Wild Bunch Questions

[Cholla]

1. Did Colt or the US Government limit who could buy a 1911 in 1913/1914 as depicted in the movie? I would like to find data stating so.

2. Were Winchester Model 92 or 94s used in the movie? Maybe both? How can one tell the difference on the silver screen between the two? My understanding is that 92s shot pistol cartridges and 94s shot rifle cartridges. — Answered.

3. I assume the crates of rifles stolen by the WB were filled with the Springfield ‘03. — Answered.

4. What model of machine gun was stolen and used? — Answered. 

 

[Major Crimes]

This will answer some of your Q's

 

http://www.imfdb.org/wiki/Wild_Bunch,_The

 

[Major Crimes]

This excert from WikiPedia would imply it was available to civilians:

 

 The Director of Civilian Marksmanship began manufacture of M1911 pistols for members of the National Rifle Association in August 1912. Approximately 100 pistols stamped "N.R.A." below the serial number were manufactured at Springfield Armory and by Colt

[Marshal Mo Hare, SASS #45984]

I must admit that my mind was running wild with the juxtaposition of topics “Wild bunch questions” and “Jeopardy Champion”.

[Pat Riot]

I was going to give you the link that Major Crimes did.

 

These won’t answer your 1911 question but are a great quick history of the 1911.

https://www.browning.com/news/articles/history-of-the-1911-pistol.html

 

https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2011/3/7/colt-history-a-look-back-at-the-1911/

 

Technically one could have bought them in 1912 through the NRA.

 

Lots of reading here: 

Go to “History”

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/M1911_pistol

[Sixgun Sheridan]

I seriously doubt the Mexican General could've told the difference between a military 1911 and a commercial Government Model, given that he was standing several feet away when he made that comment. Of course the director decided to have that line thrown in the movie anyway. You're supposed to be just another ignorant movie-goer and have no clue about the fallacy of that statement.

[Cholla]

Here are the numbers I was looking for.

 

Colt Commercial Production: Govt. Model: 1912 to 1981

Model 1911
Serial Numbers – Date – Number Made

S/N C1 to C1899 – 1912 – 1899
S/N C1900 to C5399 – 1913 – 3500
S/N C5400 to C16599 – 1914 – 11,200
S/N C16600 to C27599 – 1915 – 11,000
S/N C27600 to C74999 – 1916 – 47,400
S/N C75000 to C98999 – 1917 – 24,000
S/N C99000 to C105999 – 1918 – 7000
S/N C106000 to C120999 – 1919 – 15,000
S/N C121000 to C126999 – 1920 – 6000

 

So it appears that by 1914 there was at least 5400 pistols on the civilian market. By the end of 1914, the year the movie is supposed to take place, there were 16,600.