An Old Warhorse: The Colt M1911A1
Written: Jul 29 '00 (Updated Jul 29 '00)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: It's a .45!
Cons: 8 shot capacity
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| Wolfhound's Full Review: otdr/Other |
This is a review of a type of pistol, and not one made by any specific manufacturer.
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The M 1911A1 Colt Pistol is one of the oldest, most reliable and most copied automatic handguns ever made. The 1911 served the US Military faithfully in almost every conflict of the 20th Century, from the Philippine Insurrection of 1912 to Desert Storm in 1991. Three generations of my family alone carried it to conflicts all over the world.
A LITTLE HISTORY
The 1911 was designed by probably the most talented gunmaker ever to walk the earth, Mr. John Moses Browning. Just before the turn of the century Mr. Browning came up with the tilting barrel system (a system still used today in almost every autoloading pistol made). In 1900, Colt released the first Model 1900. At around the same time the US Military started looking to replace the M1898 series of revolvers, chambered in the totally inadequate 38 caliber Long Colt. For years Uncle Sam tested various makes of pistols, including the famous Luger.
In 1904, the War Department commissioned Captains John Thompson, father of the Tommy Gun, and Louis LaGarde, both from the Ordnance Department, to determine what would be the most suitable caliber for a new military handgun. These two performed a series of tests on cadavers and live cattle (using questionable scientific methods) at the Nelson Morris Company Union Stockyards in Chicago. I'll spare you the grisly details. This report led to a special order for pistols dated December 28, 1906, which made the following four points the criteria for the new pistol:]
*Caliber not less than .45
*Magazine holding no less than six rounds
*Bullet Weight not less than 230 grains
*Trigger Pull not less than six pounds
After a few years of trials, the selection boiled down to two guns; the Colt Model 1910, and an entry from Savage Arms.
TESTS NOT INVOLVING THE MASSACRE OF LIVESTOCK
On March 15, 1911 the Army held an endurance test. Each gun was to fire 6,000 rounds of ammunition. After each 100 rounds, the guns would be cleaned. After each 1,000 rounds the guns would be cleaned and oiled. After the 6,000 rounds were complete an unspecified amount of deformed cartridges (dipped in acid to rust them, and also immersed in sand and mud) were also fired through each gun. At the end of the test, the Savage entry had broken or misfired 37 times. The Colt had zero malfunctions. With very uncharacteristic speed for the US Military, on March 28, 1911 the US Military adopted the Colt entry as the Model 1911. (Note: This endurance record has only been broken once, by Mr. Brownings light machine gun, the M1917, in 1917, that fired 40,000 rounds in similar testing conditions without a malfunction)
In 1924, minor changes were made to the Model 1911, mainly ergonomic in nature, and on May 20, 1924, the Colt Model M1911A1 was born. This gun remained unchanged its entire military career until it was officially replaced on January 14, 1984 (although the Marines continued to use it).
MY OWN PIECE OF HISTORY
In 1982 during an air assault training exercise on the Big Island of Hawaii, somewhere between rapelling from helicopters and meeting at the assembly point, a 1911 turned up missing, a death blow to the career of the Second Lieutenant who lost it. For over a week, 100 men searched a two square mile area to no avail. It was determined that, besides loosing his command, he pay for the weapon. I had the opportunity to go through the old records (to determine the value of the weapon) with the Armorer. Both my weapon, and the lost .45 were issued to the 27th Infantry Regiment in 1924. That meant that my pistol was at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, when the Japanese attacked on December 7, 1941. It was at Guadalcanal, the Northern Solomon Islands and was there for the liberation of the Philippines. It was with the first occupation troops in Japan and present for the whole Korean conflict. It also served in Vietnam from 1966 to 1970. Talk about an old soldier. Oh yeah, with depreciations and what not, we heard that the lost .45 was worth about 14 bucks.
CIVILIAN MODELS
As long as it has been in production, the M1911A1 has also been available in the Real World. Colt kept the gun basically unchanged for years. It was available with different barrel lengths and calibers. There is even a .22 conversion kit that has been available since the 1940's. The guns remained mechanically unchanged until the 1980's when Colt released their Series 80. This series incorporated a trigger safety for a litigation-happy America. This in my opinion didn't make the gun any safer, it just ruined the trigger pull. The Series 80 stayed in production until the release of the M1991 (in guess what year?).
ANY WAY YOU WANT IT
Although Colt, as of 1999, stopped selling automatic pistols to the civilian market, there are still several very good companies producing the .45 automatic. The two companies that, in my mind, rise to the top are Kimber and Para-ordnance. In addition, there are more after market accessories for the .45 than for a '69 Camaro. There are specialty gunsmiths that will build or tweak your gun for just about any use. From shaving it down for a fast draw to accurizing it for competition use; hell, you can even get a set of Mother of Pearl handgrips, so you can be a Super Pimp, too.
The M1911A1 is a hard act to follow. Some say it is old and outdated, but for reliability, durability and accuracy, it's the benchmark for all other autoloading pistols to meet. Whether you are shooting competition, or plinking cans, or need a pistol for self defense you can't beat a .45.
Recommended:
Yes
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Wolfhound
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