45 Automatic, The - NRA American Rifleman Reprint - Ocr

7/22/2019 45 Automatic, The - NRA American Rifleman Reprint - Ocr

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THE

AUTOMATIC

Assembly, historyand performance of theU.S. M1911-series pistolsand the commercial modelsA N A M E R I C A N R I FL E M A N R E P R I N T


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P U B L I C A T I O N SCopyright 1980, 1989, 1998Nat ional Rif le Associat ion of America1 1 2 5 0 Wap les Mi l l Ro adFairfax, Virg in ia 22030 -9400

Fourth Edition, Third PrintingDecem b er , 2 0 0 5T H E C O V E R :On the front cover, an early, blued M odel of 1911 Colt .45 AC P pistol

and a commercial s tain less s teel Col t Mark IV/Ser ies 80 Gold Cup Nat ionalMatch model demonstrate how l i t t le John M. Browning 's or ig inal designchanged in near ly 80 years .

On the back cover , a Wilson C omba t Serv ice G rade Classic bui l t on aSpringfield, Inc., frame and slide rests on a target that i l lustrates the inheren t accuracy of both the Browning design and the .45 ACP car t r idge.

Co ve r p h o to g ra p h s b y Ta l ma d g e G. Ru t l e d g e .F ro n t co ve r p i s t o l s co u r te sy o f Do u g W i ck l u n d a n d t h e Na t i o n a l F i re arms M u se u m.

C A U T I O N : T h e m a t e r i a l c o n t a i n e d h e r e i n i s r e p r i n t e d fr o m p a s t i s s u e s o f th eAmerican Rifleman m a g a z i n e , a c o p y r i g h t e d p u b l i c a t i o n o f t h e N a t i o n a l R i f leAssociat ion of Am erica (N RA ). Therefore , whi le technical ly sound and h is tor ical lyrelevant, i t may have been updated by research more recent than the original date ofpubl icat ion . Al l technical data in th is publ icat ion , especial ly for handloading , ref lectthe l imi ted exper ience of ind iv iduals using speci f ic too ls , p roducts , equipment andcomponents under speci f ic condi t ions and ci rcumstances not necessar i ly repor ted inth is publ icat ion , and over which the NRA has no contro l . The data have not o therwisebeen tested or ver i f ied by the NRA. The NRA, i t s agents , o ff icers and employeesaccept no responsibili ty for the results obtained by persons using such data and disclaim all l iabili ty for any consequential injuries or damages.


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C O N T E N T S *9 0

AS SEMBLYIt 's Very Easy Pag e 2Takedo wn of the .45 auto pistol may look difficult, but if you d o the job step-by-step, you willhave no trouble.Re -assem bly of the .45 Page 6Colt M ark IV/Series 70 , 80 , 90 disassemb ly Page 7M 1911A1 Exploded View Page 25H I STORYCanadian M 1911s ? Page 15Service Pistol Su rrog ates Pag e 16Everybod y wants a pistol that looks like a GI .45, and everybody always has.

By J.B. Roberts , Jr .Trials of the .45 Pa ge 20Through out its service, the pistol ha s been tested and re-tested away from the battlefields.

By Col . J im Crossman.45 Auto Seria l Nu mb ers Page 24P E R F O RMA N C EThe .45: Am erica's Cartr idge Page 8Here's how to get the most out of .45 loads. By C.E. HarrisM aking Your 1911 Shoot Straight Page 12Does your M19 11 live up to its full a ccuracy potential? Here are some things that you andyour g unsmith can do to make it really shoot. By Stanton L. Wormley, Jr .


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Takedown of the . 45 auto pistol may look difficult, butif you do the job step-by-step, you will have no trouble ...

V E R Y E A SYT HE fact that the basicJ o h n B r o w n i n g - d e s i g n e d U . S . P i s t o l ,C a l i b e r . 4 5 , M o d e l o f 1 9 1 1 ,remained the official handgun ofour armed services for 74 years, until theadoption of the 9x19 mm Beretta M9 pistolin 1985, speaks w ell for both the Colt firm andthe board of U.S. Army officers involved inits selection. Composed of four line officersand one ordnanc e officer, the selection boardwas convened by a special order of the secretary of war dated December 28, 1906. Armsreferred to the board were all of .45 cal. andincluded autoloading pistols of Colt , Luger,S a v a g e , K n o b l e , B e r g m a n n , a n d W h i t e -Merrill design, and double-action revolversby Colt and Smith & Wesson. Also considered was the unique automatic revolver ofWebley-Fosbery make .The evaluation program instituted by theboard was designed to simulate rigorous serv ice condi t ions as much as possib le andincluded endurance, dust, rust, accuracy, functioning, and numerous other tests calculatedto reveal design flaws and general servicecapabilities of the various guns submitted.

Service t es t reveal ingBy 1907, the board had com pleted i t swork , and all but the Colt and Savage entrieshad been el iminated f rom considerat ion . A

service test of both the Coltand Savage p is to ls was thenauthor ized w i th two t roops ofU . S . Cav al ry ass ig n ed fo r t h epurpose. That in i t ial serv ice test revealedthat nei ther p is to l had reached the desi redl e v e l o f p e r f e c t i o n . A c c o r d i n g l y , t h eOrdnance Depar tment inst i tu ted a ser iesof fur ther exper iments and informal tests ,which eventual ly resu l ted in the appoin t ment of a new select ion board that convened in March 1911.

Its superiority notedThe first paragraph of their final reportis as follows:"Of the two p is to ls , the board was ofth e o p in io n th a t t h e Co l t i s su p er io r ,because i t i s more rel iab le, more enduring , more easi ly d isassembled when thereare broken par ts to be rep laced , and them o re accu ra t e . "

T h a t , in s h o r t , e x p l a i n s w h y t h eBrow ning-Col t .45 Autom at ic p is to l wasev en tu a l ly ad o p ted as an o f f i c i a l U .S .Serv ice arm and formal ly designated as the

1 P r e s s m a g a z i n e c a t c h w i t h r i g h t t hI w h i l e a t t h e s a m e t im e w i t h d r a w i n g m

az i ne f ro m rece iver . Pu ll s l ide to rear and in c h a mb e r to s ee th a tg u n i s n ot l o a d e d . Cs l id e a n d p u l l t r i g g e r s o h a mme r is d o wn

2 W i t h t h u m b , p r e s s i n w a r d o n k n u r l e d e n d o fp l u g , a t s a m e t i m e r o t a t i n g b a r r e l b u s h i n go n e - q u a r t e r t u rn c l o c k w i s e t o f r e e p l u g a n d r e c o i ls p r in g a s s e mb ly . Re s t h e e l o f g u n o n ta b le s ob o t h h a n d s m a y b e u s e d .

3 R e m o v e p l u g a n d r e c o i l s p r i n g . If s p r i n g d o e s n o t c o m e fe a s i l y , r o t a t e p l u g i n c o u n t e r - c l o c k w i s e d i r e c t i o n t o s e p a r a t e pf r o m r e c o i l s p r i n g .

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4 Ro ta te b a r re l b u s h in g c o u n te r - c lo c k w i s e u n ti l d i s e n g a g e d f r o m s l i d e .R e m o v e b a r r e l b u s i n g .

7 Pu l l r e c e iv e r g ro u p to re a r a n d o f fs l i d e . R e c o il s p r i n g g u i d e c a n n o w b el i f t e d o u t .

8 P us h l i n k f o r w a r d a n dr e m o v e b a r r e l f r o m f r o n to f s l i d e .

5 Pul l s l ide to rear un t i l lug on s l ide s top is op pos i te c l earan ce no tch on s l ide .Us e f i n g e r o n le ft h a n d to p u s h in w a rd o n ro u n d e d e n d o f s l i d e s to p p inp ro t ru d in g o n r ig h t s id e o f re c e iv e r , wh ic h w i l l d i s e n g a g e s l i d e s to p f ro m s l i d e .

"U .S . Pisto l, Cal iber .45 , Mod el of 1911." I t i s recorded that Col t ma de up nea rly 200 exper imental p is to ls before produc ing the model f inal ly accepted .Accura te, readi ly d isassembled wi thout the use of too ls , and ex t remely ruggedin every detail , the Model of 1911 has achieved a reputation for combat serv iceabi li ty unsurpassed by any o ther mi l i tary handgu n.It is admittedly a difficult pistol to shoot accurately, and during the early 1920sseveral minor changes w ere ma de in an attempt to better i ts handling qualit ies. Thos echanges included frame scallops near the trigger, an arched mainspring housing,shorter hammer spur, Patridge-type sights, short trigger, and longe r grip safety horn.The effect of the changes was to eliminate 'pinching' of the thumb web, and menwith short fingers or small hands welcomed the shorter trigger. The better sightsalso improved the sight picture for target shooting purposes. This imp roved modelwas designated the U.S . Model 1911-A1 and was adopted in 1924.

9 W i t h h a m m e r c o c k e d , r o t a t e s a f e t y l o c kt o " o n " p o s i t i o n . It c a n n o w b e p u l l e da n d a w a y f r o m r e c e i v e r .

a l m o s tto left

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N ot a lw ays w an t e dSurprisingly enough, m any present-day shooters prefer the originallong trigger and old-style flat mainspring housing and will invariably'de-mo dernize ' a new gun by substituting old-style parts for the new.Target shooting with the 'as issued' Service pistol can be disappointing if the various moving parts are not precisely fit ted andadjusted. In racetrack terminology, the .45 Colt pistol is a 'mudder'designed to function reliably with a good deal of foreign matter ini t s mechanism. The necessar i ly wide clearances between movingparts are desirable in a military arm, but are undesirable in a targetgun. Thus, in 1933, Col t in t roduced i t s Nat ional M atch .45 , whichis the same basic p is to l machined to closer to lerances, wi th a specially selected barrel, an optional, adjustable rear sight and precision-fit ted lock work. It enjoyed considerable popularity, but wasdiscont inued dur ing World War II . It wa s reinstated in the Colt han dgun l ine in 1957 as the Col t Gold Cup Nat ional Match model .

Good scores at ta inab leFor decades, most U.S. marksmen have had thei r commercialmi l i tary .45s "accur ized" by exper ienced p is to lsmiths special izin th is type of work . N owa days, however , o r ig inal U.S.- issue mtary serv ice p is to ls have largely been relegated to co l lector s tatand many factory .45s made by curren t manufacturers come outthe box in configurations ranging from plain-jane duty pistolsheavi ly modif ied race -ready com pet i t ion gun s. Also there areastonishing array of aftermarket parts available for the do-it-yosel fer or gunsmith to make improvements in accuracy , rel iab iand handl ing .Po p u la r m o d ern -d ay v ar i a t i o n s o f t h e b as i c Bro wn in g -Cdesign have led to smal ler and wider-f ramed h igher-capaci ty gu

It all started with the original Colt Commander, which featureframe and slide of l ightweight "Coltalloy." With a 3/4" shorter brel and weighing 26Vi ounces as compared wi th 39 ounces for


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L if t o u t s e ar a n d d is c o n n e c to r . N o t e re la t i o n s h ip o f t h e s ep a r t s to fa c i l i t a te re -as s e mb ly .

