The original 1911s had no hardening to the steel frames and slides. I own a 1943 Lend-Lease 1911A1 the shows real distinctly the hardening of the distal 2 inches of the slide where they were experiencing problems with metal fracturing and excessive wear on the early guns. The hardened area is a different color of parkerizing than the remainder of the slide. These 1911s had some hard service, and got rebuilt frequently when parts fractured. Most folks are pretty careful about shooting the original early 1911s, not so much for the later 1911A1s. I am careful about shooting both of mine.
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