US Army M15 General Officer's Pistol

[warpath]

The M15 General Officers is a .45 ACP pistol developed by the U.S. Army's Rock Island Arsenal from stock M1911 pistols as a replacement for the aging Colt Model 1903 and Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless pistols. The pistol was issued to United States Army general officers as a personal weapon.

The M15 is quite similar to the Colt Commander and is operationally similar to the M1911A1. Formally adopted in 1972, it is no longer produced but remains in service with some long-career officers.

The M15 is made to a higher standard of finish to distinguish it as a general officer's pistol. The finish on the guns was a deep blue on portions of the slide and frame. The exposed metal parts such as the safety and slide lock have a polished blued finish, while the top of the slide has a black matte-type finish. It has select-grade walnut grips with a brass placard on the left grip, with the owner's name engraved in it, and the Rock Island Arsenal seal on the right grip. The slide is also engraved, "General Officer's Model" and the abbreviation "RIA" for Rock Island Arsenal.[4] The pistol came with a black leather belt, black leather holster, black leather two-pocket magazine pouch, cleaning kit, and three magazines that were serial-numbered to the weapon. The belt's buckle and any other metal parts were either in gold for the Army or silver for the Air Force. The M15 pistol was issued from 1972 to 1981, after which it was replaced in Army and Air Force service with the unmodified M1911A1. A total of 1,004 were made and issued. When a general left active service he or she was given the choice of returning it or purchasing it. Most chose to buy it as a memento of their service, a tradition that continues to this day.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M15_pistol

[warpath]

US Army M15 General Officer's Pistol

[72psb]

I attended the RIA National Match armorers school in the 80's.One of the instructors copied the blue prints for the modifications to make this pistol for me. One interesting note,the RIA seal on the grip is a tie tack/lapel pin from their museum gift shop.

[kwill]

Very nice! To whom was it issued?

[jeffreysilverman]

I have a RIA Prototype.Serial number was verified thru RIA