W i t h h a m m e r s t ru t ,p u s h i n o n f i r i n g p i n . A t

s a m e t i m e p l a c e f i n g e r n a i la g a i n s t t o p e d g e o f f i r i n g p i n

Q A W i t h h am m e r s tru t, p us h s to p a n d p us h d o w n w a r d ,X v o u l li nk p i n , s e p a r at i n g f r e e in g f i r i n g p i n s t o p f r o ml in k f ro m b a r re l . r e c es s in s l i d e

1 Q D e p r es s m a g a z i n e c at c h f r o m le ft s i d e w h i l e at t h e s a m el O t i m e r o t a t i n g m a g a z i n e c at c h l o ck o n e - q u ar t e r t ur n

c o u n te r - c lo c k w is e u s in g l i p o f s e ar s p r in g a s s c re w d r i v e r . T h e nr e m o v e m a g a z i n e c a t c h a s s e m b l y f r o m r i g h t s i d e o f r e c e iv e r .C a t c h a s s e m b l y c a n b e r e d u c e d t o c o m p o n e n t s b y t u r n in g l o c kc l o c k w i s e o n e - q u a r t e r t u r n . S p r i n g a n d l o c k w i l l c o m e o u t .

O O R e m o v e f i r in g p i n s t o p .L ^ F i r i n g p i n a s se m b l y c a nn o w b e r e m o v e d f r o m s l i d e .

O O W i th h a mm e r s trut , p r yL O ou tan d remove ex t rac to r .

24 S e p a r a t e f i r i n g p i n f r o m f i r i n g p i n s p r i n g .

Mod el 1911, the Comm and er found a ready market in those whopreferred l igh tweigh t bu t powerfu l handg uns. I t has since been fo l lowed by o ther , smal ler Col t compacts , such as the Off icer 's ACPand Defender p is to ls . Ma ny o ther var iat ions including larger magazine capaci ty or "widebody" gunshave been offered by foreignand domest ic arms makers in an almost d izzying number of choices , but al l are s t i l l based on John Browning 's legendary design .

The accompanying inst ruct ions are for the basic U.S. Model1911A1 pistol, but should provide enough information to guide owners of most o ther M1911-based p is to ls th rough the d isassemblyprocess. Additional takedown instructions specific to the Colt Series70, 80 and 90 pistols may be found on page 7. Be aw are that specialized parts and features found on many custom and competition pistols require specialized tools or knowledge not covered here. (J Rf)


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DIRECTIONS FOR RE-ASSEMBLYOF THE M 1911A1 PISTOLTo as s e m b l e s l i d e :1 . Insert extractor into slide with its flat side parallel to recess wall and push inward untilnotch near rear of extractor is opposite notchin right side of recess wal l .2 . Place firing pin spring on firing pin and insertassembly into firing pin hole in slide.3 . Depress firing pin with fingertip and at thesame time insert firing pin stop with its rounded edge up and notch to left.4 . Push upward on firing pin stop until it engagesshoulder at rear of firing pin, thus holding firing pin in place within slide.5 . Using hammer strut, depress firing pin to permit movement of firing pin stop upward intofinal position. End of firing pin should now

protrude through hole in firing pin stop.6. Assemble link to barrel with link pin.7. Insert barrel assembly into slide and engagebarrel locking lugs with recesses in slide.8. Insert barrel bushing into slide.9. Insert recoil spring guide into recoil spring andplace assembly in slide with wings on recoilguide toward barrel.To a s s e m b l e r e c e i v e r :1 0 . Insert trigger.1 1. Insert magazine catch .1 2 . Assemble sear and disconnector togetherwith flat face of disconnector against triggeryoke an d sear over disconnector, curved section inward, lugs pointing to bottom.1 3. Insert sear pin from left side of receiver.14 . Replace sear spring and retain in place withmainspring housing inserted 1/8" short offinal position.15. Replace hammer and strut assembly.1 6. Insert hammer pin.17. Replace grip safety.1 8. Cock hammer and replace safety lock.19. Lower hammer, and, with end of hammerstrut in mainspring cap, press mainspringhousing into place and insert mainspringhousing pin.T o c o m p l e t e a s s e m b l y o f p i s t o l :1 . Cock hammer. While holding both slide andreceiver bottom side up and with link tilted

fo rward , slide receiver into the slide assembly and insert slide stop, taking care that slidestop pin engages link.2 . Push forward and inward to engage slidestop.3 . Engage safety to lock receiver and slidetogether.4 . Place plug over end of recoil spring.

5. Push plug into slide until barrel bushing canbe rotated into locked position.6. Disengag e safety.7. Insert mag azine.

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.45 Firing Pin SafetyAfter I purchased my Colt Mark IV,Series 80, .45 Auto with its firingpin block safetya friend reported

that Colt made gun s like it in the 1930s, thenstopped. What's the story?

The pre-World War II safety deviceto wh ich your f r iend refers wa sp a t en t ed in 1 9 3 9 b y Wi l l i am J .Swartz of Col t ' s Engineer ing Depar tment .A rep o r t o n t h e d ev ice ap p eared in t h eJanuary 1976 issue of American Rifleman.Colt installed Swartz safety devices on

ap p ro x im ate ly 2 ,9 0 0 Go v ern m en t Mo d el.45s and Super .38s between late 1937 and1941when product ion of commercial p istols ceased for the duration of World War II.

Col t op ted , in i t s post -war commercialproduction, to revert to the original designof the .45 Au to, and drop ped the firing pinsafety-until the 1980s.In the late 1970s, Col t under took a program to develop a f i r ing-p in-b lock safetyfor use in all Colt pistols. The results of thatprogram were in t roduced in 1983 as featu res o f t h e .4 5 Go v ern m en t Mo d el , MarkIV/Se r ies 80 . Today, all Col t semi-auto p isto ls , including the 10 mm Del ta El i te andt h e . 3 8 0 G o v e r n m e n t M o d e l a n d . 3 8 0M ustan g , feature a Ser ies 80-sty le f ir ing-p in-b lock safety .

The Ser ies 80 safety , un l ike the Swartz,which released the f i r ing p in when the gr ipsafety was squeezed , works off of the t r igger . Thus, the Ser ies 80 safety wi l l no trelease the firing pin until the trigger is

F i r i ng -p in -b lo c k s a f e t y i n C o l t M ark I V /Ser ies 80a n d l a t er p i s t o l s r e m a i n s e n g a g e d u n t i l p r e s s u r eon t r i gge r p i v o t s l ow er s ea r l ev er , w h i c h i n t u rnac t ua t es upper s ea r l ev e r and p res s es f i r i ng p inl o c k p l u n g e r o u t o f e n g a g e m e n t t o f r e e f i r i n g p i n .

ac tu a l ly p u l l ed . Ser i es 8 0 sa fe ty p ar t s ,sh o wn in t h e acco m p an y in g i l l u s t r a t i o n ,are pecul iar to Ser ies 80 p is to ls and wi l lnot fi t earlier .45s.

Series 70/80 DisassemblyWhen I follow the conventionalinstructions for disassem bling myunmodified Colt Mk IV/Series 70

.45,1 am unable to turn the barrel bushing without a great de al of effort. It iseven tough using a bushing w rench. Whatis the problem?

Beginning wi th the Mk IV/Ser ies70 and cont inuing in to Ser ies 80product ion , Col t changed the bushing in its com merc ial .45 Au tos from a sim ple cylinder to a spring-tempered collet , thef ingers of which grasp an en larged-d iameter portion of the barrel just ba ck of the m uzzle. Without fo l lowing the special p roce duredescribed below, it is extraordinarily difficult to turn the Series 70/80 bushing.Hav in g f i r s t m ad e su re t h e p i s to l i sunloaded and then resting the heel of the button a tab le or bench accord ing to the ma nual suppl ied by Col t Manufactur ingpushthe slide back abo ut 1/4 inch, press dow n onthe recoil spring plug, locate d just be low themuzzle, and at the same time rotate barrelb u sh in g c lo ck w ise ab o u t a q u ar t e r t u rn ,using a bushing wrenc h i f necessary . Froma practical standpoint, opening the breechfar enough to insert an empty .45 case sothat i t emulates a "smokestack" jam wil l

back the collet clear of the enlarged portionof the barrel and the bushing can be turnedand removed wi th relat ive ease.

T o r e m o v e t h e c o l l e t - s t y l e b a r r e l b u s h i n g o f as e r i e s 7 0 o r 8 0 C o l t G o v e r n m e n t M o d e l p i s t o l ,b e g i n b y d r a w i n g t h e s l i d e s l i g h t l y t o t h e r e a r .

Old "NRA" .45s

Q Is it true that Springfield A rmor y sold.45 pistols for NR A mem bers with"NRA " stamped on the frame?

A In the Aug ust 8,19 12, issue of Armsand the Man, p red ecesso r o f t h eAmerican Rifleman, .45 Model 1911pistols were offered for sale to NRA Lifemembers and indiv idual members of NRA-affil iated club s. Ap pro ved for sale by theOrdnance Depar tment , the M1911 so ld for$ 1 6 . 0 4 , w i t h p a y m e n t t o b e m a d e t oSpringfield Armory. The actual delivery of the.45s did not take place until a few years later.

The M 1911 s , p roduce d by both Col t andSpringf ield Armory , were s tamped wi th thelet ters "N.R .A." below the ser ial number onthe right side of the frame. There is somequest ion as to the actual number of NRA-stampe d 1911s that were so ld . Gen Ju l ian S.Hatcher , answering a Dope Bag inquiry ofMa rch 1951, s tated that on ly 57 such p is to lswere so ld pr ior to 1922. The book "Uni tedStates Mart ial and Col lector Arms," publ ished by Mil i tary Arms Research Serv ice,est imates that 100 Springf ield Armory and10 Col t NRA-stamped p is to ls were so ld tom e m b e rs . Al th o u g h th e ex ac t n u m b er o ft h e s e p i s t o l s is n o t k n o w n , t h e N R A -stamped .45 s are amon g the rarest o f M1911variat ions.

Af t e r Wo r ld War I I , t h e Di rec to r o fCiv i l i an Mark sm an sh ip so ld M1 9 1 1 an dM 1 9 1 1 A 1 p i s t o l s t o N R A m e m b e r s , b u tthese lacked the NRA marking . That program was d iscont inued in 1968.

