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As humans, we measure our accomplishments in eras by creating symbolic plateaus in our textbooks that signify a radical change in the way we think and manufacture, how we sketch, how we write, how we put forth our ideas to the world. We currently live in an era of radical computer technology; radical compared what it has become in such a short time. In only the past thirty to forty years have we seen such an advanced piece of technology like the personal computer the size of an small engine block evolve into something so small that it can fit into our pockets and yet still process information at speeds that would leave those computers of our parents lost in their own feeble ways. We are currently on that plateau of computer technology where, even though the technology improves day by day, we will remain until a thought or idea comes along that completely changes everything we knew about computers beforehand. Such a thought or even physical replacement may be so radical that it will be discarded by many and praised by few, but if there are those who are willing to stand behind it, it may ultimately end up changing the world. What could that idea or object possibly be? What will change? No one will ever know until that change occurs and we may only be able to predict such changes by looking at Technology that has withstood the test of time and the Eras that birthed them.
One such monumental change was the conception of Smokeless Powder in the later half of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, black powder began to slowly phase out as cap and ball revolvers and muzzle loading rifles were slowly being replaced by cartridge fed weapons that contained a new form of sunpowder. After centuries of using those single shot, muzzle loading black powder rifles, the use of smokeless powder changed firearm technology and with it, the battlefield. With the increased pressure buildup of smokeless powder, rifle bullets could be smaller and traveled faster and be just as if not more deadly than their black powder counterparts. The rate of fire increased when Repeaters and Autoloaders were put in the hands of soldiers; a skilled marksman took one minute to shoot three rounds from a muzzle loaded and be accurate and with the advent of repeaters, one could triple their rate of fire. This was that radical change. The Era of Smokeless Power had begun. From it, all of the firearms we know today are all based on that same concept; having a weapon that is chambered for a cartridge that can be shot accurately, with minimal corrosion to the bore and being of the highest accuracy without the distracting white smoke that poured from the firearm when cartridge was discharged.
During the post Civil War years from the 1870s to the very early 1900s, the firearm industry quite literally exploded with hundreds of new designs that all challenged the way people thought of firearms day to day. Every year the designs got better, the actions got slicker, the cartridges were being refined. It was during these years that companies like Marlin and Winchester perfected their lever action designs and soon they would be in the hands of millions. The United States Military Adopted the 30-40 Krag rifle, and not too soon after the 1903 Springfield, first chambered for 30-03 and then in 1906, the cartridge was redesigned and it became the still today widely popular 30 Caliber of 1906, or 30-06. But old designs like the 1903 Springfield rifle, the 30-40 Krag, and the Trapdoor Springfield Rifle chambered for the hard hitting 45-70, all eventually became phased out. Older Winchester designs were replaced by newer, slicker and more lightweight designs like the Model 94. Some modern firearms have evolved in one form or another from older designs, like the M14 was born from the M1 Garand rifle, how the Mauser M98 inspired the design of the Winchester Model 70 and dozens of other successful bolt action rifles of today. While few firearm designs have withstood the test of time, sadly, others were lost to a changing world. Some firearms were either too expensive to produce or not popular among customer builders or the general populous, while a select few flourished.
A shining example of this marvel happened to be the child by demand of the United States Army when they held a competition to adopt a new service pistol to replace the 38 caliber Colt revolver that was, at the time, the standard issue sidearm. The Colt 38 performed terribly and there were hundreds of reports of the underpowered cartridge’s failure to stop an enemy soldier. The Army needed a change so they simply told the companies who entered competition what they wanted exactly and what they were going to do with it. The most reliable design would be adopted, and it was. It took John Moses Browning years at Colt to finally perfect the design to the United States Army’s specifications and even thought it was up against other pistols from Luger and Savage, Browning’s design out performed them all. When the Army told Browning that his pistol needed a grip safety, he went back to the workshop and added one; it was Browning’s persistence and craftsmanship that ultimately created the pistol that would be adopted on March 29th, 1911. The pistol would bear the year of its adoption in its name, the United States Army Model of 1911.
Two years later in 1913, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps adopted the pistol and it then became the standard issue sidearm for all branches of the United State Military. It first saw action in 1916 during the failed Mexican Expedition, but it gained its true notoriety in the hands of the Tennessee born World War I doughboy Alvin York. Alvin York used flanking maneuvers and accurate rifle shots to pick off some German Soldiers on the frontline of the war, but when a German Officer noticed him, the German Officer led a six man bayonet charge against the lone York. York dropped his rifle and drew his 1911 pistol and mortally wounded each man that was charging him, from the furthest back to the closest. He was then able to advance, killing 25 more soldiers before capturing 132 German Soldiers and 35 machine guns, allowing the American front to move ahead on the Battlefield. Because of his actions in combat against the enemy, he was promoted to Sergeant and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Model of 1911 and the .45 ACP cartridge had proven their worth right then and there. But it isn’t the History before and during World War I that makes the 1911 so fascinating, it is the decades that would follow. The Model of 1911 Pistol served in the United States Military through every major conflict from 1911 up until just recently when it was replaced by the Beretta M9 pistol in 1985. The pistol saw the trenches of German numerous times, saw the tiny islands of the Pacific, and even saw the underground tunnels in the dense jungles of Vietnam. Its legacy spans the globe. Though the pistol may not be standard issue without our Military right now, it still valiantly serves the general public and law enforcement agencies around the country and it does so with little design changes. The pistol as seen in 1911 and the 1911 pistol we see today are the same gun in their entirety through design. The mechanism, the way the slide fits to the barrel and action, the way the trigger wraps around the magazine, the way the sear is designed and even when most conventional guns are being built around all coil and ‘dog leg’ springs, the 1911 still uses to this day a three fingered leaf spring to put tension on the sear, the trigger and the grip safety. Newer parts may look different, but they still function the exact same way as John Browning intended them to.
