John Browning's Hammerless 1911

Last year I had the opportunity to visit the John M. Browning Museum in Ogden, Utah and I was thrilled to see Browning’s hammerless 1911 prototype on display. Very little has been written about the development of this particular pistol. The pistol is briefly mentioned in John Browning and Curt Gentry’s 1964 biography of John M. Browning, explaining that during the US Army’s long process to select a new service pistol John M. Browning decided to provide two versions of his .45 ACP pistol – one with an exposed hammer and the other with a shrouded hammer similar to that seen on his Colt 1903 and 1908 Pocket Hammerless commercial pistols.

The ‘hammerless’ pistol is identical in operation to the exposed hammer prototype which was eventually selected as the M1911. It uses the same improved tilting barrel action which is covered by the patent filed in February 1910, US #984,519. The slide and frame profiles of the ‘hammerless’ pistol have been reshaped with the slide extending back further shrouding the hammer while the rear of the frame projects back, lining up with the rear of the slide rather than forming a beavertail. The pistol grip angle, at near 90-degree, is more akin to the Colt Pocket Hammerless and earlier Colt-Browning semi-automatic pistols.

Video with a closer look at the pistol:

The Browning-Gentry book lists the pistol as 8 inches in length overall with a 3.75-inch barrel and a weight of 2lbs 4oz. The pistol has a grip safety, a frame-mounted safety and a push-button magazine release on the left side of the frame. Sadly, the pistol was behind glass and with time short we couldn’t get a better look at the gun.

The chronology of the various prototypes’ development is sometimes difficult to track as Browning’s hands-on style left few written descriptions of the designs as they evolved. The museum dates the pistol to 1905 but displays it alongside the pattern of pistol often referred to as the Model 1910. Interestingly, the ‘hammerless’ pistol also has the frame-mounted safety which was reportedly added late in the refinement of the 1910 pistols. The hammerless 1911 was never commercially marketed by Colt and the exposed hammer .45 ACP pistol went on to win the US military pistol trials and became an iconic design.

What do you think? Would you carry a hammerless 1911?