The 1911 pistol is considered by many gun collectors and veterans to be the greatest self-loading pistol ever made and the grandfather of the modern handgun, which despite its age is still used alongside modern pistols today. Designed by John Moses Browning in 1910 with patent dates going as far back as 1897, the .45 caliber pistol was adopted into the U.S. military arsenal February 14, 1911. Browning had combined traits of his former pistols and built a prototype around the recently-developed .45 ACP round. The end result was the M1911.
Browning sold the pistol to Colt, the first major company that would market the handgun. During initial testing in the military trials, the M1911 fired 1,000 rounds flawlessly, becoming the first self-loading pistol to pass with a 100% grade. After World War I, the military modified the M1911 design to optimize it for combat, adding a slightly larger ejection port, shortening the trigger, extending the grip safety tang to help prevent "slide bite", and adding an arched mainspring housing to allow the gun to better fit in the user's hand. The new firearm was called the Colt M1911A1. Many companies manufactured the M1911 for the U.S. military besides Colt, including Remington and Springfield Armory. The M1911A1's power and reliability kept it in circulation through the Korean and Vietnam Wars before the pistol began showing its age. However, it should be noted that at the time that the military began looking for a new sidearm, no new M1911's had been purchased since 1945 (note; this statement only applies to large contract orders, many small special purpose purchases have been made for 1911 pattern pistols since). In the 1980's, the U.S. Military held new military trials, during which they tested numerous pistols, the finalists being the SIG-Sauer P226 and the Beretta 92F. Due to the high price of the SIG-Sauer's magazines, the Beretta 92F was chosen to replace the M1911A1, a highly controversial decision to this day.
The M1911A1 remains alive in the hands of many gun enthusiasts and many U.S. Military special forces. Modern incarnations include models built by Colt, responsible for the M1911A1, Commander and Officers series, and Springfield Armory which faithfully continues building 1911's based on their original designs. Para USA (formally Para-Ordnance) manufactures a number of high-capacity double stack variations, including the P13, P14 and the LDA (Light Double Action). Kimber, who is acknowledged as the first large scale factory mass produced "custom" 1911 manufacturer, produces versions such as the Desert Warrior and the Custom TLE II, variations that are used by some special forces and SWAT teams.
Countless foreign copies are also in circulation, including Llamas, Mausers, and Argentinian clones. Despite being around 100 years old, the 1911 pistol continues to be manufactured with almost no major design changes, and has proven itself as one of the most popular handguns ever made.
The original M1911 first issued to the U.S. Military during WWI. When identifying, note a smaller ejection port (not visible in photo), smaller grip safety spur, original diamond cut checker wood grips, a flat mainspring housing (on the rear of the grip below the grip safety), longer trigger, lack of trigger finger recess frame cuts, and a larger hammer spur.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingPre-War Colt M1911A1 Pistol - Commercial Model known as the "Colt Government Model" - .45 ACP. This has a deep Colt factory blued finish, common for commercial variants before and after the war.Error creating thumbnail: File missingWorld War II Colt M1911A1 Pistol - .45 ACP. This was an issued U.S. Army pistol with parkerized finish, thus the official designation of M1911A1Error creating thumbnail: File missingSatin Nickel M1911A1 Pistol - .45 ACP. Manufactured on license by Remington Rand - nickel plated later by its owner.Error creating thumbnail: File missingRock Island Armory M1911A1 Pistol that was bright nickel plated by the owner (with Pearl grips) - .45 ACP.Error creating thumbnail: File missingNickel Plated M1911A1 Pistol with brown grips - .45 ACP
The U.S. military was re-issued the 1911 pistol in 1924, now designated the M1911A1. Changes to the gun included a larger ejection port, a shortened trigger, a longer grip-safety spur and slightly shaved hammer spur to prevent hammer bite, serrated front sight, a curved mainspring housing, simplified checkered grips (although diamond grips still appeared on some), and relief cuts around the trigger guard on the frame.
Note many in the list below could actually be Colt Mark IV Series 70/80 Government Models, Springfield Armory, or another manufacturer. Instead of a former military issued M1911A1, unless its a war film. Since the markings of the gun aren't always clear, M1911A1 is a catch-all term. Being most 1911 manufacturers pistols are based off the M1911A1 platform.
Can be upgraded with quick draw holster to switch weapons with the pistol faster, a match trigger to improve rate of fire, and "Magnum" rounds for increased fire power.
Aside from Colt selling the M1911A1 to the US military, the gun was also sold under the name "Colt Government Model" to the civilian market, and called the "Pre-Series 70" guns today.
One with a blued finish, the other stainless steel
2011
Colt MK IV Series 70
The Colt MK IV Series 70 was an improvement over the M1911A1/Government Model by redesigning the barrel bushing to grip the barrel and give the production gun much improved accuracy. These "collet" bushings worked well but were prone to breaking due to being smaller than the slide diameter, hence the original bushing was made standard once again in in 1988.
