guns I became disabled and my wife gave me a ration of shit about using pain meds. Well I still use meds to control pain even 20 yrs later. My spine and most of the bones and joints started to disintegrate. Now at 75 my doc says either I'll be paralyzed or die, he says I should chose one, hahahaha, asshole. Which I want to come first. Some doc HUH? I I had a M14/M1 A or as it said on the heel M14-SA, in an E-2 stock and bipod(sold) An M17 Bullpup, and I liked that rifle, accurate as hell. It was an Auto-Ordnance .45 that I had and sold, damn. This was a add-on, remembered it after closing the video.

Victor Adding Machine Chicago, IL made the renowned Norden Bombsight. My father worked for Victor, and was given a commission to serve as a Bombsight Instructor. He was all over the world performing his work. This I consider an obscure company contributing to the war effort. I also have 1/2 a Union Switch & Signal 1911A1 which has a Remington Rand frame, and was an arsenal rework by Springfield Armory, and is so stamped. I'm not sure of it's value, but wouldn't sell it since the patina on both frame and slide match perfectly

I grew up in Elizabeth, New Jersey and had a relative that was in management with Singer before and after the Second World War. He told me about the 1911 and how many of the parts as you said went out in lunch pails and had no serial number and put together by the worker in their home. Also, a few non-serial numbered guns were produced in the factory and upper management people told them home already assembled. I’m thinking there were probably more then a few that went out the door that way. Good gun history lesson. 👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍

Back in the 1930's, Singer made high quality products. I found a 1938 Singer industrial sewing machine, model # 111W113. It's 16 years older than me, and still runs perfectly. I also have the motor that runs it with a clutch that works opposite of how the clutch works in a manual transmission car. It makes the machine run faster than I can handle, so I rigged it to run off bicycle pedals. It has lost much of the paint, but I can't even imagine how many things were made with it for WWII.

Thank you very fascinating. When I was in the USN we used to be issued 1911 pistols for our topside watch at the submarine base in New London Connecticut. And I remember having a Singer branded pistol on numerous occasions.I also recall Smith Corona .45s.in hindsight we should have appreciated them but at the time we thought they were junk. They were pretty old and rattly!

"Lunch pale guns" Sort of like Johnny Cash's Caddy.

Underwood Typewriter Company During World War II, Underwood produced M1 carbines. Approximately 540,000 M1 carbines were produced from late 1942 to May of 1944. Underwood also produced M1 carbine barrels for the US Government. Under the Free Issue Barrel Program, barrels were sent to other prime manufacturers who did not possess the machines to make barrels. It is thought that they made about 1 million barrels from late 1942 to late 1944. During the post-war period they were one of two civilian companies who were awarded a contract to refurbish M1 carbines. They were first to produce stamped and brazed parts by producing trigger housings and front sights reducing time and machines for complex work during milling operations.

I drove for a major in the US army. I was in an Artillery unit, and he would have me check out his 45 pistol and I remember it being a Singer!

Very informative, thanks.

Great showing, I own a Colt A1 1942 made !

My Older Brother had one around 69 or 70.First 1911 45ACP I had ever seen or seen fired.I was only 13 or 14yrs old.To bad he let it go.Thanks for the video.

Retired Navy Gunners mate, my first ship USS Harlan County LST 1196 1974-1978 in the armory there was two of these singers.

A great story and an A+ for the history lesson. On the other hand you'll need to repeat a class you failed... this summer. Gun safety 101!

Beautiful piece of American history. Thank You for sharing.

I used to work in engineering in that plant. They had some of the most interesting machines in storage from the war years. One that I remember was a sewing machine for stitching the parachute straps that looked like they were for air dropping jeeps or, possibly, tanks!

Love your Videos, I learn alot and they are kinda fun to watch.. Thanks.

Beautiful & awesome presentation and informative

Rockola jukebox Company made M1’s and M1 carbines

The 1911 that was issued to me in Germany in 1982 was stamped US&S on the slide. The frame was Remington. The armories would swap parts all the time.

Thanks for this video. There use to be a singer 1911 hanging on our bankers office wall when I was a kid. His father was a big gun collector. particularly of military firearms. He had many old cavalry guns and odd special stuff. The family still owns the singer, but sold many of the collection.

Only 500 made and the army issued me one when I was in the 69th Armor in Hawaii. I was a tank gunner. I went to Vietnam later as a helicopter door gunner.

Singer made equipment other than sewing machines. I served on a submarine 1977-81. The weapons system I worked on was produced by Singer. My limited military experience with the M1911A1 is their tolerances was so loose if you shook one it rattled! I’ve never seen anything made by Singer with sloppy tolerances.

I used to work at a foundry that makes break drums for semi trucks, but they actually used to make cannon balls decades ago! Ironically now, I work in auto assembly and supposedly I guess if needed for a war, we can hault car production and make vehicles for the military!

