The chase for historical guns is often as much fun as owning them. This pistol was first shown on one of the Internet forums 8 or 9 years ago. The gentleman who posted it knew nothing about it other than he had purchased it from the estate of a retired Secret Service Agent. Thru the advice of myself and other forum contributors the owner ordered a factory letter. After a few months the letter arrived and proved what I had guessed, this was a very special pistol. Not only a National Match, but a special ordered National Match owned by one of the most prominent Law Enforcement figures of the 20th century, Frank J. Wilson. Mr Wilson started his career with the US Department of the Treasury. He would go on to be a key figure in the prosecution of the US’s most infamous investigations to include Al Capone, The Lindbergh Kidnapping and the Huey Long assassination. Eventually he would be promoted to the Chief of the Secret Service and served thru the Roosevelt and Truman administrations.

Back to the chase….the owner of the pistol was a retired Law Enforcement officer therefore was ecstatic to have found such a treasure related to his own career field. I maintained contact and became acquainted with the gentleman. We had a lot of shared interests in guns as well as careers. Every year I would up my offer a few bucks and eventually I was able to own the gun. This pistol is one of my prized possessions and will be living with me for the foreseeable future.

The pistol letters with so many special features, the Archivist at Colt’s told me that there was literally no where else to write in the shipping ledger. Targeted at 50 yards, special 4 1/2 lb trigger pull, extra wide 1/8th inch front sight and corresponding wider rear sight notch and of course the New Safety Device known as the Swartz Safety. The pistol also has a factory “Stippled” top strap to prevent glare. This feature is not listed in the ledger but is without a doubt factory original. The most interesting feature is the rear sight. Take note the pistol doesn’t not letter as a ‘Adjustable” sight National Match. This sight is an exact size unmilled blank of a Stevens Adjustable rear sight. These sights have been observed on other period National Match pistols, to include several US Coast Guard issued National Match pistols. While some collectors disagree, I believe this to be the original rear sight this pistol shipped with. No aftermarket company that we know of has ever manufactured a sight of this specification, why would they?