Yes, you read that right. Back in 1906, the Muonionalusta Meteorite was found in Sweden that experts believe crashed into earth one million years ago. However, it’s been dated to be 4.5 BILLION years old. This was found 5 years before the 1911 was put into service for the United States Armed Forces. The chunk later made its way into someone’s hands where they got the super cool idea to fashion the cosmic metal into iconic American 1911 pistols.
Currently, Heritage Auctions has three listings on their website. They have the standard GI version, the custom version, and a listing for the pair together. The individual listings are listed for $450,00.00 each as the starting bid, while the pair together is listed as $900,000.00 as the starting bid. We’re assuming they listed the pair together in case someone wants to put in a bid for both pistols that exceed the bids on the individual pistols.
Lou Biondo of Business End Customs was commissioned into creating these space pistols via a referral. However, both pistols were not created to be equal. One pistol is a GI model and the other is a custom model which includes features such as a beavertail grip safety, skeletonized hammer, extended thumb safety, and more.
Biondo explained that he had to be extremely careful when he was cutting through the chunk of meteorite. “It was definitely one of those jobs where you had to go by feel and sound,” he said. “If you mix carbon steel, aluminum, stainless steel and throw in some diamonds, that’s what it felt like.”
The gunsmith added that, while there are no actual diamonds in the meteorite, there are “diamond-like inclusions,” in the material the guns were fashioned from. While the cutter went through some parts of the meteorite fairly easily, there were other parts that were more difficult. “I actually broke a couple of cutters,” he told Fox News.
Another picture of the completed pair of pistols, image courtesy of Heritage Auctions 
The GI version of the meteorite pistols, courtesy of Heritage Auctions 
A chunk of the Muonionalusta Meteorite, image courtesy of Heritage Auctions
Both pistols have been test-fired by the creator at 35 rounds apiece. While the guns aren’t 100% constructed from the meteorite, a good majority of them are. The auctions will take place on July 20, 2019, which is also the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.
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