By Bob Campbell

Load Development

loaddata.com

Colt’s Black Army 1911

1 LOAD DEVELOPMENT • January 2014

The Black Army is simply a late production World War I Colt. The army ordered

hundreds of thousands of 1911 .45s during World War I. The Black Army was the result of a finish-ing process that was used for speed and economy. The finish is darker than the highly polished blue steel Colts originally delivered. When all contracts were canceled after 1918, the Black Army became something of a rarity.

A few years ago Colt brought out a World War I pistol that was basi-cally a 1911 with period markings. The new pistol is similar save for the finish. The dark finish is meant to mock the original Black Army. I am not certain, but the pistol may be called a “reproduction.” There is an argument that the Black Army is simply a continuation of produc-tion as it has been reintroduced by the same company. The Black Army isn’t a true line-by-line copy, but it is close enough. The markings are not exactly in the same place as the

original, but they are in the spirit of the original.

Colt’s approach wasn’t to retool for a true 1911– all modern 1911s are actually 1911A1 pistols. Colt cut down one of these, deleting features and adding the proper roll makings. The slide window is of the original small size rather than the lowered ejection port common today. There are no finger relief grooves in the frame. These relief grooves are among the features of the 1911A1 that were adopted about 1927. Those with average to short fingers would sometimes drag the trigger finger on the frame. This resulted in less than ideal trigger control, inconsistent trigger compression and misses. But if you are going to do a Black Army, it must be a 1911 not a 1911A1.

The long trigger and flat main-spring are straight up 1911. The arched mainspring and short trigger

once popular is seen only on the Springfield GI these days. The rea-son is simple: It is difficult to get a proper fit with a modern beavertail grip safety if you use the short trig-ger and arched mainspring housing. All modern 1911s are 1911A1 pis-tols, although we call them 1911s. The Black Army has a period look down to the double-diamond grips. The double diamond was designed to offer an advantage in strength and anchoring. The Black Army’s

Very similar pistols produced over 90 years apart: Colt’s Black Army (top) and an 1898 Colt. Both the original and the Black Army feature small slide windows.

Both Colts are very similar as far as hammer checkering and other details are concerned. The Black Army (right) features a U-notch rear sight.

The rampant Colt is marked on the Black Army slide.

sights are very near to the original, with a U notch in the rear sight.

The Black Army is close to the original, but I do not think it will fool anyone now or a decade from now. The serial number has WWI as a suffix. The primary difference in the original and this pistol is in heat treating. The original was only spot heat-treated in the locking lugs and around the muzzle. Naturally, the modern version is far better suited to heavy use than the nicest original you could find.

The Black Army has several good features of the type that you have to know what to look for. No, the pis-tol does not sport a gas pedal-sized slide lock safety or a whopping cat grip safety. The fit and finish are ex-cellent. The slide rides on the frame smoothly with no trace of hesita-tion or drag. Trigger compression is truly surprising. While late-model Colt 1911s often feature good trig-gers, this one breaks smoothly at 3.5 pounds. There is no trace of creep or backlash. Barrel fit is excep-tional. The barrel springs back when pressed into the locking lugs and the link is in perfect relation to the slide

stop. There is no marring of the lower lugs after considerable firing. A Colt Gold Cup Trophy was on hand for comparison, which offers no advantage over the Black Army in fitting.

The Black Army is delivered in a nice Colt royal blue box. The pistol is housed in tin that looks original, along with a reproduction of a pe-riod instruction manual and a spare magazine, wrapped in wax paper. This is a pistol that is a faithful re-production of a handgun delivered from a time when the goose hung high and Colt ruled the roost in Gun Valley.

A 1918 Colt was obtained for comparison. The finish is mostly gone from the older Colt, but I have fired it often and it’s in good mechanical shape. Even the recoil spring seems original. The bore is in fine shape. Just the same, before comparing the two, I replaced the firing pin spring and recoil spring

with W.C. Wolff premium gun springs, wishing to err on the side of caution. In testing trigger com-pression with an RCBS trigger pull gauge, the 1918 Colt’s trigger broke at exactly 7.0 pounds. This is a tad heavy even for these guns, but it seemed smooth enough. The original magazine is still functional, but during testing a good supply of Metalform and Novak magazines were used, trusting these magazines for performance.

January 2014 • LOAD DEVELOPMENT 2loaddata.com

The Black Army fieldstrips in the time-proven 1911 fashion. A good hand can break down the pistol in a few seconds.

The original Colt shows much wear, but it is even.

Markings of the Black Army are period authentic but not perfect. Note the WWI suffix in the serial number.

loaddata.com3 LOAD DEVELOPMENT • January 2014

The 1911 relies on a controlled feed action. During every step of the feed process, the cartridge case is controlled. The case is inserted in the magazine and held in place by spring action against the follower, which butts the cartridge into the feed lips. When the pistol is cocked, or during firing, the cocking block on the bottom of the slide runs for-ward, catching the protruding edge of the case rim and feeding a round. As the cartridge is moved forward, the nose catches momentarily on the feed ramp. It is essential that the feed ramp has a 1/32-inch gap be-tween the two surfaces on the frame and the barrel. The bullet nose stops for a fraction of a second, and this snugs the cartridge case rim into the extractor and against the breech face. The bullet nose then travels into the chamber, all the time held fast by the extractor.