My grandparents both worked at singer and they actually met there. My grandfather was hired to do work for switching over to the 1911 along with helping to get other war contracts. The reason why they didn't make more than they already had was the same reason they only stamped S instead of singer on the pistols. They didn't want to be associated with making guns that would likely end up stateside. The unfinished pistol is most likely a spare parts build like you said, but they allowed employees to build one for themselves at the end of production. But it was mostly just for the men working there. I actually have 2 from my grandfather and thankfully they survived the torture from my younger days because I had no clue how much they were worth. I knew they were valuable but I always assumed that even$5000 was a stretch and$2500 was probably closer. I'm shocked to hear that they are 6figure guns. I've always said that I would never sell them, but I might be tempted to let one go to pay off my mortgage lol. Especially since my grandfather kept them in a old shoebox under the bed........ I also have a few pictures from them when they first started to make them along with some documents and paperwork that was also in the shoebox.

During WW2 my Dad was a machinist for Bendix making machine gun parts. I retired from the Longview Fiber Co. where worked for 40 years retiring as a machinist. The older guys there said the machine shop was going 24/7 making parts for the war effort, plus the company also made boxes for C-rations.

I believe Singer supplied their equipment used to make the "500" M1911A1 pistols to fulfill their "Educational Contract" to Remington Rand, who also utilized equipment from Remington UMC used in WWI and stored at the Springfield Armory. Remington Rand, after some initial production issues, made some of the best pistols of all the contractors. Many of the production innovations were developed by Remington Rand.

I grew up in Minnesota in the 60s and a good friend mine’s dad was a WWII veteran. His MOS in the Navy was in ordinance. His dad had one of these pistols stamped with the Singer Co. along with an M1 garande, an M1 carbine, and a Thompson submachine gun. They all came from the ordinance from the ship he was assigned to. They all worked by the way!

Nice Video Tom, you're gonna give the History Channel a run for it's money! Very Knowledgeable, and good stuff!

AC spark Plug made M2 .50 cal. ;also Westinghouse. (I've seen those in french military possession in 80s) Westinghouse also made Moisin Nagants (have one). Either Brother or Olivetti made BARs. Guide Lamp made "grease guns", also Liberators(I think?).

The Sheaffer Pen Company in Fort Madison Iowa made fuses for mortar rounds in WWII. They had some on display in the lunch room when I worked there in 1979. They were also the largest employer in town. Sadly they don’t exist anymore. Then there was the Tank Plant that was built in Bettendorf Iowa. It was built by International Harvester. They were competing for a contract to build a replacement for the M4 Sherman. Their design didn’t win. So they got a contract to rebuild battle damaged M4’s. They only rebuilt around 500 from what I read. That was late in 1944, or spring of 1945.

Love the stories in your videos... keep'em coming! Eastman Kodak Company made the T-13 "Beano" handgrenade.

Heckler and Koch made sewing machine parts. I've used (and abused) HKs for years and they work every time.

Obscure, maybe. I bought a Remington 760 pump rifle second hand a while back. The rifle had a scope 1.5x fixed power made by Kollmorgen and had Stith mounts. It had a single dot reticle and the bullet i fired went right to that dot! Great rifle and scope. I sold it to Cabelas when I gave up deer hunting. Their gun guy never heard of the scope. I later found out that it was the same company that manufactured Norden Bomb sights!

Because singer had a stellar reputation for quality workmanship fit and finish.

There used to be a gun and military collectibles store in Vancouver, B.C. Canada by the very appropriate name, 'Toys for Men'. The store would scour the world's surplus firearm market for deals on surplussed weapons and sell them for very reasonable prices. Their job was made easier by the passage of the GCA of 1968 in the U.S. which put restrictions on the importation of firearms saying that they must "be generally recognized as particularly suitable for or readily adaptable to sporting purposes" to be allowed to be imported into the U.S. I know many of you won't believe this, but back then Canada had very few restrictions on firearms ownership. Canadians weren't allowed to carry handguns but there were very few restrictions on ownership. To make a long story short, 'Toys for Men' imported a large quantity of surplussed 1911 and 1911A1's from Europe....Norway if memory serves me correct. As one of their regular customers I was invited to inspect the shipment to handpick the pistols I wanted to purchase. I selected 4: An unmodified Colt 1911, a Remington Rand 1911A1, an Ithaca Gun Company 1911A1, and a....., you guessed it Singer slide on a non-Singer frame. I took the pistols to the cash register, plunked them down and asked how much? "Let's see, said the owner: $69.00 for the 1911, $119.00 each for the 1911A1's, and $15,000.00 for THE SINGER!" Unfortunately, and as you can guess I left the store with only three pistols. $15,000 was a LOT of money back then. To put things in perspective, my first house only cost $47,500.

Thank you for the history lesson, in less than eleven minutes at that. A GI full size 1911 45 auto is the best looking handgun ever. It's a gun, not a Barbie doll, you don't need to accessorize it.