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AMERICA 'SCARTRIDGEStateside shooters may flirt with the slim and exotic, but they com

back to the fat and fam iliar. Here's how to get the m ost out of .45 load sBy C . E . Harris

MY f i r s t a r t i c l e o n t h e . 4 5 A C Pappeared in these pages more than20 years ago (American Rifleman,February 1972, p . 38) . Time has onlyreinforced my opin ion that the M1911A1and its variants remain the best pistols in this

caliber. If you prefer revolvers, you can sti l lfind a .45 ACP to your l iking.Technology has not improved the hand l ing or accuracy of general -purpose handguns very much, bu t handgun ammuni t ionis much improved from that of even 10 yearsago . The t rad it ional .45 AC P menu of "hardbal l ," wadcut ters or cast lead now includes

R e load ing f o r t he v enerab le and v e rs a t i l e . 45 AC P c an y ie ld s a t i s f y i ng res u l t s , g i v en t he w ide v a r i e t y o f bu l l e t and pow der c ho i c es . T he s ho r t , f a t c as e m ak es h and l i n g i t eas ie r t han m os t . O f c ou rs e ,a l l t h e u s u a l s a f et y p r o c e d u r e s s h o u l d b e o b s e r v e d w h e n p r e p a r i n g t o a s s e m b l e y o u r f a v o r i t e l o a d .

jacke ted hol low poin ts , +P law enforcem eloads and sh otshe lls. So, the .45 AC P is nbetter than ever.Al th o u g h U .S . Arm e d Fo rces d ec l a rth e M1911 A l p is to l obsolete, mi l i tary ap o l i ce o rg an iza t io n s s t i l l u se .4 5 ACcal iber p is to ls for some counter- terror idrug enforcement and special operat ioDespi te the general i ssue of 9 mm Beretand SIGs, Col t and Heckler & Koch working on .45 pistols for use by elite mebers of the Armed Forces.New-g en era t i o n h an d g u n s su ch as tGlock 21 and Ruger P90 are avai lab le the .45 AC P and provide users wi th moopt ions than ever . Advoca tes of the .45 rson that a s ingle, wel l -p laced , hal f -ounbul let i s p referable to using twice as ma

9 mm rounds to do the same job . The .v s . 9 m m d eb a t e wi l l co n t in u e , b u t tav a i l ab i l i t y o f m o d ern p i s to l s an d nam m u n i t i o n fo r t h i s f i n e o ld ca r t r i densures that the .45 ACP wil l be wi th wel l in to the next century .The rea son for the .45 's longevi ty i s ti t i s m o r e f l e x i b l e t h a n m o s t s e mautomat ic p is to l rounds. I t i s one of m o s t i n h eren t ly accu ra t e h an d g u n lo aever designed and is h ighly su i tab le sp o r t i n g , m i l i t a ry an d l aw en fo rcemuse. For the civ i l ian hunter and spor tsmth e av a i l ab i l i t y o f m id - ran g e wad cu t tj a c k e t e d h o l l o w - p o i n t a n d s h o t s hammuni t ion provides obvious f ield u t i lfor smal l game and varmints , the ha ndg utypical targets for those users. Its fine acracy , ad eq u a te p o wer , m an ag eab le r ecand lack of ex t reme penetrat ion are imptan t ad v an tag es fo r t h e u rb an h an d gowner who wants one s idearm to do doble-duty both on the target range and home defense. The only p lace the .45 afalls short is as a primary hunting arm d e e r - s i z e d g a m e . A h a n d g u n p o w e renough for deer i s bu lky and has excess

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recoi l for general use. Becau se the. 4 5 i s a c c u r a t e , " p o w e r f u lenough," and provides a var iety ofamm uni t ion opt ions, i t is an obvious choice when a fi rearm is ind i cated, but a rifle is either inconvenient or s imply too obvious.It is true that the .45's trajectory is not as flat as that of the .357Mag. or similar rounds, but this is

unimportan t at real is t ic handgunran g es . Th e Go v ern m en t Mo d elpistol, when zeroed to center on a25-yd . target using a 6 o 'clockhold, strikes close enough at 100yds . that you can hit a woodchuck using ahead hold.Select ion of proper ammuni t ion is thekey to making your .45 perform for you.Fo u r b as i c am m u n i t i o n ty p es co v er a l lpotential uses. These

A r e p r e s e n t a t i v e s a m p l e o f . 4 5 A C P h o l l o w - p o i n t b u l l e t s . N o t ed i f f e r e n c e s i n l e n g t h , h o l l o w p o i n t d i a m e t e r a n d j ac k e t d e s i g n .

25 yds. wi th match ammo, and 4" groupswith ord inary "bal l ." This i s adequate forpractical field use because you use a handgun 10 times as often w ithin 50 ft. as youwil l beyond 50 yds.

n

are m i l i t a ry "h ard b a l l " o r fu l l -m eta l -j a c k e t e d ( F M J ) ;s e m i w a d c u t t e r( S W C ) , w h i c h m a ybe either full-metal-j a c k e t e d o r l e a d ;j a c k e t e d h o l l o wpoin t (JHP) hunt inga n d d e f e n s e l o a d s ;and either factory orh a n d l o a d e d s h o t -shells for poisonoussn ak es an d h u n t in gsmal l game.

Th e m i l i t a ry .4 5A C P B a l l , M 1 9 1 1cartridge fires a 230-gr. round-n osed, full-metal-jacketed bulletat 855+/-3 0 f.p.s. at 25!^ ft. from the mu zzle. Commercial hardbal l loads are sometimes loaded to a lower velocity of 800 to830 f.p.s., depe nding upon manu facturer.Military service ammunition must produce no worse than a 7.46" mean diagona l for10-shot groups at 50 yds. while match am mocan be no worse than 3" from a test barrel.

I n m y e x p e r i e n c e , m i l i ta r y h a r d b a l lammu ni t ion in an accur ized M1 911 Al p isto l p roduces 5" 10-shot groups at 50 yds.from a machine rest.Match hardbal l mayap p ro ach h a l f t h a t .F a c t o r y w a d c u t t e r sm a y s h a v e a n o t h e rinch off the averagegroup size.

The as- issued p isto l , a s s u m i n g g o o da m m u n i t i o n , w i l lproduce 3" groups at

PISTOL BALL CARTRIDGE, CALIBER . 4 5 , MODEL OF 19!T h e d r a w i n g a b o v e , f r o m a 1 9 1 8 " M a n u a l o f t h e A u t o m a t i c P i s t o l C a l i b e r . 4 5 M o d e l o f 1911 , " i l l ust ra t es c om po nen t s o f t he o r i g i n a l m i l i t a r y . 45 AC P load ing a 230 -g r . bu l l e t t r av e l i ng a t 855 f .p . s

Han d lo ad er s , o f co u r se , wan t t o p ro d u ce sa fe , accu ra t e an d r e l i ab l e am m u n i t i o n t h a t i s l e s s ex p en s iv e t h an f ac to ryl o a d s . M a k i n g h a n d l o a d s a p p r o x i m a t eG. I . am m u n i t i o n i s easy . S i e r r a , S p ee ran dHornady FMJ bul lets are the most accura t e for co m p et i t i o n , bu t eco n o m y -m in d edshoote rs wi l l be en t i rely sat isf ied w i th bulkWin ch es t e r o r Rem in g to n f ac to ry b u l l e t s ,s u c h a s t h o s e a v a i l a b l e f ro m M i d w a y .

T h e . 45 A C P c a r t r i d g e i s e x t r e m e l y v e r s a t i l e a s s h o w n a b o v e . F r o m l e f t t o r i g h t : t w o s h o tl o a d s , a s e m i - w a d c u t t e r m a t c h b u l l e t , a l e ad r o u n d n o s e , a n F M J r o u n d n o s e a n d a s o f t p o i n t .

Th es e are a grea t buy for thev o lu m e u ser .In my opinion, the most satisfactory .45 AC P ammuni t ion isobtained wi th the fastest powderthat provides the desi red veloci t y w i t h t h e m i n i m u m c h a r g eweig h t . Th i s p ro v id es an eco n o m i c a l , c l e a n - b u r n i n g l o a d .Charges approximat ing hardbal lvelocities with 230-gr. FMJ bullets are 4.6 to 5.0 grs . of Bul lseye,Red Dot or 700-X; 5.5 to 6.0 grs.of SR7625 or W 2 3 1 ; or 6.0 to 6.5g r s . o f U n i q u e . T h e r e i s n oa d v a n t a g e t o u s i n g s l o w e r p o w d e r s f o rhardbal l loads, bu t they may be benef icialwi th JHP bul lets to achieve h igher veloci t i es t o en h an ce ex p an s io n an d m ax im izest r ik ing energy . B u l l s e y e a n dUn iq u e u sed to b emy favorite .45 ACPp o wd ers , b u t t o d ay

my preference leanstoward SR7625 andW2 3 1 b ecau se t h eyburn cleaner , meterwel l and seem moref l e x i b l e f o r o t h e rp u rp o ses . B lu e Do tis the s lowest powder I ever use in the.45 ACP. My use of i tis l imited to bulletsover 230 grs. to perm i t r e a s o n a b l ev e l o c i t i e s w i t h i nn o r m a l o p e r a t i n gpressures .I recom mend thatshooters who fire several thousand roundsyear ly cast thei r own bul lets . This savesmoney on components and helps expensivecustom barrels last longer . Most commercially cast bullets lead bores in other thanminimum-dimensioned match barrels , evenwith light loads, because they are too hardand undersized .

Best resu l ts for fu l l -power SWC loadsin the .45 AC P are obtained wi th bul letsc as t o f 1 3 t o l 5 B H N ,su ch a s 1 l b . o fLinotype to 5 lbs . o fwh ee lweig h t s . Th eseshould be sized to notm o r e t h a n . 0 0 0 5 "less than the d iamet e r o f t h e f o r c i n gcone en t rance of thechamber . Note I sayth e chamber throathere, and not grooved i a m e t e r , w h i c h i s

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.035/.045-

.049/.039-

.034/.024-35 7 55-

r.4732/.4672--.4760/. 4700

.4730 REF.

1.190/1.275

- .4530/.4500LEAD BULLET- .4520/.4490JACKETED BULLET

R e l o a d i n g m a n u a l d r a w i n g f o r t h e . 45 A C P r e v e al s c r u c i a l c a s e an d o v e r a l l d i m e n s i o n s n e c e s st o p r o d u c e s a f e , a c c u r a t e h a n d l o a d s fo r t h i s t r i e d - a n d - t r u e , r i m l e s s - d e s i g n a u t o p i s t o l c a r t r i d

a lm o s t m ean in g less i n d e t e rm in in g p ro p er bullet size.Lead b u l l e t s fo r t h e .4 5 au to p i s to ls h o u l d n e v e r e x c e e d . 4 5 3 " d i a m e t e rbecause case bulg ing f rom seat ing oversizebul lets wi l l impair rel iab le funct ion . Whenloading for .45 AC P revolvers , best resu l tsare obtained with bullets sized to fit thecyl inder throats , typ ical ly .454" to . 455" .If you have both revolvers and auto pistolsin .45 AC P and want to use the same am moin all, size to . 453" .Depending upon the speci f ic al loy andthe amount of s izing required , the f inalmost desi rab le bul let d iameter may varyfrom the nominal s ize of your lubr icatordie. It is worth the effort to check severals ized bul lets wi th a mic rom eter to ensu rep ro p er f i t wh en co m p ared to a ch am b ercast of your gun .

