Posted on 08/27/2008 4:05:36 AM PDT by sig226
It was adopted in 1911 and is probably the longest serving military weapon ever devised. Although the English Webley revolver lasted a few more years of continous service, the Colt 1911A1 was shelved, then returned to service.
Some folks just like the caliber, others love the pistol. It was adopted because.38 caliber revolvers failed to stop the Mauro Tribesmen in the Phillippine Insurrection. .30 caliber Krag - Jorgenson rifles also failed to stop the Mauros, most likely because they ate opium, but the United States decided to standardize a larger caliber.
They first took up the Colt Model 1911 designed by John Browning. They changed it to the 1911A1 in 1924, after reviewing complaints from soldiers in World War I. This photo shows the differences.
The trigger was one of the best found on a military sidearm due to the single action fire control. It was used in Bullseye matches and a small industry evolved to modify the pistol to make it more accurate. Over the years, plenty of gunsmiths earned a comfortable living doing just this.
Of course, it evolved into the highly modified 'race guns' used in IPSC matches; pistols that have almost no practical utility at all, but are a hoot to fire on a timed course.
After the United States switched to the Beretta M9 9mm pistol, plenty of gun people thought the 1911 was destined to die an ignominious death at the hands of the 'wonder nine.' But along came Bill Clinton, who took away the high capacity magazine and thus eliminated the advantage of the 16 shot 9mm over the 8 shot .45. If you have to carry a thin gun anyway, it might as well make a big hole . . .
You can get a new 1911 for around $500.00 for a Springfield 1911 GI (the plain Jane model) all the way up to $4,000.00 if you want the top of the line from makers like Nighthawk. Or you can get your Brownell's Catalog and make your own.
The family financial manager has temporarily suspended my discretionary gun purchasing rights and I'm limited to buying ammo and targets until I pay down my credit card.
So pick up a used GI holster at a surplus outlet, and think about what sort of concealment rig you might eventually like, and keep an eye out for one of those. One of the nicer things about the M1911 is that tyhere are a lot of holsters and accessories available, and as some users switch over to newer gear, some real bargains turn up in the used holster boxes of some gun shops, and at gun shows.
Pick up when you get the opportunity, and if a box or two of some sooper-dooper hollowpoint strikes your fancy, maybe some of that, too.
And just in case the M1911 that someday comes your way doesn't come with spare magazines, keep an eye out for a couple of those, too. Used surplus or knockoffs of the GI magazine can set you back as little as $10 each, and even a top-notch Power Mag can be had for $30.00 or so.
Threaded barrel, very nice.
***We need to do a 21st version of that type of ingenuity.***
We need another JMB for that.
Bought two in orig boxes with 6 mags for $1500.
Both polished and jeweled with 3lb triggers.
Sold one for $900 and kept the other and 4 mags.
Seems someone always asks, and curiously picks up my spent brass, trying to figure out what that fire-breather is.
love it!
IMO, you qualify as a solid right wing, radical, blued steel lover. I have never known anyone to keep a “version with music to work by” alongside the tone deaf one. LOL Truly unique!
Yepper...Then GRIPS make a 45 REAL comfortable.....
so has anyone tried out the sig version of the 1911?
i’ve been considering one of them for a while, haven’t heard much about them.
Thanks for the link. Saved. Those are the flame birch half and half? They are very sharp looking. Do they fit as well as Hakan says?
Smith and Wesson 1911 DK (Doug Koenig)
I picked this one up new about two years ago. Haven't changed a thing on it. As I recall, it set me back around $900, came nicely dressed out with a lot of nice features out of the box.
You’re most welcome. They fit the pistol and my hand like a glove.
I had one of the first models of the GSR and wasn’t impressed. I got soft strikes, and at least three feeding/ejection failures per box of ammo, even with premium mags. I hear the newer ones are better, but do not have personal experience with them. The other thing I’d be concerned about is that holster fits are hit & miss. The slide profile is not the same as a standard 1911, so you may have to shop around to find a holster that works with it.
not too worried about a holster, it prolly wouldn’t end up being much of a carry gun, i’m a tiny guy, so carrying full sized guns doesn’t happen too often.
that’s for the tip on FTE’s and soft strikes, if i look at a used one, i’ll make sute to test fire for reliability before purchasing.
