Old Colt 1911 Inspector initials

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B488F3D2-0D23-4ABB-AEFC-B867FAC425F2.jpeg I have an old colt 1911 which was made in 1913.
On the top of the frame behind the mag well and in front of the hammer are two letters stamped into the frame; H R. I would appreciate it if any of you could shed some light on these inspector initials. Thank you and a happy Thanksgiving to everyone.
 
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I don't know of any inspectors stamps in that location.
Most military 1911's inspectors stamp was his initials stamped just above the magazine catch.

I've never heard of a 1911 inspector that used "HR" as a stamp.
I suspect this is something someone added after the gun was built, and very possibly after it was out of government ownership.
 
I can't remember what Government firearms parts they were, but I have a memory that the Government had parts that were hardened stamped with an"H" . Maybe the frame, or the disconnect stop were originally unhardened but that use found the part needed to be hardened, and later production was stamped with an H until such time that the H became irrelevant.

No idea of the R. Lots of guesses: "right", "radius", or "radishes".
 
View attachment 874525 I have an old colt 1911 which was made in 1913.
On the top of the frame behind the mag well and in front of the hammer are two letters stamped into the frame; H R. I would appreciate it if any of you could shed some light on these inspector initials. Thank you and a happy Thanksgiving to everyone.

"H" is either Frank L. Hosmer or Frederick W. Hauff. Both inspectors used serif and non-serif letters. Used on 1911 pistols and M1917 revolvers 1911-1919. "R" is one of several of Colt's final inspection marks.

I did not know this prior to looking it up...but Google did.
 
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Good "detective work" there, jrmiddelton425 (along with some nicely applied Google assistance)!
 
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