Powder charges listed for the FMJ bullets should be initially reduced a full grainwhen loading lead bullets, then increasedcarefully to obtain best accuracy and funct i o n . T h e c h a r g e s l i s t e d must not b e

Table IJacketed Bul letsMid-Range Target Loads1 8 5 - g r . F M J S W C

V e l o c i t y 7 5 0 - 8 5 0 f . p . s . /O A L : 1 . 2 5 "S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )

4.6 5 .3 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 .6 5 . 1 IMR 700 -X5 . 9 6 . 6 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 14 . 9 5 . 4 H o d g d o n H P 3 84 . 7 5. 4 A l l i an t Red Dot6.7 7.3 I M R S R - 4 7 5 68.3 8 .8 Accu ra te A rm s No. 56 . 1 6 .9 A l l i an t Un i qu e5. 9 6 . 7 W i n c h e s t e r 4 7 3 A A

2 0 0 - g r . F M J S W CV e l o c i t y 7 5 0 - 8 5 0 f . p . s . /O A L : 1 . 2 3 "S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )

4.3 5 . 1 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 .0 4 .5 IMR 700 -X5 . 2 5 . 9 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 17. 1 8. 1 H o d g d o n H S - 64. 2 4 . 8 A l l i an t Red Dot6 .2 6 .8 IMR SR-7 6258 .3 8 .9 Accu ra te A rm s No. 55 .6 6 .3 A l l ian t Un i que5 .9 4 .5 W i n c h e s t e r 4 7 3 A A

2 3 0 - g r . F M JV e l o c i t y 7 5 0 - 8 5 0 f . p . s . /O A L : 1 .2 7 "S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )

P o w d e r T y p e4.7 5 .5 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 . 5 5 . 1 IMR 700 -X4 . 9 5 . 7 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 17. 9 8 . 8 H o d g d o n H S - 64 . 7 5. 4 A l l i an t Red Dot5 .5 6 .0 I M R S R - 7 6 2 5a> 9 . 0 A c c u r a t e A r m s N o . 5

6 . 0 6 .9 A l l i an t Un i que5 . 5 6 . 1 H o d g d o n H P 3 8Abbreviations: OAL (overall length), FMJ (full metal-jacketed), SWC (semi-wadcutter)

i n c reased wi th o u t c ro ss -ch eck in g ag a in s tpubl ished data.Roun d-nosed cast bu llets l ike the LymanN o . 45 2 3 7 4 , L e e T L 4 5 2 - 2 3 0 - 2 R a n d R C B S45-230RN feed wel l in as- issued p is to ls ,and g ive good pract ical accuracy . Heavy,flat-nosed conical or SWC bullets l ike theH&G No. 292 are more accurate and generally better than lead round-nosed bulletsfor general use.I f you in tend to buy only one .45 ACPm o l d , I r e c o m m e n d a 20 0 - g r . S W C s u c ha s t h e H & G N o . 6 8 , L e e T L 4 5 2 - 2 0 0 ,R C B S 4 5 - 2 0 0 o r 4 5 - 2 0 1 o r t h e L y m a nN o . 4 5 2 4 6 0 .Fac to ry .4 5 AC P m id ra n g e w ad cu t t e rloads all feature a 185-gr. FMJ SWC at 770

f.p.s. The se loads are intended to provide accuracy combined wi th reduced recoi l t imed and rap id s tages in matches. Thmake f ine smal l -game loads as- is and rely would be no slouch for personal defeas they have about the same energy as Spl . +P rounds.The problem is that not all pistols fethem reliably, and tuning a pistol to wr e l i a b l y w i t h t h e m r e q u i r e s s o m e g usmith ing , whe reas obtain ing funct ional reabili ty is seldom a prob lem w ith full-pow200-gr . SWC s. Factory wadcut ter veloci tare approxim ated w i th 185-gr . jacketed blets by using Bul lseye, Accurate Arms N5 , Hodgdon HP38, Red Dot or 700-X;W 2 3 1 o r S R 7 6 2 5 .

A s a m p l i n g o f . 4 5 A C P p r o p e l l a n t c h o i c e s s u g g e s t s t h a t m o s t b u y e r s w i l l h a v e l i t t l e n e e d t o o u t t o t h e s t o r e f o r p o w d e r b e f o r e r e l o a d i n g f o r t h i s p o p u l a r , w e l l - e s t a b l i s h e d a u t o p i s t o l c a r t r i d

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Table IIJacketed Bul letsFull-Power Loads185gr. FMJ/JHP

Veloci ty 850-950 f .p.s. /OAL: 1.155"S t ar t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e(g rs . ) ( g r s . )5.3 6 . 1 Al l iant Bul lseye5. 1 5 .6 IMR 700 -X6.6 7.4 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 1

8. 9 9 . 8 H o d g d o n HS-65. 4 6.0 Al l iant Red Dot7.3 8 .0 I M R S R - 4 7 5 68. 5 9. 5 Accura te A rms No. 56.9 7 .7 A l l i an t Un i que200-gr. FMJ/JHP

Veloci ty 850-950 f .p.s. /OAL: 1.245"S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e(g rs . ) ( g rs . )

P o w d e r T y p e5. 1 5 .8 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 .5 5 . 1 IMR 700 -X5 .9 6 .7 Wi nch es ter W23 18 . 1 9 . 2 H o d g d o n HS-64.8 5 .4 A l l ian t Red Dot5.6 6 .2 IMR SR-76 258 .9 9 .5 Accura te A rm s No. 56.3 7 .0 A l l i an t Un i que

230-gr. FMJ/JHPVeloci t y 800-900 f .p.s.

S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )4.6 5.2 Al l iant Bul lsey e5 .8 6 .2 IMR SR-76 258 . 1 9 . 1 H o d g d o n HS-66. 6 7 .4 A l l i an t Herco6. 7 7 .5 IMR SR-47 566. 0 6 .8 A l l i an t Un i que5 . 6 6 . 2 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 1

240-gr. J HPVeloc i t y 750-8 50 f .p.s. /OAL 1.185"

S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e(g rs . ) ( g rs . )

P o w d e r T y p e4.6 5 .4 Al l iant Bul lseye4 .7 5 .5 A l l ian t Red Dot5.7 6 .4 A l l i an t Un i que7. 0 7. 8 A c c u r a t e A r m s N o . 56. 1 6 .9 Al l iant Herco

260-gr. JHPVeloci ty 750-850 f .p.s. /OAL 1.185"

S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )5. 8 6 .4 IMR SR-47 565 .8 6 .4 A l l ian t Un i que5. 4 5. 9 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 16 .3 6 .9 A l l i an t Herco

Abbreviations: OAL (overall length), FMJ (full metal-jacketed), SWC (semi-wadcutter)

When using cast lead SWCs. you d o n ' tneed qui te as heavy a ch arg e to r each thesame veloci ty as with a j ack e t ed b u l l e t .Tradi t ional target loads wi th the "b u t to n -nosed " 190-gr . H& G N o. 130 and the s imi lar Lyman No. 452488 bul lets are 4 grs.o f B u l l s e y e , or 4.2 grs. of W 2 3 1 . Thecharges l i s ted above for jack eted wad cut-ters are not m ax im u m wi th cas t SWCs ofcomparable weight , bu t they should be in i t ial ly reduced a half grain and adjustedupward until best functioning and g ro u p in g are o b ta in ed .

Lighter SW C bul lets such as the Lee 45-1SSS WC require heavier charges to operatethe pistol reliably. My experience with suchlight bullets in the .45 ACP is l imited, but Ihave found standard "hardbal l" charges aresafe, function well and give good accuracywith almost any lighter SWC bullet.The most accurate .45 wadcut ter ammunition I ever used was a "m is t ak e" in wh ich185-gr . jacketed wadcu t ters were ass embled

with a full hardball powder charge, producing about 880 f.p.s.In factory acceptance th is par t icu lar lotw as the m o st accu ra t e .45 A C P a m m u n i tion the factory ever tested , but while safeand sat isfactory , it didn ' t meet speci f icat ions, so it was offered to m i l i t a ry t eam s .It was g rea t for 50-yd . s low-f i re , but hadm o re r eco i l t h an co m p et i t o r s l i k ed fort im ed and r ap id .T h e a v a i l a b i l i t y of the 1 8 5 -g r . JHPHornady XTP and Sierra Power-Jacket ho l low-poin ts and the 200-gr . Speer JHP haverevolutionized the field performance of th e

.45 ACP. Early JHP bullets for the .45 ACPdi d not expand reliably in safe loads at thevelocities readily obtained, but that has nowal l changed.I don ' t rec omm end a nyone t ry to approximate the law enforcement +P loads at m o rethan 1100 f.p.s. I don't think their terminaleffect is e n h a n c e d e n o u g h to just i fy theincreased recoi l and r ed u ced p en e t r a t i o ncaused by greater bullet upset.If high-velocity is importan t , handload-ers can safely break the 1000 f.p.s. barrierwith 185-gr. jack eted b ullets using 6.5 grs .of Green Dot , or 10.0 grs. ofAccu ra t e No.5.1 prefer modest, practical loads at around950 f.p.s. that are readi ly assembled usingm y old standbys of 5.2 grs . of Bullseye or6.2 grs. of W 2 3 1 or S R 7 6 2 5 , or 6.8 grs. ofU n i q u e . W h e n s u b s t i t u t i n g the 2 0 0 - g r .Sp eer or cast SWCs, these charges must bereduced 0 .3 gr.Rem in g to n and CCI both offer factory-loaded .45 ACP shotshel ls for o ccas io n a lusers who don ' t want to spend $100 or sof o r the f o r m i n g and l o a d i n g die s e t sf ro m RCBS.In a .45 AC P revolver , you can a ppro ximate .45 Col t bal l i s t ics using 250 to 2 5 5 -g r . Ke i th - s ty l e SWCs at 1.24" overall cart r idge length wi th a c h a r g e of 6 grs. ofU n i q u e or 8.5 grs. of B l u e Dot. T h e s elo ad s are accu ra t e , p ro v id e d eep p en e t r a t ion on g a m e and " r in g " sa t i s fy in g ly onm eta l s i l h o u e t t es .A Ruger conver t ib le Blackhawkwith 4%"barrel and .45 ACP cy l in d er is ab o u t theh a n d i e s t b i g - b o r e r e v o l v e r a r o u n d . TheS& W M1 9 1 7 a l so co m es c lo se , but c a n ' ttake the stout loads that some people feedthe Ruger.

M1911A1 p is to ls that feed o ther SWCsreliably will perform well with these heavy-bullet loads, which produce about 840 f.p.sin the auto pistol. If cont inued use of theseis contem plated , I recomm end the charge bereduced to 8grs . of Blue Dot or 5.5 grs. ofUnique (800 f.p.s.). This reduces the recoilimpulse to approximate "bal l" ammuni t ion .O t h e r w i s e , the i n c r e a s e d r e c o i l can beex p ec t ed to b a t t e r an M 191 1 - type p is to lpretty severely.The .45 ACP offers everything the hand-g u n n er n eed s : ad eq u a te p o wer , ex ce l l en taccuracy, manageable recoil and flexibili ty.An d , in the words of the late Harry Archer,when confronted by athreat, "If you Brassothe top hardball round, the fellow can readily see the bullet pointed athim, and he mayjust drop dead of fright. If he persists, andyou don ' t want to shoot, you can sti l l crawldown the barrel and h ide!" (M

Reprinted from the June, 1993American Rif leman.

