Origin of the stainless-steel 1911

by John Malloy

Introduced in 1977, the AMT Hardballer (held in left hand) was the first commercially-successful stainless-steel 1911 pistol. The impressive Long Slide Hardballer, with its 7-inch barrel, was introduced a few years later.

Contributing Editor

Arguably, the Colt/Browning 1911 is the most popular handgun design made today. It is available in a variety of variations. 1911-type pistols are made in traditional blued steel and also now in newer stainless steel finishes. The stainless-steel variants have become so familiar that it seems hard to remember a time when they were not common.

However, it has not been all that long ago that there were no stainless-steel 1911s. How did the stainless-steel 1911 come into being? Actually, it was not only the 1911 that was “blue-steel traditional” in the firearms world. Until well after WWII, most firearms were made of much the same materials they had been made for the preceding century–walnut stocks or grips, and blued steel metal parts. It was not that Americans did not appreciate the benefits of stainless steel. However, stainless steel seemed best suited for kitchen utensils. Pistols were made of high-carbon blued steel.

Until, all of a sudden, in 1965, S&W introduced the Model 60 revolver, a stainless-steel version of the company’s popular .38-caliber Chief ’s Special. Other firearms manufacturers took notice, and began to think seriously about stainless steel as a material for guns.

For over half its history, the 1911 design was produced almost solely by Colt or under license from Colt. For this same amount of time, the 1911 was produced solely of carbon steel, with either blued (for commercial models) or Parkerized (for military use) finish. By the time the decade of the 1970s had passed its midpoint, however, things changed.

From 1911 until 1977, Colt had been the sole source of newly-made US commercial 1911-style pistols. However, by the latter part of the decade of the 1970s, the market for similar 45s made by other firms grew. Spanish 1911 “look-alikes,” the Llama and Star pistols, had been imported in the years following World War II. During the 1960s, surplus 1911 and 1911A1 pistols had been sold to National Rifle Association (NRA) members. (It was to be the last time military handguns would be sold to civilians by the US government.) The values of the reliable 1911 and its powerful .45 ACP cartridge were widely recognized. Just about every shooter wanted a “forty-five.” It was only a matter of time before other American manufacturers decided to make new 1911-style pistols. In 1977, AMT (Arcadia Machine & Tool) introduced their “Hardballer.” The new pistol made by the California company was essentially a copy of the Colt Gold Cup, a target-grade 1911-style gun with adjustable sights. However, the AMT Hardballer was manufactured of stainless steel! It was the first commercially- manufactured stainless-steel 1911 ever offered.

Priced below the cost of comparable Colt models, the AMT line grew, with fixed sight pistols and Commander size pistols soon offered. Within a short time, they were joined by the striking Long Slide Hardballer, a similar adjustable-sighted pistol, but with a 7-inch barrel and correspondingly longer slide.

As the decade of the 1970s went on, the popularity of “practical” shooting, promoted by Col. Jeff Cooper, spread across the country. Practical shooting was joined by other pistol sports, such as bowling pin shooting.

Reliable fast-shooting pistols using powerful cartridges were in demand.

Cooper’s recommendation was the 1911 in .45 ACP.

As the decade of the 1970s moved into the 1980s, 1911s were made, now in trendy stainless steel, by a number of small companies. Crown City Arms of Cortland, NY, was a small northeast manufacturer of 1911s that used stainless steel. Vega, a California company, made several thousand stainless pistols.

By 1981, ODI (Omega Defensive Industries) had brought out the Viking pistol, a 1911 design fitted with the Seecamp double-action trigger system. ODI Viking pistols were made in Midland Park, NJ, and all the company’s guns were made of stainless steel. However, the company folded in 1982, after just a short interval of production.

Some of the early stainless-steel autoloaders had developed problems with galling, as a result of the stainless slide reciprocated back-and-forth across the stainless frame and hammer. This was an unexpected feature of the new autoloaders. Whereas traditional carbon-steel autoloaders actually became smoother as the parts “wore in,” the stainless-steel guns sometimes developed roughening of the sliding surfaces with extensive use.

However, stainless steel had become so popular for autoloader use that the desire for problem-free stainless-steel pistols remained. Different types of lubricants—various oils and greases— were introduced. Mating parts which used different types of stainless steels were fabricated and used for assembling pistols.

Randall Firearms Company, of Sun Valley, CA, was a company that was first involved in making replacement stainless-steel magazines for 1911-type pistols. The firm worked on the reported stainless-steel galling problems.

After their research, the Randall firm believed that it had solved those problems. In 1983, Randall introduced a line of stainless-steel pistols. The guns were advertised with the catchy slogan “Randall, The Only Stainless Steel Fit For Duty.” Although it was an early entrant in the stainless-steel 1911 world, Randall was perhaps best known for making the first left-hand versions of that classic pistol. These left-hand guns were completely left-handed—even the rifling turned the opposite way! Although they got the most attention, only about 7% of Randall’s pistols were left-hand models.

Among the traditional right-hand pistols (93% of production) were a number of variations of barrel lengths and sights, all of stainless-steel construction. One of the most interesting variants is Randall’s Curtis E. LeMay pistol, honoring famed Air Force General LeMay. The 4¼-inchbarreled compact could be easily recognized by its squared trigger guard and distinctive 6-shot finger rest magazine. Unfortunately, after making a total of about 10,000 guns, Randall became overextended. The company failed in 1985.

But the interest in stainless-steel 1911s remained. As time went on, the early stainless-steel 1911s faded into obscurity and became curiosities.

Now, there is collector interest in Randall-made pistols. Others, such as the stainless-steel AMT variants, often appear in the used gun market, and are viewed primarily as shooters. Some, such as the ODI, Vega and Crown City guns, are seldom seen, and few students of firearms know about them.

But now, after over 100 years of continuous production, 1911-design pistols are presently available in a great array of styles and variations.

Among those current variations are large numbers of stainless-steel pistols, available from all the prominent manufacturers. Stainless-steel 1911s can be had from Colt now, and also from most of its competitors. A quick check of current catalogs shows that we can acquire newly-made stainless-steel 1911 pistols from (alphabetically) Auto- Ordnance/Thompson, Colt, Dan Wesson, Ed Brown, Kimber, Les Baer, Para USA, Remington, Ruger, SIGSauer, Smith & Wesson, Springfield, STI and Taurus.

At the time of this writing, it has been three and one-half decades since the first stainless-steel 1911 pistol appeared. The early stainless 1911s are gone, all out of production. However, these interesting guns started a trend, and stainless-steel 1911 pistols remain popular today.