One of the reasons Singer made guns was because of the precision of the workers. They were much more precise than the average factory worker and had more attention to detail. That's the main reason the government asked them. Hope that helps

Great videos thank you 🙏

Dude your the man AWSOME uploads 🇬🇧

born and raised in elizabeth nj my grand parents met in the singer plant friggin huge plant

Sorry to get into this conversation so late in time. However, the Rock-Ola Juke Box company, (Juke Boxes were coin operated machines that played music from vinyl records, in the early part of the 20th Century) actually made .30 caliber, M-1 Carbine rifles for the U.S. military. I don't know the specific years, but maybe 20 yrs ago, someone I knew actually had one of the rifles. This particular rifle also had German Logos on it, since these rifles were given to the German police in Post-War Germany. The magazines were also apparently made by Rock-Ola as well, because they had the Rock-Ola name on the bottom of the magazine for the rifle that I saw. When you think of companies that you would least expect to make weapons of war, a company that normally makes devices that produce music has to be among them. The company was located in Chicago, as was True Value Hardware, which also made M-1 Carbines, and International Harvester, another gun manufacturer during WWII. All of these companies returned to civilian production after the War, though Rock-Ola went out of business, as the Music Industry changed to cassettes and eventually CDs, and now Streaming.

In the 70's when I was in the Army, we had 81mm mortar bipods made by American Machine & Foundry (AMF), the bowling people; coincidentally my father was a regional manager for AMF :)

I had one... Had the same exact bakelite grips. I shot it a few times and was surprised how well it shot and i carried it for awhile in a tanker harness under my biker vest. It would shoot hardball all day longer but would not feed hollow points at all.

Amazing information! Never ever thought that a sewing machine or typewriter company could make pistols. Love from Pakistan!!!

My father-in-law was a skilled machinist. During the first half of WWII, he supervised an assembly line, ~100 women. They made Tank shells. The company was National Rubber.

When I was in the Army in 1980, one of the other platoon leaders in our company in 3/32 Armor had a Singer .45 issued to him as his side arm. We noticed it one day when we were cleaning our weapons, We knew it was worth a lot of money even back then! Mine was an Ithica and the other platoon leader had a Colt. He tried to buy it when he left, but they would not sell it to him. Pure torture for him, I;m sure!

I carried a Singer M1911 to Grenada in October of 1983. I remember that it was an extremely accurate pistol and that everyone who shot it wanted to carry it.

Why Singer? Have you looked in an old Singer Machine? Masterful workmanship. Unparalleled.

Love all that info. I knew that they made 1911's but have never seen one.

My Colt 1918 and who knows how it made it home (duffle bag, lol). But it is the tightest 1911 I have in my collection. Also, Tom I am the one that just bought the 1944 Colt 1911 that came straight from the Arsenal to a gentleman back in 1961! Thanks!

You need to do a video on the few colt commercial/military 1911a1s. Colt took roughly 6600 already built commercial models and transferred them to the military they took out the SWARTZ safety and took the commercial serial numbers off and put military ones on

In it was 1986 or 1987, I qualified at the pistol range at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune, N.C. The obviously very old and very inaccurate .45 that I was using had Singer stamped right on the side of the slide. It was my issued weapon right out of our armory. Not long after , we switched to the Beretta 9mm.

Excellent and informative !

The factory is just down the street from the Norfolk Southern Railroad's Intermodal Terminal (E-Rail) in Elizabeth. That building was (still is) enormous and still stands today with most of it abandoned with a small portion being used as retail space. Sure would love to get inside and wander around.

Well when it comes down to Fire arms The Browning Automatic Rifle. Made by Royal Typewriter Company. Comes to mind. I was a Cadet at Roosevelt Military Academy in Aledo, Illinois. The Gentlemen who demonstrated the breakdown of what seemed like a very completed manipulation could do it in less than twenty minutes while naming the parts taken them down and putting it back together. It took him a lot less for the 1911A1a.

Play-Tex bras, or International Latex Corporation made the Apollo spacesuits. They changed the division name to ILC for NASA.

its amazing how well they turned out! its hard to beat the quality of those singer 1911a1 even today. fit and finish wer on point! i rate them on par with the pre war colt national match pistols. and those wer all hand polished internals.

When he racked that old 1911 wow no sound amazing .

I bought one of these from a cab driver in about 1974 for $75.Of course I did not realize what I had.I was in college and the ammo was expensive, for me anyway.I did reload but did not have the dies for .45ACP.I was living pretty much hand to mouth.Someone offered me $150 for it,double my money,heck yeah.I have certainly regretted that many times over the years.

When I was in the Philippines 25 years ago the guy in the hills that make Black market 1911s by hand from scratch had a rusty singer as a model. But I didn’t know what it was until just now.

I was shocked when I first saw the caption saying “The Holy Grail” Singer M1911A1, because when I was in the 82nd Airborne my company had a 1911 that was made by the Singer Sewing Machine Company probably during WWII. Most of the bluing was gone and it rattled when you shook it.

Your video was awesome. I love the information giving.