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Here is a late 1918 Colt M1911 pistol that is all original finish and correct as manufactured.
"Black army" is NOT a Colt finish. It is a term used by some to refer to a rough, crude appearance to the blue finish of Colt M1911 pistols made during and immediately after World War I; those made and shipped between May 1918 and March 1919.
The finish itself was the same oven blued process as used on the "brushed blue" Colt M1911 pistols made from about serial No. 170,000 to about serial No. 310,000-350,000; those manufactured between mid-1917 and mid-1918.
So what is the difference? Why does the finish appear to be darker on the later pistols? The darker appearance on the late pistols is due to the surface preparation prior to finish being applied.
Colt's eliminated the final polishing step on the M1911 pistols made after May 1918 to increase the rate of production during WWI. They also took other measures and eliminated other milling steps to expedite the production.
Did all this pay off? Yes...and no. The pistols were produced at a much faster rate of production. More pistols were manufactured in the last 10 months of M1911 production than had been produced in all the prior years combined. Between January 1912 and May 1918, the U.S. Government purchased just over 300,000 Colt M1911 pistols. Colt's manufactured about 325,000 M1911 pistols May 1918 to March 1919. That's quite an accomplishment.
However, quality suffered with the higher rate of production. The finish on most WWI production Colt M1911 pistols proved to be far less durable than that of the pistols produced earlier.
Many attribute the poor durabilty of the wartime finish to the pistols' coarse surface not holding the blue finish. That appears to be true.
However, I believe the root problem with the poor rate of finish retention is due to the rushed surface cleansing and preparation. The pistol surfaces were dipped in hot gasoline for de-greasing. I believe the coarse, crude surfaces made it more difficult to remove the gasoline and other contaminents from the surface. When a surface isn't properly cleansed and prepared, the finish applied simply does not properly adhere to the surface. The results are flaking and corrosion over time.
Therefore, almost immediately after WWI, it was necessary to refurbish many pistols due to their finishes not standing up to handling, use and the elements associated with the war. Many pistols manufactured during this time frame didn't even make it over to Europe before the war ended November 11, 1918.
The finish on even those pistols, over the years, did not prove to be durable. Most that remained in military stock ended up being arsenal refurbished, and refinished with the new phosphate Parkerized finish.
So in the long run, the rushed wartime production probably did not pay off. However, the requirements of small arms was met during The Great War, and Colt's deserve credit for their part in accomplishing that paramount feat.
Today, the result of all this accounts for the "mystique" around these pistols. Very few exist today that are still all original finish and have any significant condition remaining. The vast majority of late production Colt M1911 pistols have been refinished or are extremely poor condition.
The pistol I show here is the best original late Colt M1911 I have ever had the opportunity to acquire. I sometimes hear of better pistols, but I've yet to examine one better I believed to still be original finish.
Now, why are these pistols called "black army"? The BLUED finish appears darker, due to the rough, coarse surface polishing. These pistols have areas on them that took a lot of time to polish on the earlier-produced pistols. The rounded and contoured surfaces required much more time and energy to polish. So those areas were simply neglected on these pistols.
Look at the crude prep on the trigger guard of this pistol.
Look at the transition back to a relatively well-polished surface on the recoil spring housing of the receiver. Look how "black" the coarse surface is compared to how "blue" the polished surface is.
So what color are these pistols? That answer depends on how dry the pistol is. When all the oil is removed from the surface, the finish is clearly blue, and not that much darker than what we normally see on the "brushed blue" pistols. When oil is applied, the finish significantly darkens.
When examining or photographing a pistol, I sometmes use acetone or alcohol to de-grease the surface. On these pistols, that makes a lot of difference in how they appear under bright light. You see the pistol, and not the oil.
The late 1918-1919 Colts do not compare in beauty to the pistols produced prior to WWI. However, they are a legitimate sub-variation to be sought by collectors today. They're interesting to examine, and they represent what wartime-production M1911s look like.
Here are a few more views.
You might notice the grip panels on this pistol have 13 rows of checkering between the points of the large double-diamonds. We normally think of Remington Arms-UMC pistols with 13-row grips. However, many original late Colt M1911 pistols have been observed with these grips. The appearance of these grips is slightly different than those used on the Rem-UMC pistols.
You can see there is browning and corrosion on this pistol. That is just the facts of life with these pistols. If you don't see brown under bright light, you better look closely and know what you are looking at, if considering a purchase.
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