In 1945, after construction of the state-owned Fabrica Militar de Armas Portatiles (F.M.A.P.), “Small Arms Factory†in Rosario, Santa Fe (250 miles from Buenos Aires), assembly of Sistemas was transferred to the new plant and another 88,494 pistols were produced through 1966. Among other products, this agency would eventually, through contractual agreements, oversee the production of identical copies of Colt’s M1911-A1, Browning’s Hi Power, and FN’s FAL rifle. In 1941, after a decade of planning, Argentines established a large and diversified military-industrial complex under the overall supervision of the Direccion General de Fabricaciones Militares (D.G.F.M.), the “Military Manufacturing Agency.†Similar to the US Ordnance Department, the agency was run by the military and military officers managed the manufacturing plants.
#COLT MODEL 1927 DGFM FMAP 1911 ARGENTINE SERIAL NUMBERS#
45, “Ejercito Argentino Modelo 1927,†for the Argentine Army 2) that the complete knowledge base for future production of the pistols in Argentina, including drawings, manufacturing instructions, material specifications, tool requirements, etc., would be transferred to Argentine control and 3) that Argentine technicians would be trained in manufacturing operations and inspection.įor production of Colt 1911A1's in Argentina, Colt engineers supervised the set-up of the production equipment, which was acquired from the Fritz Werner company in Germany, a maker of arms-manufacturing machinery still in business today.įrom 1927 to 1942, 14,000 Sistema pistols (from “Sistema Colt,†indicating “made on the Colt system (machinery)†were produced at the Esteban de Luca Arsenal in Buenos Aires, S/N’s 10,001 – 24,000(*), the serial numbers continuing from the Hartford run. The agreement specified: 1) that Colt would manufacture 10,000 Colt automatic pistols, caliber.
45 caliber self-loading pistols specially marked and serial numbered in a separate series, and secured a licensing agreement giving the Argentine government the right to manufacture these pistols. In 1927, the Argentine Commission for Foreign Acquisitions negotiated a contract with Colt for the manufacture of M1911A1. In accordance with the new law, an aircraft factory was established in 1927, a munitions factory in 1933, a small steel mill in 1934, and a small arms factory in 1936, all of which were managed by Argentine army officers. Under this bill, the Argentine Congress authorized appropriations for a military modernization program and prepared the infrastructure for a domestic arms industry. In 1923, Argentina adopted an armaments bill that would eliminate Argentine dependency on foreign arms. Here is some background taken from various reference books. They are generally considered the only 1911 made outside of Hartford that is still a colt. The Argentine Colts have an interesting history.