KW 7/13/2022

Rare Policia de la Capital edition Argentinian

Mid 40s to early 50s

Stock # 0760022

Serial # 25642

DESIGN With their chief engineer, Rorice Rigaud, Ballester, and Molina started with an old imported Model 1916 Colt and reverse engineered it. Each individual part was looked at, simplified for ease of production, and set to the side. The result was a gun that looked like a 1911, felt like a 1911, fieldstripped and shot like a 1911, but in the end wasn’t. There was only a very slight difference in dimensions; the Ballester being just a hair longer overall and weighing in at about 40-ounces unloaded while the Colt made inspiration came in at 38-ounces. The trigger pivots on a roll pin, rather than slides which is different from the 1911 and was borrowed from the Spanish-made Star Model B 9mm. Also, since the Ballester was based in large part on the Model 1916 Colt, which was based on the original Colt 1911, which did not have a beavertail grip safety (which was added in the 1911A1 model), the Ballester does not have one either. Both the Ballester and the 1911 do have the same 5-inch barrel, same short-recoil operation, and same single action operation. With the redesign, mixing, and evaluation of each of its components, the Ballester-Molina pistol (poor old Rigaud was left out in the end) was a handgun that Colt couldn’t say it was an unlicensed copy.