C&R · II · 132
Colt Government Model, BB series
Section II: curio or relic, still subject to the Gun Control Act
Official wording
ATF P 5300.11 · APRIL 2025 EDITION · SECTION II · VERBATIM · PDF P. 5 ↗
Colt, Government Model pistols in cal. .45 ACP, BB series.
What this entry requires
- ATF REQUIRESYour firearm is this edition: “BB series”
- INFOATF states no date; production was about 1970.
Editorial facts · Our research
Source
- Official wording
- ATF P 5300.11, April 2025 edition · Section II · PDF p. 5 ↗ · ATF original ↗
- Entries
- 1 line
- Verbatim check
- Checked against the PDF text before every release
- Editorial facts
- Confidence: High · Last revised 18 October 2026 (Evidence pass) · How we rate confidence
- References
- 1. oldcolt.com ↗, years: Old Colt (via Shopify product JSON): Government Model 45ACP SN 335133-C, MFG 1970, BB Transitional, shipped April 30, 1970; Colt factory letter: "BB" = "one of approximately 1,000 units from a pre-production run of Series '70 pistols"; BB range 332500-C to 336169-C
- 2. Wikipedia, “M1911 pistol” ↗, years: Colt Government Mk. IV Series 70, 1970–1983: "The first 1000 prototypes … were marked 'BB' on the barrel and slide" (the article gives the serial range as 35800NM–37025NM, against Old Colt's 332500-C–336169-C; both put them at the 1970 start)
- 3. Wikipedia, “M1911 pistol” ↗, action: infobox action short recoil operation (semi-automatic pistol); ATF names the Government Model of the M1911 line
- 4. Wikipedia, “Colt's Manufacturing Company” ↗, country: American firearms manufacturer headquartered in Hartford, Connecticut, U.S. (the maker ATF names)
- Fact tags
- ATF the ATF wording states it.
- REF ¹ an outside reference supports it; the number points to the list of references.
- ESTIMATE an approximate or indirect reading, for example the production range of the base model.
- NO CITATION we haven’t attached a reference for this fact; it’s our editorial reading, not ATF’s.
- Source checked
- 20 October 2026: ATF’s page still lists the April 2025 edition
- Corrections
- 2 changes · see below
Correction history
- Evidence passEditorial confidence: Low → High. Re-rated after supporting references were added or re-checked.
- Evidence passYears: 1970–1999 → 1970. Old Colt's BB Transitional record quotes a Colt factory letter: the "BB" stamp marks one of about 1,000 pre-production Series '70 pistols (example shipped April 30, 1970); Wikipedia's M1911 article dates the Mk IV Series 70, whose first 1,000 prototypes were marked "BB", from 1970
Historical context
Image: Wikimedia Commons, “M1911 and M1911A1 pistols.JPG” by Dkamm at English Wikipedia, Public domain. Retrieved October 2026.
Summary: Wikipedia, “M1911 pistol”. Text CC BY-SA 4.0.
FROM WIKIPEDIA
The Colt M1911 is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge.