Colt M1911 Hand Gun

Facts about Colt M1911 Gun, The Colt M1911 handgun is one of the most renowned pistol designs in history. Produced in different models-with each model specifically designed for a particular group of users, the basic M1911 design has not seen major changes throughout its life. This semi-automatic, recoil-operated, self-loaded handgun was first used during the last phases of the Philippine-American war, after which it became a valued weapon during World War I, World War II, Vietnam War and Korean War. It was then adopted by the US Armed force as a standard-issue sidearm.

As of 1940, the gun was formally designated as Automatic Pistol Caliber.45 for the original 1911 model, as well as M1911A1 for the 1924 version of it. In total, the US procured approximately 2.7 million of both the M1911A1 and M1911 handguns for its military contracts between 1911 and 1985. It was until 1990 that the US military force decided to replace it with the 9mm Beretta- M9 pistol as the standard sidearm for US army. But because of its heightened popularity among various users, the pistol still exists today.

The idea to develop the pistol first cropped up during the late 1890s, following the search for a proper self-loading handgun to replace a number of revolvers that existed at that time. That same decade, the US military force was adopting firsthand firearms at an alarming rate; they already had adopted a number of new pistols, plus two newfangled service rifles -M1885 Navy Lee and M1892/96/98, with chains of revolvers from Colt as well as Smith & Wesson. It was apparent the adoption pace would be maintained the following decade, as the US military hankered for a self-loading pistol.

At that time, Hiram Maxim had already developed a self-loading rifle, but he was more preoccupied with designing machine guns. But his principle of reloading a gun using bullet energy benchmarked the invention of several self-loading pistols at the end of that decade. These designs attracted various military forces, each of which wanted to find a suitable self-loading pistol for their militaries. In the US, such a program would call for a formal test of the submitted guns.

So at the start of 1900, a self-loading pistol test was conducted. Among the pistols tested, there was the Steyr Mannlicher M1894, Colt M1900 and the C96 "BroomhandIe." Each of these models ran into a series of problems during the test. By 1904, hundreds of self-loading pistols had been tested. But none of them actually passed the tests. Because of that, Thompson T. John was forced to state that every new pistol that will be presented for the test should at least be .45 caliber; and, at the same time, be semi-automatic in operation.

The next trial was conducted in 1906. The entering companies included Deutche Waffen, Savage Arms Company, Knoble, White-Merril, Colt and Bergmann-3 of which were eliminated during the first round. Only Colt, Savage, and DWM were qualified for the second phase of the test. Shortly after, DWM withdrew from the contest leaving Savage and colt to resubmit their designs. This stifled a series of tests from 1907 to 1910 to determine the winning design between Colt's and Savage's entries.

It was until 1910 that the winning design was finally found - Colt M1911 by designer John Browning from Colt. Six thousand shots were fired using a single Colt M1911 pistol in two consecutive days with no reported malfunctions. The pistol had actually passed the test.

Design

Basically, the pistol works using recoil operation; the bullet is pushed down the barrel by the force that is generated by the expanding combustion gas.

Custom models

Ever since the gun was first developed, several companies have used it as a base model for all kinds of customization. Among the customization, there is the inclusion of a checkering frame, external finish, as well as hand-fitting triggers, sears and hammers. Other forms of modifications include the installation of compensators, or the addition of other accessories, such as tactical lights and scopes.