How We Got Browning's Century-Old Masterpiece - #2A
How the Colt M1911 Was Adopted by the U.S. Army
How the Colt M1911 Was Adopted by the U.S. Army
(My first issue 1911-A1 was produced by Ithaca in 1945. Now I’m much older that that weapon was then but am still functioning. I’ll bet it is too. - DD)
(AmmoLand) - On March 29th, 1911, the US Army Ordnance Department accepted the Colt M1911 into service. This semi-automatic pistol would remain in service for over seventy-five years and would go on to influence generations of handguns to come. Today, the 1911 platform has grown from its roots and remains one of the most popular and identifiable pistols in the world over a century after its adoption.
How the M1911 came to be adopted in the first place is a tale that is as storied as its service life, with a fair amount of conjecture and revisionism mixed in with fact. The 1911 is the final destination of so many handguns, but here is how we got to it in the first place.
The US Army and the Penchant for the .45
n an age before expandable bullets and high velocity cartridges, bigger was better. When the US Army got its first taste of a revolver with the .44 caliber (nominal .45 caliber bullet) Colt Walker, subsequent revolvers in that caliber were preferred. The Colt Dragoon and 1860 New Army models were both in .44 caliber and preferred for their ability to stop both men and horses. The US Navy gravitated toward the Colt Navy model in .36 caliber. Initially, this was due to its lighter weight over the Dragoon, and the risk at sea from horses was minimal. Back on land, the Army transitioned to cartridges in…
Still carry and prefer it.