Table IIICast/Swage d Lead BulletsMid-Range Target Loads185-gr. SWC

Velo ci ty 750-85 0 f .p.s. /OAL: 1.13"S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )

4 .0 4 .8 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 .1 4 . 7 IMR 7 0 0 - X4 . 2 5 . 0 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 14 .1 5 .0 A l l i an t Red Dot5.2 6 .0 A l l i an t Un i que5 .0 5. 7 IMR S R - 7 6 2 5

200-gr. RN/SWCVelo ci ty 800- 900 f .p.s. /OAL: 1.16"

S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )4 . 6 6.0 Al l iant Bul lsey e4 . 2 5. 1 IMR 700 -X

5. 3 5 . 9 W i n c h e s t e r W 2 3 14 . 5 5 . 1 A l l i an t Red Dot7 .3 8 . 2 H o d g d o n HS-64 .7 5 . 5 W i n c h e s t e r W S L6. 9 7 .5 Accura te A rm s No. 55. 6 6 .2 A l l i an t Un i que

230-gr. RN/SWCVeloc i t y 750- 850 f .p.s. /OAL: 1.23"

S t a r t M a x i m u m P o w d e r T y p e( g r s . ) ( g r s . )

4 . 7 5 . 1 A l l i an t Bu l l seye4 . 3 4 . 7 IMR 7 0 0 - X4 . 5 5 . 1 W i n c h e s t e r W S L4 . 7 5 . 1 A l l i an t Red Dot6 .0 6. 1 IMR S R - 4 7 5 65. 3 5 .9 A l l i an t Un i que6 .2 6 . 8 A c c u r a t e A r m s N o . 57. 0 7 . 8 H o d g d o n HS-6

Abbreviations: OAL (overall length), FMJ (lull metal-jacketed), SWC (semi-wadcutter)

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M A K I N G Y O U R 191Does y o ur M l 9 1 1Here are som e th ican do to m ake itP E R H A P S t h e m o s t c o m m o n M 1 9 1 1owner complain t , next to poor rel iabili ty, is poor accuracy. Many brand-new M l9 1 Is seem to have d if f icu l ty keeping f ive shots on a p ie p late at 25 yds. ,p ro m p t in g th e q u es t i o n , "Wh y d o t a rg e tshooters use the M1911 i f i t ' s so inaccura t e?" The answer to that question is not thatthe M1 911 is inherent ly mo re accurate thanany o ther p is to lit 's no t but that i t i s moreamenable to custom modif icat ion than perhaps any o ther semi-auto handgun.

S e v e r a l q u e s t i o n s m a y n e e d t o b eanswered to fu l ly d iagnose M1911 accuracy problem s. Fi rs t , how m uch accurac y doe sa shooter need? While s tock M l9 1 Is f romr e p u t a b l e m a n u f a c t u r e r s w i l l g e n e r a l l ygroup into 3" to 6" at 25 yds. sufficient forself-defense and casual recreational shootingcustomized p is to ls for target compet i tion will generally better 3" at 50 yds., withs o m e p a r t i c u l a r l y N R A B u l l s e y e - t y p eguns chambered for .38 Spl . wadcut tersgiving 50-yd. groups as small as VA".

Second, i f an M1911 ha s accuracy wo es,is i t the gun or is i t the shooter? The recoilof the .45 ACP , .40 S& W or 10 mm ma yinduce flinching, jerking the trigger or otheraccuracy-dest roying ref lexes in the inexperienced shooter.Third, w hat is the limiting factor preventing good grouping? A distinction must be

l ive u p to its ful l accu racy po tent ialngs tha t yo u and yo ur gunsmi threal ly shoot .

made between intrinsic accuracy and realistic accuracy. Intrinsic accuracy is that level ofperforma nce built into the pistol, demonstrated only under controlled, ideal conditions,such as firing from a Ransom machine rest.Realistic accuracy is that level of perform anceachievable when the human operator is putback into the equation, along w ith the factorsthat may affect his or her performanceprimarily trigger pull and sight picture. This article deals with ways to improve mechanicalaccuracy and trigger quality; sights will be thesubject of a separate article at another t ime .

Though many bel ieve M1911 accuracycan be enhanced merely by installing a new"match-grade" barrel , barrel rep lacement i sactually only one of several pistol modificat ions ensur ing that barrel - to-sl ide lockup,sl ide- to-frame al ignm ent and much more areab so lu t e ly co n s i s t en t sh o t - to -shota consis tency precludedby the manufactur ing to lerancesof most s tock M191 Is .Since the barrel rides in boththe slide and frame, th e first stepin accurizing is usually a slide-

S l i d e - t o - f r am e t i g h t e n i n g u s i n g(c loc k w is e f rom r . ) J -B Bore Pas t ea b r a s i v e c o m p o u n d , d i a l c a l i p e r s ,B r o w n e l l s 1 9 1 1 S l i d e / F r a m e R a i lFi le , s l i de w i t h A lpha Prec i s i on R a i lG a u g e , a s s o r t e d f i l e s a n d s t o n e sa n d B r o w n e l l s 1 9 1 1 S l i d e F i t t i n gB a r s . Guns m i t h has f i t t ed ba r underr i gh t - s i de f ram e ra i l s l o t i n p repara t i o n f o r p e en i n g w i t h h a m m e r ; n o t et h a t i n a c t u a l u s e , f r o n t o f f r a m ew o u l d b e s u p p o r t e d b e f o r e p e e n i n g .

Le f t , l ow er l ugs o f m a t c h ba r re l ( bo t t om ) s hc o n s i s t e n t t h i c k n e s s a r o u n d h o l e , f l a t b o t t(do t t ed l i ne ) and p rop er l y rad ius ed p ro f i l e ( lowar row ) , enab l i ng p rec i s e f i t ; upper s t o c k bas h o w s l e s s - t h a n -o p t i m a l p r o f i l e w i t h v a r y i n g t h i c k n e s s , an g l e d b o t t o m a n d p o o r l y r a d i u sp r o f i l e . A l s o n o t e s h a l l o w l u g r e c e s s ( u pa r row ) o f m a t c h ba r re l . Be low , t oo - l ong l i nk aim proper l ow er l ug p ro f i l e on s t oc k upper bap r e v e n t s l o w e r l u g s f r o m m a k i n g d e s i r e d c o n tw i t h s l i d e s t o p p i n , p e r m i t t i n g p l a y ; l o w e r m abar re l s how s c o r rec t l ug p ro f i l e and l i nk l eng

t o - f r am e t i g h t en in g th a t , wh en p ro p edon e, can result in less than . 00 1" of lateand vertical play. Actua lly, s lide-to-frat igh ten ing should improve both rel iab i land accuracy, for the tight barrel hood n eed ed fo r accu racy wi l l i n t e r f e re wprop er functioning if the slide doe s not trstraight and true each and every shot.To remove lateral and vertical play much as .015" to .020" on some guns) frame rails must be broadened and loweby swaging or peening down the rails in

front and rear, using frame rail slot barhardened pieces of flat steel ground to pcise th icknessesto contro l the amountlowering and widening that is done. Afmilling, grinding or filing the slide rails tconsistent thickness, a bar . 0 0 1 " thicker ththe slide rail is inserted in the ways benethe frame rail area being peened or swagAs the rail is lowered a nd meets the way bthe rail spreads laterally; thus both vertiand lateral play are removed simultaneousBow ed or tapered s l ide rai ls may requsqueezing or expanding , bu t th is require

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H O O T S T R A I G H TBY STA NTON L. WO RML EY, JR.Ass ociate Technical Editorgentle touch and specialized tools to preventdamage to the s l ide.As a last step, the slide and frame are usually lapped together using a fine, slightlyabrasive, non-embedding compound unt i l asmooth, drag-free fit is achieved. Chrome-moly guns can be lapped to a dead-tight fi twi th n o d i scern ib l e p l ay ; s t a in l ess s t ee lM1 91 Is are often left slightly loose to prevent galling.

If the disparity between framerail and slide rail dimensionscannot be remedied by swaging or peening, small "fit t ingpads" can be welded on theupper and outer surfaces of thefour corners of the f rame rai l s .Th ese can th en b e d ressed d o wn an dlapped in the familiar manner.Note that the above description grosslyo v er s im p l i f i es s l i d e - to - f r am e t i g h t en in g .Am ateur s l ide-to-frame t igh ten ing jobs usual ly loosen quickly and may damage the

frame or slide or both; leave such work toan exper ienced p is to lsmith .An alternative to traditional methods ofsl ide- to-frame t igh ten ing is the Acc-U -Rai lS y s t e m d e v e l o p e d b y g u n s m i t h B o bKr ieg er . Ro u n d ed g ro o v es a re p rec i se lymachined lengthwise in the p is to l ' s s l ideand frame rails, into which are fit ted hardened rods a l i t t le over 3" long and about

. 0 7 5 " thick. In use, the slide rides on thehardened rods rather than on the rails. TheAcc-U-Rai l system yields a s l ide- to-framefit fully the equal of what can be obtainedby conventional methods. Extra sets of rodscan be obtained in .001 " s ize increments toallow for wear.

On ce th e s l i d e t r ack s s t r a ig h t o n t h eframe with no wobble, barrel fi t t ing propercan begin . Whi le most speci fy a "matchgrade" barrel for their pet .45, few realizethat it is not primarily bore qua lity or dim ens i o n s t h a t m a k e s u c h b a r r e l s d e s i r a b l e( though many custom barrelmakers opt i mize land, groove and throat dimensions forbest accuracy). Their advantage lies in thefact that they are oversize in crit ical a rea shood, lower lugs and radial lugsand can

T un ing t h e pa r t - t o -pa r t f i t o f 1 9 1 1 -s t y l e p i s t o l s , s uc h as th i s h igh -c a p a c i t y P a r a - O r d n a n c e m o d e l ,c an t i gh t en s ho t - t o -s ho t res u l t s .

be precisely fit tothe slide and frame.B a r r e l f i t t i n g ,l i k e s l i d e - t o - f r a m et i g h t e n i n g , i s a j o bo n l y fo r a n e x p e r i en ced p i s to l sm i th , sothe subt le nuances ofth is process w i l l no t bep r e s e n t e d h e r e . S o m ed i f f e ren ces b e tween f ac to ry an d cu s to m -f i t ted barrels are worth not ing , however .

One of the most crit ical accuracy factorsis the fit of the lower barrel lugs or feet to theslide stop pin, which retains the slide, barreland recoil spring in the frame. In factory g unsthose feet hardly co ntact the slide stop at all ,until they rest against it at fullbarrel lockup; barrel movem entis controlled by the link. Whenthe slide is fully forward, thereis a gap between the bottom ofthe feet and the pin, allowingv er t i ca l b a r re l p l ay (d em o n st rated by pushing the barrelA s e l ec t i o n o f a c c u r a c y b u s h i n g si n c l u d e s ( l . - r . ) : B r i l e y s p h e r i c a lb u s h i n g ; C l a r k an d M G W b u s h i n g s ; K i n g ' s b u s h i n g f o r O f f i c e r s 'A C P - s i z e M l 9 1 1 s ; W C P I b u s h i n gw i t h p re -m ac h i ned re l ie f c u t s ; andC o l t c o l l e t -s t y l e b u s h i n g . A K i n g ' sb u s h i n g w r e n c h i s in f o r e g r o u n d .A t r e a r , a g u n s m i t h i s r e l i e v i n gb o t t o m f r o n t a r e a o f W i l s o n b u s h i n g u s i n g an a b r a s i v e w h e e l .

dow n against thepin) which contributes to vertical dispersion.On match barrels, the oversized feet arefit to contactand ride on thes l i d e s t o p p i n ,allowing no verticalp l a y . O v e r s i z e d f e e trequire the installation of an oversized link,and increase the engagement of the barreland s l ide rad ial lugs. Whi le the l ink s t i l lserves a mechanical purpose, i t no longercontro ls the height of barrel lockup, now

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determined by the engagem ent of the barrelfeet and slide stop pin.Radial lug engagement in stock Ml91 Ismay be as little as .025" to .035". Most custom pistolsmiths try to obtain at least .045"e n g a g e m e n t w i t h a m a t c h b a r r e l ; t h eincreased contact area yields a longer-lastingfit and also keeps the barrel and slidelocked together longer.O v e r s i z e d m a t c hbarrels are also gener- ^ jo u s ly p ro p o r t i o n ed inth e h o o d a rea , ^allowing the gunsmith to use specialized techniques and toolsto create a light-tight fitbetween the hood andthe breechface cut in theslide. This fi t t ing precisely and repeatab lypositions the rear ofthe barrel in the slide,and also el iminatesfore-and-af t barrel p lay("end shake") .

