Over the years, Auto-Ordnance has catalogued a varied of M1911-style pistols in various lengths and calibers. It would be fair to say, however, that neither gunsmiths nor the shooting public ever placed these guns on a par with the very best commercial Government Model pistols. Particularly in recent years, Auto-Ordnance pistols were reputed to be assembled from components produced by numerous manufacturers without benefit of rigorous dimensional controls or proper heat-treating.
All that changed in February 1999 when Auto-Ordnance was acquired by Kahr Arms. Though only four years old at the time, Kahr Arms had already received acclaim for both its all-steel and polymer-frame double-action 9mm Luger and .40 S&W carry pistols. Kahr’s parent company, SAEILO, had been in the business of precision machining since 1981, and that expertise was quickly put to use improving the Auto-Ordnance line…
