.45 Pistol

Dateafter 1911

MediumMetal

DimensionsOverall: 6 x 8 1/2 x 1 3/8 in. (15.2 x 21.6 x 3.5 cm)

ClassificationsWeapons & Armaments

Credit LineAlbuquerque Museum, gift of Dominic De Palma

Object numberPC2001.42.16.1

DescriptionColt .45 pistol, metal and wood. The donor's father, Charles De Palma, emigrated from Italy to the United States in 1904. He carried the pistol while in combat in World War I. After the war he worked as a stonecutter in Georgia, opened a monument shop in Santa Fe in 1921, and moved his family to Albuquerque in 1939.
In Albuquerque, he helped build churches that required cut stone and molded concrete construction.

According to 1st Sgt. Joe Jaramillo, a 31-year Marine Corps veteran, the pistol is a Model 1911, Patent 1911. It was a service pistol that was issued. After 1911 they changed the tang on the pistol grip and that's how he knows it is c. 1911.

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