Buy, Sell & Consign
Fine Firearms

1. Manufacturer: Colt

2. Caliber: .45 ACP 

3. Model: Government

4. Finish: DLC

5. Condition: New/Unfired

6. Box/Papers: Complete

Accepting SEALED bids starting at $18,000. If you want to submit a bid please use the Inquire button below by 08:00 PM CST on 08/16/2026 after which the winning bidder will be notified. To the end of avoiding ties, please make your bid an odd number, e.g. $18,001.45.

If peer reviews mean anything, they prove that Pete Single is one of the very best in the 1911 business. George Huening calls him “The Professor”. Jason Burton credits Pete on his Heirloom Precision website for his mentorship. Stan Chen and Larry Vickers both attest to Pete’s help in their careers. Even Colt’s Mfg. Co. deferred to Pete on engineering and machining questions, dating from the time Pete was involved with the Wiley Clapp limited edition series. Cameron Hopkins said, “from my 17-year-experience as editor of American Handgunner, Pete Single stands out as the single most knowledgeable pistolsmith on the 1911 platform I ever met”. Pete is not a traditional “craftsman” in the sense that we generally think of “file driving” with painstaking handwork. Pete is a master machinist; he invented a method of CNC checkering the rounded surface of a front strap when everyone said it was impossible to duplicate hand cut checkering. Pete fits barrels by precision machining, no filing of lugs. Everything on a Pete Single pistol is exact, to the thousandths, and precisely correct. There are invisible improvements, like small fitting pads on the trigger bow so it glides smoothly inside its tunnel. The back face of the slide stop features a double teardrop precisely aligned with the slide stop pin. Then there are the more obvious custom touches, such as a squared trigger guard. Pete is a master welder too, but once the material is welded, it’s machined, not hand-filed. Precision.

This pistol found its way onto the secondary market (which is rare in itself as most owners never part with their gun from the Maryland master) and is exactly as the included build sheet says with the exception of immaculate ivory grips, which Cameron Hopkins added. Pete makes very few full-house guns a year, one perhaps two. He doesn’t maintain a waiting list of any more than a handful of names, all either friends or somehow connected to him, like Bob Coyle who commissioned the Wiley Clapp series of pistols from Colt. Pete built Bob a gun. The reality is the only feasible way to add a Pete Single gun to a collection is from the secondary market. Finding an unfired one like this pristine example is even more rare yet. Ships 2nd Day FedEx with detailed build sheet, gun rug and (1) Wilson ETM mag.

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1. Manufacturer: Colt

2. Caliber: .45 ACP/9mm/38 Super 

3. Model/Size: Commanders

4. Finish: Blued

5. Condition: Unfired

6. Box/Papers: Yes

Colt has manufactured the Commander in three calibers: 9mm Luger, .38 Super and .45 ACP. The concept of a shorter, lighter weight version of the Government Model came from the U.S. military in 1949 with a solicitation for a more compact and lighter pistol for officers in caliber 9mm Luger. Colt responded with an aluminum frame that it called Coltalloy in 9mm Luger. A year later, in 1950, the military cancelled the solicitation and Colt began to market the Commander commercially. In 1970, Colt added a steel framed version in .45 ACP designated as the Combat Commander.

Ted Yost accepted a commission to build three identical Pinnacle Grade Colt Commanders in each of the three calibers for former editor of American Handgunner Cameron Hopkins. As the accompanying factory letter from Estate Sporting Limited attests, this is the only set of three matching Commanders Ted Yost has ever built. Ted made the grips to match as closely as wood grain allows.

The case and its tools were handmade by John Fallon from ostrich and oak.

Ships 2nd Day FedEx with build sheet, gun rug and (3) Colt mags. Case shipped separately FedEx Ground to buyers residence.

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1. Manufacturer: Springfield Armory

2. Caliber: .45 ACP 

3. Model/Size: Government

4. Finish: Black T

5. Condition: Unfired

6. Box/Papers: Letter of Authenticity from SACS

Springfield Armory won the contract for the FBI Hostage Rescue Team (and affiliated regional SWAT teams) in 1998 with a pistol that was originally named the Bureau Model. Prior to the contract’s award, five pistols were submitted for the test phase of which three were retained by the FBI and two were returned to Springfield Armory. This pistol, FBI5, was one of the two returned (the other is in the possession of Springfield Armory Custom Shop director Dave Williams).  As documented in the accompanying factory letter signed, FBI5 was presented to American Handgunner editor Cameron Hopkins after it had been refinished with the contract-specified Walter Birdsong Black T coating. While most of the pistols marked Bureau Model were delivered to the FBI, some were sold into commercial channels (see accompanying factory letter). The FBI objected to the use of the FBI-prefix in serial numbers and the Bureau Model name on commercial guns, so Springfield Armory changed the name to Professional Model. FBI200 recently sold at Rock Island Auction for $22,000 but it was not one of only two original test pistols in existence. With its provenance and one-of-two rarity as an original test pistol, the buyer of FBI5 will add a very special 1911 to their collection. Ships 2nd Day FedEx with LOA from SACS, gun rug and (1) Wilson ETM mag.

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