Today for Gus’ Gear, I have the iconic Colt Model 1911 pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. At the turn of the century, the United States Military wanted to investigate adopting an auto loading pistol to replace the various revolvers that were in service. Browning had designed the 1905 pistol, chambered for a cartridge designed by Capt. John T. Thompson and Maj. Louis LaGarde to replace the less effective .38 Colt Long cartridges in use. During the 1907 trials, the three main competitors; the Parabellum, M1906 Savage and M1905 Colt all chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge had problems. In 1911 another test was done between the new M1911 Colt and the M1910 Savage. Both pistols fired 6,000 rounds. The Savage suffered 37 misfires or jams while the Colt had none. The Colt was more accurate and easier to disassemble for cleaning. The board unanimously chose the Colt M1911 and ordered 30,000 pistols.
The Colt Model 1911 is a robust handgun designed by John Browning, the magazine holds 7 rounds of .45 ACP cartridges. The magazine can be removed by pressing the round button on the left of the pistol, just behind the trigger, the release is positive and the magazine will drop out, allowing a replacement to be quickly inserted. The slide will remain open after the last round is fired and after re-inserting a loaded magazine, the hold open lever just above the trigger can be pressed down with the thumb of the right hand to close the slide and the pistol is ready to fire. The safety is just below the hammer and can also be manipulated with the thumb without having to shift the grip of the shooting hand. There is a grip safety on the back of the gri[p that must be depressed to fire the pistol.
The left side of the slide has the patent dates, the Rampant Colt trademark and address. The frame is marked United States Property just below the patent dates.
The leather holster is the standard issue holster designed for the M1911 pistol, the canvas magazine pouch holds two spare magazines for quick reloading. The cartridges were issued in boxes of 20 rounds.
The right side of the pistol is marked on the slide Model of 1911. U.S. Army with the serial number on the frame above the trigger. The magazine pouch slides on the M1910 pistol belt and is held in place with the snap in the center of the belt loop, the holster attaches to small gromets along the bottom of the M1910 belt by the brass wire hooks. There is also a provision to mount the leather holster on a smaller belt through the two slots in the back of the leather hanger.
Disassembly of the M1911 pistol is quick and easy, first it is important to remove the magazine and clear the chamber to make sure the weapon is not loaded. Then the recoil spring plug just below the muzzle must be depressed, then the barrel bushing needs to be rotated to the left. The spring can be withdrawn from the pistol and then the bushing can be pulled off the end of the barrel. At this point, the slide can be moved backward so that the small notch in the slide (just behind the holdback notch) is aligned with the end of the slide stop. The slide stop can then be pushed out to the left, there is enough protrusion on the right side of the frame to move the slide stop out enough that it is easy to grasp it from the left to fully remove. The slide stop also functions as the lower barrel link pin. Now it is possible to remove the slide off the front of the frame. The recoil spring guide can be removed allowing the barrel to move forward out the end of the slide. There is no need to disassemble the pistol any further for cleaning and maintenance. Reassembly is a reverse process, with the insertion of the slide stop. The cross pin of the slide stop must be inserted through the barrel link. As long as the barrel is fully back against the face of the slide, it will fall into place. One thing to note, keep control of the recoil spring plug, if you slip, you get to chase it across the room