“When did the Colt 1911 enter service?”
To my knowledge, the 1911 was being used in the military by officers as early as 1911 but it was a semiauto and not the auto I was talking about.
It was a good sidearm weapon and was replaced by the army in 1986 by the Beretta 92 due to cost over the Sig 226. The Navy purchased the 92S. Cost, cost,cost...
wy69
“...it was a semiauto and not the auto...”
Note Post 12 which has a picture of an advertisement from the time which terms the Colt 1911 as an automatic.