The lowering of the s l ide dur ing thesl ide- to-frame t igh ten ing and the increasein barrel lockup height cau sed by the instal lation of a new link and the fit t ing of theoversized barrel feet usual ly necessi tatesome fit t ing of the top (radial) lugs of thematch barrel. The first lug recess on oversized match barrels is often left some .005"shal lower than the s tandard depth of about. 055" , allowing fit t ing so that the barrel issandwiched between the s l ide lugs at thetop and the s l ide s top p in at i t s bo t tomfee twi th o u t p l ay an d wi th o u t b in d in g .Barrels so fit ted return to the same verticalposition for every shot.Match b ar re l s a re a l so u su a l ly sh o r t -chambered , al lowing precise headspacingafter final hood length is determined. Ramp

ed barrels have the advantage of provid ingboth a single feed ramp (rather than the separate frame ramp and barrel throat of stockM1 911 s) as well as additional cas e head sup port in the feed ramp areaa concern primari ly in guns using h igher-pressure .38Super or 9x21 mm ammuni-

C D C DT o p : D w y er G r o u p G r i p p e r , s h o w i n g s p r i n g - l o a d e dt o n g u e t h a t p u s h e s u p w a r d o n o v e r h a n g i n g s h e l f o fs p e c i a l l i n k ( ar r o w ) , f o r c i n g b a r r e l u p i n t o s l i d e l u g s .B o t t o m : m a t c h b a r r e l l i n k s , s u c h a s t h o s e m a d e b yK i n g s , A l M a r v e l a n d W i l s o n , c o m e i n s e v e r a l s i z e s .

W i l s o n C o m b a t ' sServ i c e Grade C las s i c o f f e rs am a t c h b a r r e l a n d b u s h i n g , t i g h t ened s l i de - t o - f ram e f i t , a n d c u s t o mh a m m e r , s e a r a n d t r i g g e r t oi m p r o v e t h e . 45 ' s i n h e r e n t a c c u r a c y .

t ion that attains the "major" IPSC po we r factor. Some gunmakers offer ramped barrels asa standard feature. Fitt ing such a barrel to astock M1911 involves all the standard barrel fi t t ing techniques, plus majorand irreversib leframe al terat ions.S o m e b a r r e l m a k e r s o f fe r " d r o p i n "match barrels that are slightly larger thanstock barrels in the hood and lower lugdimensions, but will sti l l fi t most M1911swithout gunsmith ing . An increase in accuracy is usually seen when suchbarrels are installed, but rarelythe type of improvement produced by a properly fit ted overs ized barrel . By the way, therifling of good factory barrels isq u i t e c o m p a r a b l e to m a n ym a t c h - g r a d e b a r r e l s . M o s tmatch barrels wi l l shoot 2'A"five-shot group s at 50 yds.; Coltbarrels welded up to oversizedimensions and then proper lyfit ted will typically group into

3" or less.P e r h a p s t h e s i n g l e m o s teffect ive accuracy aidthat can be installed byt h e n o n - g u n s m i t h i s t h e D w y e rGroup Gripper , which consis ts of aspecial recoil spring guide and barrel l ink . A sp r ing- loaded tongu e protrudes from the rear of the Dwyersp r in g g u id e an d p u sh es u p wardagainst a shelf in the special l ink,forcing the barrel up into the slidelugs, el iminat ing p lay and promoting consistent vertical barrel posit ion in g . A test o f th is acces sory(February 1988, p . 48) showed accuracy increases, in one gun with twobrands of ammo, of 23 percent and33 percent .

Precise fit t ing of the barrel hood,feet and radial lugs positions the rearo f t h e b a r r e l . O p t i m a l a c c u r a c y

requires that the front of the barrel be likwise s tab i l ized by a match bushing . Subushings have an oversized outside d iamter, which is reduc ed to fit tightly in the slidand an undersized bore d iameter , that bored ou t to .001 " or less over the mu zzdiameter of the barrel. Note that most aftmarket M1911 5" and 4'A" barrels measu.580" to . 5 8 1 " at the mu zzle , but taper s ligly to around .575" about 3/8" to 1/2" baf ro m th e c ro wn , p rev en t in g th e b u sh ifrom dragging on the barrel after unlockinThe inside of a solid bushing must also relieved slightly at the bottom front and trear, to allow the barrel to swing up inlockup wi thout "spr inging" the bushing .

This rel ief i s no t needed wi th WCPso l id b u sh in g wi th p re -m ach in ed r e lcu ts , nor wi th Bri ley 's spher ical bushinwhich e nci rcles the barrel w i th a TiN- ( t in ium ni t r ide) coated r ing , which is i t scaptured wi th in a housing that al lows i tturn freely.Of f i ce r ' s ACP- ty p e p i s to l s u se sh o

tap ered , l a rg e-d i am ete r b ar re l s r eq u i r ispecial bushings. Oversized tapered barrthat fit closely in the slide elimina te the nefor bushings altogether. This concept is aem p lo y ed in Sch u em an n Hy b r id b ar re

Ex t ended l ow er l ugs o f ram ped ba r re l s requ i re a c hanne l i n t he f ram e, as s how n i n t h i s Pa ra -Ordnanc e f ram e and ba rwh ich feature a ported rib that runs in a larslot machined in the slide.Match barrels , unf i t ted , wi l l normarun from about $ 100 to over $200, with min the $ 130 to $ 150 range. Mo st custo m gusmiths wi l l charge between $350 and $5to tighten the slide-to-frame fit and suppand fit an oversized match barrel and buingall that can be done to achieve mamum mechanical accuracy . Tr igger workusually required, however, to enable a shoer to do his best.

U n d e r n o c i r c u m s t a n c e s s h o u l d n ogunsmiths perform modif icat ions to hamers, sears or d isconnectors . In jury or decould result from a gun that fires uncotrollably or unpredictably as the result "k i tchen tab le gunsmith ing ."

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For maximum safety , al l t r iggerw o r k e v e n s i m p l e p a r t s r e p l a c e ment should ideally be performed bya p is to lsmith . The inveterate do- i t -yoursel fer should l imi t h imself toinstalling one of the drop-in sets availab l e , wh ich ty p i ca l ly co n s i s t o f amatch-grade hammer and sear wi threduced , po l ished engagement surf aces , so m et im es acco m p an ied b yad d i t i o n a l p ar t s su ch as r ed u ced -weight springs. Note that many "dr op-

C los e f i t o f m a t c h ba r re l i n s l i de i s enab led by w ide r ,l onger ba r re l hood (a r row )on un i t m ade fo r t ha t pu rp os e .M a t c h b a r re l hoo d ( I. ) l i es nex t t o s t oc k b a r re l hoo d ( r .) .

L

in" units may still require gunsmith fitting towork properly and safely.

A lightweight, oversized trigger havingaluminum, t i tan ium, magnesium or carbon-fiber components will not only track moreprecisely in the frame, eliminating triggerslop; its low m ass also helps prev ent triggerbounce, which can cause doubl ing on gunswith lightened springs and reduced hammer/sear engagement .

Lightweight parts, such as cutaway hammers and sea rs, as well ast i t a n i u m f i r i n g p i n s ,hammer struts and mainspring caps, contribute tobetter accuracy by redu cing lock time. S uch partsmay also reduce ignitionreliability, however, andare therefore gene ral lyl i m i t e d t o f i n e - t u n e dmatch guns rather thancarry pistols.

T r ig g er q u a l i t y cana l s o b e i m p r o v e d b yr e p l a c i n g t h e r a t h e rheavy 22-lb. stock mainspring with a 19-lb.aftermarket unit , installing oversize pins toreduce hammer and sear wobble; and put t ingin a four-leaf sear spring. Unlike the stockthree-leaf unit , the four-leaf spring has separate leaves for the disconnector and trigger,allowing finer adjustment of spring tension.

Many p is to lsmiths insis t that the Col tSer ies 80 safety system (consis t ing of a

plunger and spring and two levers) prevents alight, crisp pull . These parts are available,however, with a coating of t i tanium nitride andmolybdenum disulfide for reduced friction,allowing safe trigger pulls of less than 3 lbs.

A good M1911 t r igger wi l l have a modest amount of takeup, bu t no percept ib lecreep or over t ravel when i t b reaks. A 4- lb .trigger on a carry or defensive gun is general ly considered opt imal , whi le t r iggers onmatch g uns can be less than half that weig ht.

Trigger work from acustom gunsmith canrun from around $50for a 4-lb. pull withth e f ac to ry h am m e rand sear, to $150 ormore for a 1 'A-\b. trigg e r u s i n g c u s t o maftermarket par ts .

An M1 9 1 1 o wn ershould safety checkany t r igger work do neon h is guneven bya profess ional pisto lsmith. First , with the

magazine out and the p is to l un loaded , lockthe s l ide back . Then , wi thout hold ing thet r igger back , drop the s l ide on an emptychamber . I f there 's no hammer fo l low af tertwo or three tries, the gun passes the test .

The live fire test employs a single l ivero u n d in t h e m a g az in e , fo l l o we d b y anact ion-proving dummy to prevent an acci dental discharge if the gun doubles. Load a

full magazine only after firing10 or so rounds in this mannerwi th o u t ex p er i en c in g h am m erfo l low or doubl ing .

Accu r i z in g an M1 9 1 1 req uires skill , patience, and, often,considerable expense; bu t thethril l of seeing five shots cluster into one ragged hole at 25yds. is, for many, well worth thecos t and effort. Q|R|)

S c h u e m a n n H y b r i d p o r t e d b a r r e li n s t a l l e d o n C o l t C o m m a n d e r s l i d e . S l o t. 3 3 7 " w i d e h a s b e e n m i l l e d i n s l i d e t oa c c o m m o d a t e t h e r a i s e d H y b r i d p o r t r ib .T h e b a r r e l ' s . 6 9 5 " m u z z l e d i a m e t e r f i t sp r e c i s e l y i n s i d e t h e s l i d e , m a k i n g a s e p a r a t e m a t c h b a r r e l b u s h i n g u n n e c e s s a r y .

T o t e s t fo r t h e p r o p e r r e l a t i o n s h i p o f f r a m e , l o w e r l u g s , a n dl i n k , f o r c e b a r r e l d o w n a n d r e a r w a r d i n t h e f r a m e b a r r e l b e da n d i n s e r t t h e s l i d e s t o p p i n t h r o u g h t h e f r a m e a n d l i n k . I ft he ba r re l and l i nk a re p ro per l y f i t t e d , t he p in ro t a t es f ree l y .Reprinted from the

August 1996American Rif leman.

E S T I O K S =Canadian M1911s?

Q l have seen pictures of WorldWar I Canadian soldiersarmed w ith Colt M1911 pistols. A friend told me they were madeby the Ross Rifle Co. In Quebec,Canada. Did the Canadians actuallymake their own Ml91 Is?

