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Curious About Your Colt M27 Argentine Sistema?
zipperzap
Member Posts: 25,057
I've been searching for info on this for years - with no luck - just found it!
I finally found the date of manufacture of sn: 32376
Opinions on the starting dates for Sistema production are in disagreement. Various internet sources state that the serial numbers of Sistema Colts begin at 10001, picking up from the 10,000 Pistolas Modelos 1927; that from 1927 until 1942, 14,000 Sistema Colts were produced at F.M.A.P. Buenos Aires; that 8,000 were made in the late 1920s, followed by 6,000 in the 1930s and early 1940s; that this would account for the first Sistemas produced at F.M.A.P. Rosario, in 1945, beginning with serial number 24001.
Author Alex Gherovici observed Sistema serial numbers less than 10000 (marked FM - PT and FM - FMMCE, which could have been agencies that preceded the 1941 creation of D.G.F.M.), indicating that numbering was not carried over from Pistola Modelo 1927. Gherovici maintains that suitable production facilities were not available for the production of Sistemas before 1936, when F.M.A.P. Buenos Aires opened. Sistemas marked D.G.F.M. - (F.M.A.P.) couldn't have been manufactured before 1941, when D.G.F.M was created. During WWII, inadequate raw materials and a U.S. embargo would have made production impossible. At war's end, additional 1911A1-producing machinery was available from contract suppliers like Remington Rand and Ithaca through the U.S. Government, and through Colt itself, which was refurbishing its plant and transitioning from military to commercial production.
Production could have started as early as 1936, when F.M.A.P. Buenos Aires was opened, until 1942, when the war-related shortage of material occurred and the U.S. embargo went into effect. Twenty-four thousand pistols produced in 6 years isn't unreasonable. That number matches the average annual production numbers for the "known" years of 1945 to 1966 at Rosario, according to a chart published by an Argentine gun magazine.
Sistema Colt 1927 DGFM(FMAP) FYI
year made - qty made - serial no. range
1945 - 6,000 - #24,001 -#30,000
1946 - 7,628 - #30,001 -#37,628
1947 - 5,000 - #37,629 -#42,628
1948 - 7,000 - #42,629 -#49,628
1949 - 5,000 - #49,629 -#54,628
1950 - 8,000 - #54,629 -#62,628
1951 - 8,011 - #62,629 -#70,639
1952 - 7,016 - #70,640 -#77,655
1953 - 2,500 - #77,656 -#80,155
1954 - 5,000 - #80,156 -#85,155
1955 - 2,500 - #85,156 -#87,655
1956 - 2,500 - #87,656 -#90,155
1957 - 5,626 - #90,156 -#95,781
1958 - 5,547 - #95,782-#101,328
1959 - 5,000 - #101,329-#106,328
1960 - 2,066 - #106,329-#108,394
1961 - 1,000 - #108,395-#109,394
1962 - 0
1963 - 600 - #109,395 -#109,994
1964 - 750 - #109,995 - #110,744
1965 - 1,250 - #110,745-#111,994
1966 - 500 - #111,995 - #112,494
Comments
As a Colt contract gun Argentina had to maintain the high standards that Colt
had (has) always maintained. I understand that Colt watched and monitored
every phase of their construction and the quality of the steel used to make them.
They were made for the Argentine Army, Navy, Air Force and National Police
agencies. At one time I had at least one of each ... wish I still did!
... I never thought they'd ever increase in value, as they most certainly did! [8D]
Thanks !!!
d.a.stearns
Gunsmith / LEO
Niota , Tn
Thank you for posting this information. I was always curious about the date of production. It will come in handy as I intend to get my Systema out of the safe and look up the "born on date" from your list.
I bought mine several years ago for $300.00. I recently converted it to a match gun just as Perry Shooter said. I did some of the work my self with drop-in parts and they all fit with little or slight alteration. I then took it to a friend of mine who is gunsmith who fit the slide to the frame, fitted a match bushing, slicked up the trigger, and installed Bo-Mar sights. The pistol looks like an ugly duckling because the finish is worn but it will shoot just as well as my Kimber Gold Match now.
These guns were supposed to have been made from the best grade of steel available at the time which was from Sweden.
Thanks.
Heavyiron
Thanks !!!
d.a.stearns
Gunsmith / LEO
Niota , Tn