The Colt MK IV Series 80 was first produced in 1983 to replace the Series 70 and is notoriously known as the first 1911 to make major improvements to the design. The first major improvement was incorporating a new firing pin block safety system, where a series of internal levers and a plunger positively blocked the firing pin from moving until the trigger was pressed, thus eliminating the possibility of the gun discharging if dropped onto a hard surface or struck hard. The second improvement to the design was adding a re-designed half-cock notch. Instead of the old hook style, the flat-top style was made to eliminate the problem of the hook breaking when the hammer slipped and fell to half cock. You can tell the gun has this feature by pulling the trigger on half cock. If the hammer falls, the gun has this type of half-cock system. Since the hammer doesn't have a sufficient distance to fall on half-cock, the weapon will not discharge. Also the series 80's had three dot sights, unlike the old fashioned iron sights. Much like the Series 70, this gun was also sold with the "collet" type barrel bushing until 1988.
The Gold Cup National Match was a factory produced "custom" version of the Series 70 and Series 80 M1911A1 pistols that was purpose-built for improved accuracy, reliability, and handling in competitive shooting. Easily recognized by its raised adjustable sights and a sight rib on the top of the slide. Note the light hollowed trigger and slanted cocking serrations as well.
The Colt XSE is a modern Colt 1911 with added front cocking serrations and a few cosmetic changes. A railed model was also introduced which was later renamed the Colt Rail Gun. In 2012 a variant of the Rail Gun was adopted by the US Marine Corps for use by MEU(SOC) units and was designated the M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol, replacing the original M45 pistol which has been in service since the 1980s.
The Commander model 1911 is basically an M1911A1 with a 4.25" barrel (instead of 5") produced in various styles since 1951, and was chambered in 9x19 mm Parabellum, .45 ACP, and .38 Super. There are several versions of the Commander. The original aluminum framed "Commander" was renamed the "Lightweight Commander" in 1970, when other versions of this type appeared. The "Combat Commander" is an all steel version introduced in 1970. Later versions include the Colt Commander Gold Cup National Match, the Combat Elite, and the Concealed Carry Officer's model, which mated the Commander slide & barrel with the smaller frame of the Colt Officer's Model.
A 1911 with a 3.5" barrel and shorter grip frame, this weapon is commonly mixed up with the Colt Commander, which has a longer barrel, slide, and frame than the Officer.
Although it sometimes has a longer trigger, it is impossible to differentiate from a genuine M1911A1 at a distance or in the hands of an actor. The easiest way to identify it is the slanted grooves on the slide. The Auto-Ordnance company is best known for its "Tommy guns", they also manufactured 1911 pattern pistols, at times to varying degree of quality depending on the ownership at time of production.
The M45 Pistol (previously called the MEU(SOC) Pistol) is based on the M1911A1 Pistol and has been the standard issue sidearm for the Force Recon Element of the United States Marine Corps' Marine Expeditionary Units since the mid-1980s. However, it has recently begun to be supplemented by the Kimber ICQB Pistol.
This is the M1911 version made by SIG-Sauer, GSR stands for Granite Series Revolution, The SIG Granite Series was awarded the 2004 Handgun of the Year Award by the Shooting Industry Academy of Excellence.
Stealth-1, custom built (orginally for a Mr. & Mrs. Smith) by a movie armorer company TJ used to be the smallest .45 caliber 1911 pistol (confirmation needed on what is the smallest currently). It only holds 4 + 1 rounds.
Italian manufacturer "Kimar" makes a blank firing 1911 replicas called "Kimar 911". Weapons come in 9mm PAK caliber (7+1 rounds) and 8mm blank caliber (10+1 rounds) and either black or 'nickel' finish. It is easily identified by its thick wooden grips with large screw holes. Minor drawback of the gun is completely unrealistic safety mechanism which visibly differs from the original 1911 one.
A blank firing replica of the Colt M1911A1 (although with its higher profile sight sand straight mainspring housing it more closely resembles the Colt MK IV Series 80) manufactured by the German company "Umarex" which can be identified by its external extractor (as seen here).
KWC (‘Kien Well Corporation’) is a Taiwanese manufacturer of airsoft guns and markets a wide line of gas and spring powered airsoft guns. Part of their portfolio is a number of airsoft guns inspired by match-versions of the M1911A1, these guns can be identified by the manufacturer initials and ‘Made in Taiwan’ on the right side of the slide just above the forward section of the trigger guard.
This is a modified airsoft KWC M1911 distributed (mostly in Europe and America) by Cybergun under the name of Tanfoglio. "Real-life" Tanfoglio never made 1911 style firearms.
Error creating thumbnail: File missingMGC Replica M1911A1. Model Gun Corp of Japan made these excellent all metal replica handguns between the late 1960s and the early 1980s. A batch of original MGC M1911s were discovered and hit the market once again in the early 2000s for a limited time. Despite intentional dimensional differences between it and the real M1911A1, all the parts assemble and disassemble just like the real firearm.Error creating thumbnail: File missingMGC replica M1911A1 with silver finish
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