The American manufacturing behemoth responded and by the end of the war, more than half of all industrial production in the world took place in the United States.
The auto manufacturers – General Motors included - were one of the big reasons for this tremendous surge in production, where the with their assembly lines rolling out airplane engines, trucks, tanks, and most importantly, guns.
GM had created a division called Inland Manufacturing in 1922 to produce wooden steering wheels. Inland continuously retooled its facilities to keep up with changing technology and with the advent of WWII, it once again converted to producing M1 Carbines for ground troops. Inland officially shut down in 1989.
Inland remerged in 2014 near the site of the old factory in Dayton, Ohio. Inland focused on its heritage at first, manufacturing six models of the M1 Carbine and later added a M37 Trench shotgun. But now, Inland Manufacturing is producing a WWII-era retro 1911 handgun with its .45 ACP 1911A1 Government pistol.
The Inland 1911A1 Government model combines the legendary look of WWII-era 1911’s with modern CNC technology to produce a modern replica that is street-ready out of the box. The only real difference is the trigger. The 1940’s military 1911 was outfitted with a short trigger, but the modern Inland Manufacturing version is equipped with a long-style trigger.
Modern metalworking technology allowed Inland Manufacturing to create the 1911A1 Government frame, slide, and sights using Parkerized steel. The remainder of the gun is blued with the exception of the grips and chamber area.
During range testing with a variety of ammo, the 1911A1 Government easily performed up to the standard expected of the 1911 firearm. At 30 feet, groupings of 2-3 inches were the norm with all groupings slightly to the right of aim.
At 100 feet, accuracy continued to be superb with torso hits occurring about 75 percent of the time.
Overall, the 1911A1 performs like its namesake, but with an old-school feel as author and weapons expert Scott W. Wagner explains in his article “Inland Manufacturing 1911A1 Government Model: Retro in Appearance, Fully Combat-Capable” at USConcealedCarry.com:
“In addition to the great retro look, it is extremely reliable and is certainly a capable defensive piece. With an MSRP of $749.00, it is much more affordable than most 1911’s currently available.” (Read more at USConcealedCarry.com)