As we near the 100th anniversary of the 1911 I wonder if any other firearm has been in continuous that long.

Right off hand I can't think of any.

Arguments?

Your basic single action revolvers?

There are a few Walthers in the 85 year range but I can't think of anything else that has lasted 100 years. Was it Cooper that said "It has served from the time of the Indian Wars to the time of Star Wars" or something like that?

Would the 1898 Mauser rifle action count?
The rifle's configuration might not be as-originally-issued, but the action remains the same.

Well, I was going to say the Winchester 94, but I believe production was interrupted a few times . . . and you specified continuous production.

I imagine it would have to be some military arm - wars tend to interrupt the manufacture of civilian arms - so the only contender might be the M98 Mauser which has been made somewhere for over 100 years. But digging through all factory records and production dates worldwide to establish continuous producton would be a challenge.

Going back a bit in history Wikipedia says



This was the famous Brown Bess musket.

Maybe I should have specified being made today...

Certainly the basic Mauser action would qualify if we allowed for all the variants but you can't shoot just an action

If we had the first 1911 ever made and one made yesterday an untrained observer might say they were the same. And cosmetics aside they really are the same mechanically.

I agree that the basic swing out cylinder revolver has been in production even longer. I'm going to have to argue with myself awhile over that///

Didn't the S&W M&P .38--what we know today as the Model 10--appear in 1899? Yeah, I know all the guts have been changed over the years, but someone trained on one wouldn't have two seconds of trouble operating or shooting the other. (And I believe Smith made them all the way through WWII, so production should be continuous.)

I agree. What we know as the Model 10 began as the Model 1905 Military & Police.

But according to Jinks, "The only time production of this famous model was discontinued was from June 3, 1918 to February 6, 1919 when the U.S. Government took control of the plant in a concentrated effort to produce the .45 Hand Ejector Model of 1917 for military forces."

I'm going to look into this further but it appears that Colt made GI guns through 1945 and resumed civilian production in 1946.

But what about the various re-organizations of Colt Firearms and the infamous strike?

But there must be an awful lot of current lines producing 1911s and variants NOW than ever before, even when the M1911s were outsourced during WWI and WWII. Does ANYONE know how many factories and where 1911 frames are being produced today?

Geoff
Who needs a sight job on his Springfield M1911A1...another expensive trip to Novak....but well done on the Mk. IV Series 70.

Good point, but while Colt was disabled someone else was making them.

I don't know if anyone knows for sure everyone who is making frames or other 1911 parts. We know that Armscor in the Phillipines is making them and rumors float around about Canada and South Africa. Israel did although I don't know if they still do and just because Norinco can't be imported doesn't mean China isn't still making something.

The Brownells catalog shows frames from Ed Brown, Les Baer, Caspian, Essex and STI. I know Briley is selling some and we know of other job shops who can or do. If I wanted one saying Charlie's Gun Shop and was willing to buy enough I'm pretty sur3e somebody would make them.

But the real question is where do they go. Some estimates are that sales of 1911 types are somewhere around 100,000 per year. I don't have the new Kimber catalog yet, but I know they offer over 50 variants.

are there "holes' in the production run of either the 94 winchester or the colt saa?

Well, when the Model 10 was discontinued briefly, I'll bet that some Spanish factory was producing duplicates (of lesser quality). I don't know, of course. Just guessing, based upon knowledge of the Spanish/Basque penchant for rip-off replicas of popular guns.
Since you accept non-Colt's 1911s in your "continuous production" contention, maybe that'd make the Model 10 "king o' the hill."

Colt's stopped SAA production at least twice, and for considerable lengths of time, too.

While its not a pistol, the Marlin Model 39 series in its various versions has been in continuous production since 1891.
This is supposedly the oldest firearm in continuous production of them all.
According to what I could find out, the Marlin was produced in at least small numbers even during WWI and WWII.

As for the Colt 1911 series, Colt has never stopped or suspended production since the start of production in 1912. Even during the big strike of the mid-1980's Colt continued producing guns, including the 1911.

The Marlin is a good example.

I have already abandoned the continuous production idea, but please tell me the source of the Colt comment. I thought they were shut down completely during the strike and it was said that during the "reorganization" production of civilian products stopped

I'm not sure how you'd type classify it, but I'd bet money that some form of the flintlock/caplock rifle has been in continuous production since ..........(quick, someone supply a date!). Obviously not in the same places, but there were craftsmen building them in the boonies even during the depression.

When talking about the 1911, aren't Springfield Armory and a couple of others getting their frames from Brazil?