AThe M1911 p is to lscar r i ed b y Can ad iant r o o p s i n t h e W o r l dWars were all of U.S. manufacture. The Cana dian-made M1911 sthat you refer to were actually madeby North American Arms Co., Ltd., inQuebec Ci ty , Quebec. North AmericanArms leased the former Ross Rifle Co.plant in Quebec (which had closed in1917) to produce the pistols and is liste d i n J o h n A . B e l t o n ' s Canadian

Gunsmiths from 1608 as being in operation from 1917 -1918. During WorldWar I, the U.S. Ordnance Dept., afterperceiving a deficiency in the production and delivery of pistols, contractedwith three additional firms to produceM 1 9 1 1 s , o n e o f w h i c h w a s N o r t hAmerican Arms. Char les Clawson, inColt .45 Service PistolsModels of1911 andl911Al, cites a July 1, 1918contract for North American Arms tofurnish 500,000 pistols at $15.50 each,at a rate of 2,000 per day. The contractwas suspended on December 4 , 1918,an d n o p i s to l s were ev er d e l iv ered .Tho ugh none of i ts M191 1 s made it tot h e U . S . O r d n a n c e D e p t . , N o r t hAmerican did reach the pre-productionstage and approximately 100 toolroomsam p les an d p ro to ty p es were m ad e .Operat ions may not have ended completely when the contract was can celed,as a pistol, number 46, was submittedfor evaluation to the Canadian ImperialM u n i t i o n s B o a r d i n 1 9 2 0 . N o r t hAm erican Arms p is to ls are consideredto be amon g the rarest variations of themilitary M1 91 Is and are highly soughtafter by collectors.

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Service PistolEVERYBODY WANTS A PISTOL THAT LOOKS LIKE

A GI . 4 5 , AND EVERYBODY ALWAYS HAS.

IT' S m ore than 75 now, old enough to have been retired and drawing Social Security. Its service career has spanne d twice the y earsof all but the oldest of the soldiers w ho hav e carried it. It has b eensworn by and sworn at. Efforts to replace it have only made it lookbetter. It is the U.S . Pistol, Cal. .45, M1 911 A1 the indefatigableColt .45 Autom atic, and today, in 1980 , it is more p opular than ever.Colt .45 Au tos have been copied, both here and abroa d, alm ostsince the first ones were made. The first of the foreign copiers wasNorway. Seeking a su i tab le semi-automat ic p is to l , the Norwegian

military decided on the M1911 as early as 1912. In 1913 and 1914,the Norw egians purchased 300 commercia l .45s from Col t and then ,having estab l ished that no Norwegian product was acceptable, began to negotiate for a l icense to build guns inNorway. Under an agreement s igned in January , 1915,payment of 25 ,000 kroner bought the Norw egians a setof Colt 's drawings and the right to make M1911 pistolsat their Kongsberg Weapons Factory for as long, and inwhatever quantity, they desired.Fo rm al ly ad o p ted as t h e "Co l t Au to m a t i sk P i s to lModel 1912," the first 500 guns are virtual twins of theColt product, differing only in marking. The second productionlot, begun in 1919, carried a different slide ma rkin g 11.2 5m/m Auto . Pis to l M/1914. The M/1914 also features a s l ide

release lever that is distinctly different from those on both Colt aM/1912 Norwegian p is to ls .

The Kongsberg p lan t tu rned out about 20 ,000 M/1914 p is tbetw een 1919 and the ear ly '30 s. The n , mi l i tary dem and sat isfithe l ine shut down. Under German occupat ion dur ing World WII , the product ion of M/1914s was re-s tar ted , and another 10 ,0produ ced . Fol low ing the war , a few M/191 4s were assemb led f rpar ts to br ing the to tal made to just u nder 3 3 ,000 .

Norway was not the only foreign country to use a Col t .45or a hom em ade look al ike. Great Bri tain purcha sed 1 ,500 comercial Col ts , a l l cal iber . 455" , for use in World War I and co

T arge t s hoo t e rs w ere i n t roduc ed t o t he . 45 AC P w hen N R A ru les requ i red i t s us e .T hey hav e s inc e t ak en t he gu n , and i t s .22 o r . 38 and . 45 w adc u t t e r v e rs ions , t o hea r t .

C o l t 's r e - i n t r o d u c e d t h e M o d e l 1 9 1 1 s p o r t i n g a P a r k e r i z e d f i n i s h , 1 9 2 0 su p g r a d e s a n d a m o d e r n , p a s s i v e - f i r i n g -p i n s a f e t y a s t h e S e r i e s 8 0 M 1 9 9 1 A 1 .

t r a d e d fo r a n o t h e r 1 2 , 0 0 0from mil i tary produc t ion , al l bear ing a 'W " prefix on the serial number. A total of 13,510 of the.455s were del ivered to the Bri t i sh between 1915and 1919.Th e Mex ican an d Arg en t in e g o v ern m en t s , t o o ,p laced orders wi th Col t for .45s to equip thei r mi l i tary and pol ice forces. And, l ike the Norwegians, bo thcountr ies bui l t thei r own versions of the M 1 9 1 1 .Mexico decided on the .45 af ter World War I , p lacing orders for bo th M1911s and M1911Als f rom comm erc i a l p ro d u c t io n . Sp ec im en s o f Co l t -m ad e g u n s a rem ark ed "E je rc i t o Me x ican o " an d h av e "C"-p re f ix ed se r i a l n u m b ers . Th e Mex ican g o v ern m en t t h en tu rn ed t eporar i ly to the manufa cture of M1 911 A1 -sty le p is to ls bason paten ts i ssued to Alejan dro Obre gon in 1934. Obregoare rare. Proba bly fewer than 1 ,000 we re produced and mrem ain i n Me x ico . Th e O b reg o n p i s to l was f ea tu red

American Rifleman for May, 1978 (see "The Obregon .Rare & Myster ious Pis to l ," by Richard Brezener , p . 32)Th e Arg en t in es , o n t h e o th er h an d , fo l l o wed No rwalead , purch asing smal l quant i t ies of Col t .45s betwee n 19and about 1925. The se guns are referred to as the Argen tMo del 1916. They bear comm ercia l ser ial numb ers and Argent ine seal s tamped in to the s l ide.

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SURROGATESAfter adoption ofth e M1 9 1 1 A1 in t h eU n i t e d S t a t e s , t h e ^A r g e n t i n e g o v e r n m e n tpurchased that p is to l f romColt as the Mod el 1927. Inthe 1930s, the Argent inessecured l icense to manuf a c t u r e t h e i r o w n . 4 5 s .

T h e s e M o d e l 1 9 2 7 s w e r em ad e b y Fab r i ca Mi l i t a r d eA r m a s P o r t a t il e s " D o m i n g oM a t h e u , " i n R o s a r i o ,A r g e n t i n a . T h e y a r em a r k e d ' F . M . A . P . " o r"D.G.F .M. (F .M.A.P . ) " o n th el e f t s i d e o f t h e s l i d e a n d" E j e r c i t o A r g e n t i n o , S i s t .Co l t , ca l . 1 1 .2 5 m .m .M O D 1 9 2 7 " i n tw olines on the right. AllM o d e l 1 9 2 7 s b e a r th eArgentine seal on the slide.In addition to military product ion , the f i rm of Hispano Argent inoFab r ica d e Au to m o v i l es . SA (HAFD ASA ) , m an u fac tu red anunl icensed copy of the Col t known as the "Bal l i s ter-Mol ina."Most features of the HAFDASA gun are taken d i rect ly f romthe Colt produc t. Th e trigger and trigger l inkage differ, how ever, in that the trigger pivots, and the trigger extension isex ternal . Both the Model 1927 and HAFDASA .45s areextremely wel l -made p is to ls .

The 1920s and '30s also saw Spanish copies of theM1 9 11 A1 p ro d u ced in so m e q u an t i t i es . Th ere wereu n d o u b t e d l y o t h e r s , b u t t h e c h i e f c o p i e r s w e r eGabi londo and Star (Bonifacio Echevarr ia) . S tar jo inedthe act f i rs t wi th thei r Modelo Mil i tar p is to ls of 1920, '21 , and' 2 2 . Of these, the Model 1922 is the best known. I t was adoptedby the Spanish armed forces and the Guard ia Civ i l and was madefor export as wel l . The 1922 Mil i tary Model was made not on lyin .45 AC P but also in 9 mm B ergm ann- Bay ard , 9 mm Parab el lum ,and .38 ACP.

Star pistols resemble Colt externally, but have trigger mechanisms and extractors that differ from the guns they emulate. Startriggers pivot instead of sliding back and forth, and the sear bar anddisconnector are external. Star extractors are also external and arepinned in place.Gab ilondo entered the .45 market in the early 1930s in an atte mptto capture some of Star ' s sales . Under the t rade name "Tauler ,"

by J.B.Roberts, Jr.

Look a l i k es f o r t he s e rv i c e gun h av e beenpopu la r s i nc e t he f i r s t G l ho l s t e red a 1911 .Spr i ng f ie ld , Inc .' s 1911A1 i s one o f t he bes t .

G a b i l o n d o m a d e l o c k e d - b r e e c h , f u l l- s i z eM1911A1 copies in both 9mm Bergmann-Bayard and

.38 AC P cal ibers . Subsequently , under the "Llam a" t rade-f mark, Gabi londo in t roduced miniature b lowback-operat -

ed .45 copies in .22 LR , .32 ACP, and .38 0, and full-sizedlocked-breech guns in .38 ACP and .45 ACP. The Llama

guns were imported by Stoeger and Import Sports for U.S.sales. Unlike Star pistols, locked-breech Llamas are to all

intents and purposes part for part copies of the Colt .45 Automatic.The Col t has also been copied by less wel l -organized foreign

en te rp r i ses . Th ere a re n u m ero u s ex am p les o f .4 5 co p ies m ad e inOrien tal workshops, bo th large and smal l . The qual i ty of theselat ter guns is alm ost un iform ly less than good . Al l , however , seemto be serv iceable, and some, l ike the Vietnamese copy i l lust rat ed , a r e d o wn r ig h t wel l -m ad e .

There are two more groups of .45 au to lookal ikes in need ofm en t io n U.S . m i l i t a ry co n t rac t p ro d u c t io n an d c iv i l i an p ro d u ct ion for spor t and target shoote rs . Thr ough seven decad es, de man dfor M1911 and M1911A1 p is to ls has general ly been more thanCol t could meet .

When we entered the Great War, the U.S. government had purchased some 140,000 M1911 pistols from both Colt and SpringfieldArmory . The Armory tooled up in 1913 to make M191 Is and helpf i l l in i t ial o rders . Al together some 31 ,000 M1911s were bui l t a tSpringfield prior to U.S. entry into World War I. To meet wartimerequirements , they made 45 ,000 more, al l in 1918.

To meet the needs of our expanding armed forces, 1917 plannersestimated that a total of 765,000 pistols would be required. The estimate was later revised upw ard, first to 1.3 million then to 2.7 million.

Fi l l ing the pro jected needs meant that p is to ls would have to bemad e by contractors o ther than Col t . Thus orders w ere p laced w i thRem in g to n -UMC, Win ch es t e r , Bu r ro u g h s Ad d in g Mach in e Co . ,Lanston Monotype Machine Co. , Nat ional Cash Register Co. , A.J .Savage Mun i t ions Co. , Savage Arms Co. , and two Cana dian f irms,Caron Brothers Mfg. Co. , and North American Arms Co. , Ltd . Ofthose f irms, on ly Rem ingto n-U M C del ivered any meaningfu l qua nt i ty (22 ,000 of 150 ,000 ordered) . North American d id make somepistols, but the total was probably less than 100.

