The .45 caliber pistol, also known as the M1911A1, is one of the most iconic handguns ever made. Perhaps the rarest of this common breed are those made by the Singer Corporation.
Best known for manufacturing sewing machines, Singer produced a handful of .45s on the eve of World War II, and their guns were so good the U.S. Military asked the company to build more complicated equipment instead.
The M1911A1 handgun was designed by prolific arms developer John Moses Browning. The slab-sided semi-automatic handgun holds seven rounds of .45 ACP ammunition and was the standard sidearm of the U.S. military from World War I to the 1980s, a remarkable longevity. During World War I and World War II, companies that produced civilian machinery retooled to produce weapons, including the 1911. The Union Switch and Signal company, maker of railroad equipment, made the firearm. So did the typewriter manufacturer Remington Rand.
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