Not to mention there’s simply better designs in terms of field stripping these days. A gun without a take down lever is just rather behind the times. There is no reason to make field stripping and cleaning harder than it has to be. Modern pistol designs are just plain easier to deal with.
It depends on the model of “modern pistol.” The model of “modern pistol” chosen by the DOD to replace the 1911... shows that the DOD chose poorly.
You can field strip a 1911 with no tools. That’s the requirement, IMO, for any service pistol.
But the 1911 goes well beyond that. You can *detail* strip a 1911 with no tools, only a round of .45 ACP ammo for a screwdriver (you use the rim). You pull apart the slide first, and use the firing pin as a pin punch to remove pins on the frame.
Now, let’s compare that to a detail strip on a M9, which has a takedown lever.
You need the following tools:
1. Pin punches in 1.5, 2 and 3mm
2. A “spring positioning tool,” which you can make from a #4 crochet hook,
3. You’d better have a big zip-lock bag to catch the pins, detents and springs that come flying off a M9.
Field strip M9. Put slide in big zip-loc bag, detail strip that. Get another gallon zip-loc, put frame in and detail strip that.
Now there’s a reasonable chance you’ve retained all the little springs and plungers that come flying off a M9 or Model 92 Beretta.
There’s no such problem with a 1911.
Now a Glock... that’s an easy pistol to field or detail strip.