Educational Orders
In an effort to test the feasibility of 1911 mass production, the United States Ordnance Department contracted with Singer (the sewing machine company) in 1925 for an engineering study to see how many guns they could produce in a month. After the study was complete, it was determined that Singer could turn out as many as 25,000 1911s in a month.
In 1939, the Ordnance Department awarded a production study to Singer. This allowed them to fine-tune their production methods, come up with standard sizes for raw materials, and research the best production methods. The following year, under Educational Order W-ORD-396, Singer set out to make 500 1911A1 pistols. The goal of the order was a lofty one: eventual achievement of a production rate of 100 guns per hour.
Singer never hit the production rate goal, but they did fulfill their contract for 500 1911A1s. By 1941, Singer had divested themselves of the 1911 business and transferred their tooling and documentation to Remington Rand. Harrington & Richardson were also briefly involved in the Educational Orders, but they never made it into production.
World War II Production
During World War II, the pistol saw its largest production numbers. As was the case in the World War I era, it was necessary for other companies to step up and produce pistols to supplement Colt’s production numbers. These other companies included Remington Rand, Ithaca, and Union Switch & Signal. Remington Rand made 877,000; Ithaca made 340,000; and Union Switch & Signal made 55,000.
