The Best Handgun Ever Stopped Attackers Cold (M1911)

War is Boring ^ | October 2, 2014 | Paul Huard

[C19fan]

A highly religious man who was a former pacifist and the legendary pistol he carried are responsible for one of the most impressive acts of an American fighting man in the nation’s history.

His name was Sgt. Alvin York and during World War I he used a M1911 .45-caliber pistol to stop an attack by six German soldiers while he helped assault a German machine-gun nest near Chatel-Chéhéry on the Western Front.

[Vendome]

LOL

yep...

[Rockpile]

Corporal York carried a Springfield even though is battalion was issued Enfields. He was their best rifle shot and they let him use what he wanted.

He didn’t draw his pistol When the Lt and five troops came at him since he had it hanging from a finger on his off hand while shooting the rifle and got worried they would charge him while reloading.

[bobby.223]

Nice shooting! (He’s dead Jim!)

[MasterGunner01]

Yes, the M1911 is a great design. There are a ton of other pistols that will do the same job the old M1911 does. However, each and everyone of them is always compared to the old M1911 pistol as the baseline when the claims naming a new “wonder pistol” are made. Why, because of the M1911’s reputation for flawless reliability and stopping power.

I personally like the single action feature of this pistol, its safeties, and I own three of them: 1) a WW2 M1911A1 Colt; 2) a Para-Ordnance P13.45 (a 14 shot double stack .45); and 3) Colt Combat Commander .45 Series 70. If I had to choose my “go to war” pistols, my choices would be: 1) my P-O P13.45 as first choice and 2) my Canadian Inglis No. 2 Mk I* 9mm Browning Hi-Power as a close second.

Yes I have others and have used others, but I always come back to the M1911.

There are those that say the .45 is inaccurate. However, it was accurate enough to shoot down a Japanese Zero fighter. B-24 pilot Owen Baggett shot down a Japanese Zero fighter over Burma in March 1943. Baggett became a Japanese POW in Singapore and finally retired as an Air Force colonel. Here: http://www.sdheroes.com/?p=2600

[Pollster1]

York would have been a fun guy to know.

[B4Ranch]

That’s how is been for me, twice. Just had to show that I was armed to change their minds.

[B4Ranch]

The depth of penetration and the wound channel are very similar will all the rounds illustrated in the picture. These will indicate the effectiveness of the cartridge.

[B4Ranch]

Here’s a website for you. http://forums.1911forum.com/

[Yosemitest]

Most Security Police in the USAF don;t care for the 9MM due to lack of "Spin Around" effect.
They much prefer the .45 first, and the .40 second, and they don't like the hearing damage from the .357.
The .40 stacks more rounds in the mag over the ,45, but given a choice, they'd rather have the .45.
However, Lt. Col. Oliver North, s a true combat-experienced veteran, preferred the Sig P226 9MM for many reasons, mostly the 20 round stack, and the SA/DA selection switch.

[Oatka]

I have read that he hunted grouse as a youngster. If there were several in a tree, he'd start with the bottom one and work upwards. If he shot the top one first, it would fall past the others and spook them.

Early in the movie, IIRC, he's talking with some guys on who to shoot first in a group, and the New Yorker says "The Motorman" (driver of a subway train). York says no, start from the rear, just like when hunting geese. Shoot the lead bird and the flock disintegrates - start from the back and work up.

It sounds like Hollywood took the grouse story and modified it.

[556x45]

Not really. The pic shows a narrow slice of info, penetration and perm wound cavity, for the tested ammo. It tells you nothing about other important qualities such as barrier penetration, recoil etc. or anything about other loadings. When the big picture is looked at 45acp doesn’t stack up well to modern catridges. However, its better than nothing at all. If you’ve practiced with it and a particular platform thats whats really important: that you can effectively deploy the weapon if necessary, hit what youre aiming at and make effective follow up shots. My bet is most 1911 advocates can’t hit and find the administration in an emergency undoable. The more administrative tasks there are the less effective the weapon will be. Loss of fine motor skills make it an inevitability.

[Red in Blue PA]

5.7 x 28

A pistol caliber which essentially has the ballistics of a rifle round.

And with little to no recoil.

The PS90 using 5.7 x 28 is used by the Secret Service to protect the President as well as the Queen of England. Says a lot about its effectiveness.

[Vendome]

Thought the PS90 was a bullpup, not a handgun.

?

[Red in Blue PA]

It is a bullpup, but the 5.7 x 28 is also used in the FN FiveseveN handgun.

I bought one earlier this year.

[Vendome]

Looked uo thr Five Seven Pistol by FN.

Want...badly

Just so no one else has one...

[Red in Blue PA]

Whenever one goes up for sale, it sells quickly.

[Red in Blue PA]

40 round Pmags are preferable.....just released last year.

Stock up now!

[Vendome]

Found 5 on gunbroker.com

Under $2,000.

Fits my budget.

Would get a Wilson Combat but, I’ve rented em and they don’t perform any better than. My Kimbers.

[OKSooner]

"Sergeant York" with Gary Cooper was one of the greatest war movies ever made.

"Now, say that this line of cartridges (arranges 30-06 cartridges standing up on a table in a line) is a line of wild turkeys, moving this way. Which one do you shoot first?"

[Oatka]

"Now, say that this line of cartridges (arranges 30-06 cartridges standing up on a table in a line) is a line of wild turkeys, moving this way. Which one do you shoot first?"

Yeah, that was the scene I was thinking of.