Army boss takes aim at bureaucracy over sidearm choices

Fox News ^ | 12 Mar, 2016 | Perry Chiaramonte

[archy]

I’d take the .45 in a second. I read that Israel issues Desert Eagle 50 cals. I had one. TOO much for me. They will shoot through a car though- both sides.

When I worked as an armored car driver for pizza and primer money while going to college on the GI Bill, I carried a Browning GP/High-Power. One day our owner/boss decreed that we had to carry .38s or .357s. No problem. I got a .357 Desert Eagle, with a ten-round magazine instead of a six-shot cylinder.

[archy]

I think it was the line troop...bolt actions...that missed the one-shot takedowns.

My experience with the old British .577 Martini-Enfield is limited, but it's approximately the equal of our .45-70 *trapdoor* Springfield. The original spiral-copper cartridge cases were known to be troublesome about sticking in the chamber of a hot gun, a difficulty that Custer's cavalrymen who died trying to pry stuck cases from their trapdoor carbines would appreciate. Nevertheless, I am left with the impression that from one end the Martini-Enfield kills, and from the other, it cripples. Them things kick right smart.

[archy]

What is the favorite 45 ACP for those on FR?

In 1966 I was trained with the .45 caliber M1911 as a tank crewman at Fort Knox, though I was hardly new to the pistol; I'd fired my dad's ex-Eighth Air Force 1911 extensively, and our next-door neighbor was the company commander of the local National Guard unit, so I had about every M1911A1 in their armory pass through my hands at one time or another. At twelve years of age I attended the Small Arms Firing School for the M1 Garand rifle at the national matches at Camp Perry, Ohio, and the following year returned and took the pistol school, then taught with the M1911A1. That was, of course, around fifty years ago.

I have not always carried a .45 M1911/A1 on a daily basis, but when I did not, there's been one pretty close at hand that was available should I change my mind. Four times in my life I've had real serious trouble come my way and all four times my immediate concerns were eased by virtue of a .45 ACP round placed where it did the most good by way of a M1911A1 pistol [the 4th time was with a .45 caliber M3A1 submachinegun]

The 1911 is not always the answer, and it's GI ball ammunition not necessarily always the best choice. But it will do, and it can do, because it has, for me, and for many, many others.

It is not always the handiest handgun for concealment purposes, but it works very well with cargo pants or blue jeans, given a good belt, and when a holster is called for, I'm of course very used to the old tanker's M3 shoulder holster, the early version with a single across-the-chest strap. It's not really a hideout rig, but under a light jacket, it's at least unobtrusive, and I've often worn one between a t-shirt and a heavier sweatshirt in the Fall or rainy Spring cooler evenings.

The M1911A1 or its Argentine equivalent, the Modello 1927, is not exactly a *favorite* .45 of mine, but it is certainly the one to which anything else is compared by me. And it's one of three or four I keep around as *loaners* should a friend, business associate or relative require the loan of a handgun on short- or desperate- notice; I can assume that most of those in my circles know what to do with it, and how to.

The M1911A1 .45? It's the starting place for consideration of such things: if some other piece is as usable, dependable and suitable as the old Colt [or other] .45, I'll consider it. If not, well, I've usually got a M1911A1 or two around....

[DuncanWaring]

My experience with the old British .577 Martini-Enfield ...

Did you actually mean ".577/450"?

The Brits also had a ".577 Snider" which was the predecessor to the Martini-Henry of Rorke's Drift/Zulu fame.

My father had one of each.

[archy]

Did you actually mean ".577/450"?

Not exactly. The British service round was the .577 case necked down to use a .450 bullet, allowing higher velocity with the then-newest cordite-based propellants. But of course the later-developed [adopted circa 1888].303, originally a black powder loaded round, could also be so improved, and so it was. And rather than have the the .577/.450 AND the .303 in service in rifles and the just-emerging Gatling and Maxim support guns, they probably were wise to emphasize the development of the .303 service cartridge instead. That proved to be so during both World Wars, the Korean and Malayan fights, and in numerous other spots of the once far-flung empire until the newer-yet 7,62 NATO round replaced it....and the once-great empire crumbled and collapsed.

And yet, all those old .577-based cartridges and rifles remained...and there was a lot of black powder left over. And the .577 cartridge could have the bottleneck straightened out, moreso than the .577 Snider case, and a solid full-bore slug could be replaced therein....and you could knock down an elephant with it. And there were still quite a few elephants around making pests of themselves back then.

Below, from left: .22LR, short Snider cartridge [sometimes found in Indian Howdah pistols], the standard-length Snider, the .577 Express, and the .577 Nitro Express....

[DuncanWaring]

A .577 Snider pistol?

Good God, that’s manly.