This is my baby
You oughta hear what I have on when I'm out boating.
After a wee bit of tweaking . . .
Okay...at the risk of being flamed by all you 1911 lovers (bring it on, if you must)... (and for the record, I LOVE John Moses Browning’s masterpiece - obligatory salaam at his very name)...
But here’s the chronology of my sad tale of 1911A1 WOE....
When my state went “Shall Issue On Demand’ several years back...two (maybe three) weeks later, I was proudly packing heat (legally, anyway, for once )...my very own “Old Slab Sides”, a Springfield Armory G.I. 1911A1. Checkered rosewood grips, standard sights, nothing fancy, other than PowerMag 10 round mages (which also fit nicely in my Marlin Camp Carbine).
Well, I carried that hunk of oiled, blued steel for many a week...with it digging into the waist (no, I’m not a weight-challenged spare-tire-carrying porker, so stuff the forthcoming wisecracks), tried the shoulder rig, both vertical and horizontal carry, tried small of the back, etc., etc.,...never did I find a comfortable carry for it, except in hip paddle, which printed. IWB was also very uncomfortable, and if I wore it more towards the front, well, then it was cocked, locked, and pointed at my crank...THAT was not very inspiring.
So....bein’s me, rationale-like and all, I said, “Hey!!! Let’s Try Something Smaller”....promptly sold one of my guitars (SOB! WAAH!) and purchased a Beretta Model 85 (.380) for pocket carry.
It was small.
It was VERY small...so small, it didn’t feel like a gun at all...
So I carried that for a while too. It was Okay; always went bang!, easy to use, but I never felt comfortable with THAT either.
So, that bein’s what it was, I said to myself - “Hey!!! I Need Another Gun”...
Whereupon I was introduced to the FINE products being manufactured by Mr. Gaston Glock by a good buddy of mine.
So - I went back UP SCALE to the Glock 21; a massive, .45 ACP (American Commie Popper) piece of polymer and steel. So I was right back where I started - and THIS one was bulkier than the 1911A1...
Self, says I, I need yet ANOTHER piece (starting to see how this works yet, anyone???)
Since the Glock had great appeal, I went for the Glock Model 19 in FINE Europellet 9mm. 15 rounds, 124gr, or hollow points, and it rest easy and comfortably no matter how I carry it. Usually, in summer, it rests in comfortably in the custom holster that I made for my car, wherever I go.
I also carry a SW642 as my BUG. That slips easily in the pocket. Also, for the times when I’m in Enemy Country and carrying goes from a right to a crime, I purchased a Kel-Tec P3AT, which is even SMALLER than the Beretta...but it is better than a “point-ed stick”. And since I have no desire to be taken out by Jamal or Julio when I’m “in-country”, I carry that, waiting patiently for the day that said socialist workers paradise decides to take it’s head of its collective ass and recognize my carry right.
So - while I will profess undying love for the work of True Genius that was John Moses Browning (salaaming, again...and He and I share a birthday), I have to admit to all present and accounted for that I carry a Glock instead...for the reasons stated herein above. (Damn...I feel like I’m in the confessional at Church...)
Yes, I still have her...yes, I still shoot her, and yes, I still enjoy that piece when I take her out. But the Glock is the PERFECT carry piece.
Okay...game on...I’m wearing Level II, so have at it...
1000 rounds in 11 minutes: maybe mechanically from a machine rest, but, if you touched it, it would burn you clean to the bone...
I've seen one gun go through 200 loaded magazines, one right after the other, and stop only when all the magazines had run dry.
We would have tried it with more magazines, but it was all we had immediately available, the ammo being free and which we thought deserved the dignity of going bang rather than being buried in the Post landfill.
There was no machine rest, and all the shooting was done one-handed, as required by US Army marksmanship training requirements of the time [early 1970s] The slide and barrel were hot- I would not have touched them for a hundred bucks- but the gun was no problem to hold by the grips as intended. There was no melting or noticible softening of the grips, which was part of what we were interested in finding out.
200 seven round magazines works out to right near 1400 rounds, by the way. I don't know how long it took, but 11 minutes seems a little quick. It took about ten seconds per magazine to fire the ammo off and switch mags. I'd say we took more like a half-hour, but someone with serious extended magazines, Taylor drums or really working for full-tilt speed could no doubt better our attempt.
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