Choosing a load for compari-son purposes wouldn’t be difficult, but since this is a period piece and a reproduction of the same, be-ginning loads that are true to the original were chosen. The Oregon Trail 200-grain SWC bullet is a reasonable rendition of the im-mensely popular Hensley & Gibbs No. 68. Most of the loads on hand were loaded for competition and all-around use, and they averaged from 850 to well over 1,000 fps – no powder puff loads. I have always held that load density is an aid in ac-

curacy, and some of these loads were close to 90 percent load density. It isn’t difficult to work up a suitable load with this bullet. Winchester 231, HP-38, Bullseye and Unique all are good powder choices. I have come to favor W-231 for most ap-plications involving the .45 ACP, and these loads did not let me down. Unique has traditionally been used for heavier loads, and this clas-sic powder also gave good results.

A handful of hardball duplica-tion loads with the Oregon Trail 230-grain roundnose lead (RNL) were also used. I realize that a ser-vice pistol begs for a service dupli-cation load, but I am infatuated with the 200-grain bullet and its stellar results. Economical Oregon Trail 180-grain SWCs were also used. Jacketed bullets included the Nosler 185-grain JHP, the Hor-nady 185-grain XTP, the Speer

This is a period reproduction of an original drawing of the Colt 1911.

Gold Dot 200-grain JHP and a handful of Hornady 230-grain FMJ bullets. I can’t say I started from scratch, as several loads were already made up, but I did experi-ment to an extent and discovered some interesting things concerning these two handguns.

The modern Colt was expected to be more accurate, and it was; but there is more to the story. The original trigger wasn’t heavy sim-ply because Colt didn’t know how to supply a light trigger. Perhaps the heavier trigger was considered appropriate for service use. During early testing the pistols were drawn and fired from modern leather gear, primarily Ward Leather Company and CC (Carl Collins) Holsters. Both of the pistols are pure 1911, very fast into action. When firing at man-sized targets at 7 yards, the original pistol was at no disadvan-tage. All who fired this pistol found the trigger and pistol very control-lable. Fire, reset, fire, the trigger resets. The cadence of fire is set not by how quickly you are able to press the trigger but by how quickly you are able to control the pistol in recoil and drag the front sight back into the rear notch. The 1918 trig-ger is ideal for close-range combat. Some less-experienced shooters clutched the Black Army’s light trig-ger, and one doubled a shot when he did not mean to. For target work the lighter trigger is desirable. For all-around service work, the original

January 2014 • LOAD DEVELOPMENT 4loaddata.com

1918 is right on the money. There were no failures to feed, chamber, fire or eject during the initial short-range test.

When firing offhand at 25 to 50 yards, the Black Army had the advantage. Firing offhand at targets at known and unknown ranges teaches us more about marksman-ship than target shooting. Marks-manship is not firing small groups but hitting a target on demand. Original specifications called for the Colt 1911 to group five shots into 5.0 inches at 25 yards and 10.0 inches at 50 yards. The pistols were sighted for a 6 o’clock hold at 25 yards giving a doughboy a good chance of connecting at 50 yards. An experienced shooter can hit a man-sized target with the 1918 Colt. The Black Army demanded less effort for the same shot. While we appreciated the nice fit and fin-ish of the Black Army, all who fired the Colt 1918 were impressed by the hoary old gun.

After the initial fun shooting – and it was a ball! – we settled down for benchrest shooting. Off the bench the pistols gave good results. The heavy but smooth trigger of the Colt 1918 was less of an advan-tage off the benchrest, but the pistol turned in good results. I could not help but wonder how well this pistol shot when new. While the wear is not eccentric, this pistol has seen better days. The best five-shot group of the day was 4.0 inches, while the average was larger, with most groups settling just inside 5.0 inches.

The Black Army was exceptional. The sights were not limiting, and the trigger was ideal. Colt may not have felt that many shooters would fire this collectible pistol, but the company has produced a shooter.

The Colt Black Army prefers one load to another, but with the loads it likes this pistol is brilliantly accurate. After securing several

groups of less than 3.0 inches from the bench, I decided to try again another day with proven accuracy loads. There is no reason not to use good jacketed hollowpoints or even +P loads; this is a fine modern Colt every bit as suitable for use as the Colt XSE and just as suitable for personal defense use.

Oddly, when firing either of the Colts, I had no problem with the long trigger and lack of finger relief cuts. I am very aware of trigger position and would have noticed any discomfort. When I returned to the range, the Colt 1918 was left at home. There was little point in experimenting with modern loads, and I certainly am not going to stress this handgun. The Black Army, however, was another matter. After shooting it off the bench with a number of handloads, I can state that this pistol is as accurate as prac-tically any of the tactical 1911s now offered, and if a pistol that fought in the Great War isn’t tactical, what is? I secured one brilliant 1.9-inch, five-shot group and many more less than 3.0 inches. The Black Army is good enough to ride with; so was the first Colt.

While modern pistols like the Springfield (top) feature night sights and light rails, the pure 1911 is a trench fighter without peer.

The true 1911A1 configuration (left) is a rare bird these days. The flat mainspring housing (right) is easier to use with a beavertail safety.