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World War I I was a rep lay of the s i tuat ion in 1917, bu t worse.Co l t . 4 5 s were i n d em an d , n o t o n ly by th e U.S . Arm ed Fo rces ,but also by the mi l i tary estab l ishments of our major al l ies . Again ,contractors o ther than Col t p rovided the balance of the 2 .5 mi l l ion .45s ma de dur ing 1941 to 1945. In al l , four contrac tors adde dth e i r sh are t o Co l t ' s 4 8 0 ,0 0 0 -p i s to l co n t r ib u t io n . Rem in g to n -Rand produced 1 .03 mil l ion . I thaca turned out 370 ,000. UnionSwitch and Signal Co. of Swissvale, Pa. , received and f i l led ano rd er fo r 5 5 ,0 0 0 M1 9 1 lA l s . An d S in g er Sewin g M ach in e co n t racted to provide 500 1911 Al p i s to l swh ich i t d id .Since 1945, Colt , and lately others, have kept busy supplying the

growing civ i l ian demand for guns that look l ike "the Army .4Target shooters who once shot the smal lbore and center-fi re s tawi th revolvers are turn ing more and mo re to r imfi re conv ersionsthe M191 1 frame and ei th er . 3 8 Special o r .45 AC P wadcut ter gfor center-fire matches. In response to an Army search for a l ighsidearm, Col t devised the al loy-frame 4^"-barrel Commander , navailab le in 9 mm Pa rabe llum , .38 Super an d .45 ACP . It later intd u ced an a l l - s t ee l Co m b at Co m m an d er , t h e Defen d er an d Concealed Carry Off icer 's model .In 1970, Col t came for th wi th the only real improvement

th e M1 9 1 1 s in ce t h e g u n was d es ig n ed . Th e co l l e t - t y p e b ar

The ".45s" show n h ere are a l l surrog ates. None othem was actual ly made by Col t . Pic tured wi th thf lags of the n at ions they s erved, they are:1. A U.S. Spr ing f ie ld Arm ory M19112. A l icense-bui l t Argent ine Modelo 19273. A post-war Spanish Star 9 m m Modelo Super4. A Spanish L lama Model IXA made s ince 1957

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bushing of the Mk IV/Ser ies 70 l icks the ch ief complain t concern ing the .45 , i t s lack of accuracy w i thout spe cial tun ing . Forth e t a rg e t sh o o te r Co l t m ak es t h e Go ld Cu p Nat io n a l Match i th as m ad e t a rg e t -g rad e M1911A1 - s ty le g u n s s in ce 1 9 3 3 w i th t h eSer ies 70 co l let bushing .I f Col t d idn ' t s top making .45s af ter World War I I , nei ther d idi ts com pet i t ion . Star ma de Mil i tary Mo dels unt i l 1945 (exce ptdur ing the Spanish Civ i l War) and then in t roduced i t s B-ser iesg u n s . It a lso so ld t h e BK, B KS , an d BK M , a l l sca l ed -d o w n v er s ions of the .45 , and the PD , a cu t -d ow n .45 that i sn ' t real ly a

l o o k a l i k e . L l a m a r e m a i n e d i n t h e g a m e , t o o . W i t h e x t e r i o r

5. A Vietnamese copy of the M1911A16. Norw ay's l icense-bui l t M/19147. An Argent ine Bal l is ter-Mol ina8 . A 9 mm Star "M i l i t ary " mode l9. A pre-1957 Llama .38 Super Model VIII10. AU. S . I t h a c a M 1 9 1 1 A1

Gu n s c o u r te sy o f NRA a n d U .S . T re a su ry De p t .

c h a n g e s t o m e e t i m p o r t r e q u i r e m e n t s u n d e r t h e 1 9 6 8 G u nContro l Act , Llama so ld the fu l l l ine of miniature and fu l l -s ize.4 5 twin s . F in a l ly , Am er i can f irm s AMT , Au to -Ord n an c e , M -SSafar i Arm s , Sp r in g f i e ld Arm o ry an d Veg a , b u i ld M1 9 1 1 co p ies .What does al l th is mean? I t means two th ings. Fi rs t , the .45Automat ic, desp i te i t s age, i s nowhere near ready to ret i re . Justt h e o p p o s i t e i s t ru eto d ay ' s d em an d i s g rea t e r t h an ev er . An d ,seco nd, i t me ans that those who "just go t ta have an Arm y .45 "can get one, even i f i t ' s a surro gate . C|R|)

Reprinted from the March 1980 Am er ican Ri f l em an .

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TRIALSO F T H E

i 1 HO SE w ho th ink the recent "sele ct ion" of a 9 mm do uble-act ion p is to la s A m e r i c a ' s o f fi c ia l P e r s o n a lDefen se Weap o n was a r r i v ed a t h as t i l yshould consider the following:The U.S . Gove rnment f irs t tes ted a 9 mmsemi-auto (Luger) in 1903 and a double-action semi-auto (Knoble) in 1908. It hasbeen "test ing" ever s ince.It all started in 1901 when 1,000 .30-cal.(7.65 mm) Lugers were purchased and allocated to troops for testing. Reports from troopcommanders trickled in, but weren't good.They felt the small projectiles lacked "stopping power," as did bullets of the .30-cal.Mannlicher and Mauser pistols, which alsohad been briefly tested.The bias in favor of larger pistol project i l es cam e f ro m th e o n g o in g Ph i l i p p in eInsurrect ion wh ere the recent ly adopted and

u n d e r p o w e r e d . 3 8 C o l t d o u b l e - a c t i o nrevolver (in .38 Long Colt) failed to "give agood account of i t sel f against the Moros,thus prompting a recall to duty of the .45Single Act ion Army revolver . I t should benoted, however, that the .30-40 Krag rifled idn ' t a lways "stop " a drugged and/or fanat ic Moro , ei ther.In Apri l , 1903, the Army propo sed t rad

ing 50 of i ts test Lugers to Deu tsch e Waffenund Muni t ionsfabr iken (DW M) for 50 "b ig-ger- is-bet ter" 9 mms. Georg Luger h imselfb ro u g h t sam p le 9 m m s o f sev era l b a r re llengths to the United States the followingmonth , and the test ing proceeded .In 1904, the Army estab l ished a boardconsis t ing of Col . Louis LaGarde, MedicalCorps, and Col . John Thompson, OrdnanceDepartment, to look into the caliber matter.As r ep o r t ed i n Co l . LaGard e ' s "Gu n sh o t

Injuries" of 1914, the board shot a numb erdifferent cartridges , including the two Lugeseveral .38s, several .45s and even some.476 cal. The boa rd shot into 10 cadavers,beeves and two horses and decided that best cartridge for "stopping power" was big .476 cal. at a moderate 729 f.p.s., wsmaller sizes less effective, and recommeed the .45 cal. as the minimum. But all Luger bullets tested w ere jacketed , and all revolver bullets were of unjacketed soft lthat were soon to be considered unacceptafor military use. Despite this anomaly, Army went back to the .45 Colt cartridgethe Colt Double Action Frontier mod el, a rejector, for use by the Philippine c onstabulaand, in the Mode l 1909, issued it as a militversion of the Colt New Service .45.

The Col t .45 revolvers were, howevin t e r im so lu t io n s o n ly . Th e Arm y reawanted a se mi-autom at ic. Except for i ts cal . , the Army l iked the Model 1900 Csemi-auto used in the 1904 tests.In 1907, the Army requested more pistand revolvers for testing, but all were inteed to u se t h e sam e g o v ern m en t - su p p lammunition, differing only in their rimmor rimless treatments, with 230-gr., .45 cfull-jacketed bullets traveling at about 8f.p.s. The speedy 9 mm was temporarily fgotten in the post-Moro environment.C o l t a n d S & W p r o v i d e d r e v o l v eS e r v i c e m e d a l s b e s t o w e d o n A m e r i c a n v ea n s o f t h e f o u r m a j o r 2 0 t h c e n t u r y c o n f l i c t sw h i c h M 1 9 1 1 p i s t o l s a l s o s e r v e d r e c a l l (I . t oW o r l d W a r I , W o r l d W a r I I, K o r e a a n d V i e t n a

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An honored veteran for four gene rations, the U.S.Model 1911 has survived major wars and numerousengagem ents. Th roughou t its service, the pistol hasbeen tested and re-tested away from the battlefields.By Col. Jim Crossman

DWM sent in a .45 Luger and o ther .45sem i -au to s a r r i v ed f ro m Sav ag e , Wh i t e -Mer r i l l an d Berg m an n . Th ere a l so cam etwo versions f rom Knoble (one was a doub l e - a c t i o n ) , a W e b l e y - F o s b e r y a u t o -

to t h e p resen t t im e wi th essen t i a l l y n ochange. In commercial form, the gun hasalso been chambered for the .38 Super cart r idge, the 9 mm Luger (and o ther metr iccalibers for export), and the .22 Long Rifle(p lus conversion k i ts) . This gun has beenextensively used by civ i l ian , po l ice and mil i t a ry , s h o r t e n e d , le n g t h e n e d , l i g h t e n e d ,heavied , accur ized , o therwise gunsmithed

T h e o r ig i n a l J o h n B r o w n i n g - d e s i g n e dA u t o m a t i c P i s t o l , C a l i b e r . 4 5 , M 1 9 1 1( a b o v e ) a l o n g w i t h i t s r e v i s i o n , t h eM 1 9 1 1 A 1 ( b e l o w ) , p r o v e d s t e a d f a s tt h r o u g h f o u r w a r s a n d r e m a i n e d t h e o f f i c ia l s idearm of U. S. forc es for 74 years .r e v o l v e r a n d ,l a s t b u t n o tleast , the Model

1905 Colt.T h e M o d e l1 9 0 5 .4 5 Mi l i t a ryA u t o m a t i c P i s t o lused in the tests wassimi lar in appearanceto and generally based on John Browning'sModel 1900.38 automatic. It was soon to betested in the improved Models 1907, 1909and 1910.It was ap parent that the Colt had the edg eover i ts closest competitor, the Savage.F in a l t es t s were co n d u c ted in March ,

1911, between the Savage and the Colt. TheSavage had some malfunct ions and broke afew par ts , bu t the Col t went through the6,000-round test without a malfunction.Th i s g u n , ch am b ered fo r Bro w n in g ' soriginal cal. .45 Colt Auto cartridge, wasadopted as the standard U.S. service pistol,the Model 1911. Around 1924, the gun wasmodified by the addition of a longer spu r onthe grip safety, an arched mainspring housing and by cutting away a portion of thereceiver just back of the trigger. This, then,became the U.S. Pis to l , Autom at ic, Cal iber.45 M1911A1, wh ich has se rved faithfully up

the automa tic pistol; but none of our officersrealized, until the supreme test came, whatan effective w eapon the pistol would be in thehand-to-hand fighting of the trenches .. . .Inthe hands of a determined A merica n so ld ier ,the pistol proved to be a weapon of greatexecution, and it was properly feared by theGerm an t ro o p s ."O nly a few men of each infantry regiment carr ied p is to ls when our t roops f i rs twent in to the t renches. But in almost thef i r s t s k i r m i s h , t h i s w e a p o n p r o v e d i t ssu p er io r u se fu ln e ss i n t r en ch f i g h t in g , "C r o w e l l c o n t i n u e d ."By mid sum me r of 1917, the decis ionhad been made to supply to the infantry amuch more ex tensive equipment of au tomat ic p is to ls than had previously been prescr ibed by the regulat ionsto bui ld

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