There is only one other firearm that has served this country to the extent the 1911 has and that is the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun, which was been in service since the 1920s. The 1911 is different only because the general populous helped shape its most recent history with the advent of pistols shooting sports and customization.
So in this monumental year of 2011, I celebrate a Century of Honor and Excellence, a Century of One design that has changed the very way we look at pistols. A celebration of the creator himself, John Moses Browning, who brought the world hundreds of radical new firearm designs during those beginning years of the Smokeless Powder Era. A reminder to all that true American craftsmanship and engineering will never die, that some of the greatest inventions of the past century still live on in the hands of millions. For 100 years, the Model of 1911 has been at the sides of millions of Americans, both citizens and soldiers, ready at a moment’s notice, to protect those from enemies both Foreign and Domestic.
This is a Colt Model M1911A1 built in Hartford, Connecticut in 1943 for use during the Second World War by the United States Army.
This is a new production 1911: Springfield Armory Operator being used currently by the Bridgeport Police Emergency Services Unit which was customized by Gunsmithing, LTD.
On this eve of the monumental year of 2011, I celebrate a Century of Honor and Excellence, a Century of One design that has changed the very way we look at pistols. A celebration of the creator himself, John Moses Browning, who brought the world hundreds of radical new firearm designs during those beginning years of the Smokeless Powder Era. A reminder to all that true American craftsmanship and engineering will never die, that some of the greatest inventions of the past century still live on in the hands of millions. For 100 years, the Model of 1911 has been at the sides of millions of Americans, both citizens and soldiers, ready at a moment’s notice, to protect those from enemies both Foreign and Domestic.
So over the course of the year of 2011, I will Celebrate 100 years of this pistol by gratuitously educating the ignorant masses of this wonderful weapon for your total enjoyment.
One such monumental change was the conception of Smokeless Powder in the later half of the nineteenth century. After the Civil War, black powder began to slowly phase out as cap and ball revolvers and muzzle loading rifles were slowly being replaced by cartridge fed weapons that contained a new form of sunpowder. After centuries of using those single shot, muzzle loading black powder rifles, the use of smokeless powder changed firearm technology and with it, the battlefield. With the increased pressure buildup of smokeless powder, rifle bullets could be smaller and traveled faster and be just as if not more deadly than their black powder counterparts. The rate of fire increased when Repeaters and Autoloaders were put in the hands of soldiers; a skilled marksman took one minute to shoot three rounds from a muzzle loaded and be accurate and with the advent of repeaters, one could triple their rate of fire. This was that radical change. The Era of Smokeless Power had begun. From it, all of the firearms we know today are all based on that same concept; having a weapon that is chambered for a cartridge that can be shot accurately, with minimal corrosion to the bore and being of the highest accuracy without the distracting white smoke that poured from the firearm when cartridge was discharged.
During the post Civil War years from the 1870s to the very early 1900s, the firearm industry quite literally exploded with hundreds of new designs that all challenged the way people thought of firearms day to day. Every year the designs got better, the actions got slicker, the cartridges were being refined. It was during these years that companies like Marlin and Winchester perfected their lever action designs and soon they would be in the hands of millions. The United States Military Adopted the 30-40 Krag rifle, and not too soon after the 1903 Springfield, first chambered for 30-03 and then in 1906, the cartridge was redesigned and it became the still today widely popular 30 Caliber of 1906, or 30-06. But old designs like the 1903 Springfield rifle, the 30-40 Krag, and the Trapdoor Springfield Rifle chambered for the hard hitting 45-70, all eventually became phased out. Older Winchester designs were replaced by newer, slicker and more lightweight designs like the Model 94. Some modern firearms have evolved in one form or another from older designs, like the M14 was born from the M1 Garand rifle, how the Mauser M98 inspired the design of the Winchester Model 70 and dozens of other successful bolt action rifles of today. While few firearm designs have withstood the test of time, sadly, others were lost to a changing world. Some firearms were either too expensive to produce or not popular among customer builders or the general populous, while a select few flourished.
A shining example of this marvel happened to be the child by demand of the United States Army when they held a competition to adopt a new service pistol to replace the 38 caliber Colt revolver that was, at the time, the standard issue sidearm. The Colt 38 performed terribly and there were hundreds of reports of the underpowered cartridge’s failure to stop an enemy soldier. The Army needed a change so they simply told the companies who entered competition what they wanted exactly and what they were going to do with it. The most reliable design would be adopted, and it was. It took John Moses Browning years at Colt to finally perfect the design to the United States Army’s specifications and even thought it was up against other pistols from Luger and Savage, Browning’s design out performed them all. When the Army told Browning that his pistol needed a grip safety, he went back to the workshop and added one; it was Browning’s persistence and craftsmanship that ultimately created the pistol that would be adopted on March 29th, 1911. The pistol would bear the year of its adoption in its name, the United States Army Model of 1911.
Two years later in 1913, the United States Navy and United States Marine Corps adopted the pistol and it then became the standard issue sidearm for all branches of the United State Military. It first saw action in 1916 during the failed Mexican Expedition, but it gained its true notoriety in the hands of the Tennessee born World War I doughboy Alvin York. Alvin York used flanking maneuvers and accurate rifle shots to pick off some German Soldiers on the frontline of the war, but when a German Officer noticed him, the German Officer led a six man bayonet charge against the lone York. York dropped his rifle and drew his 1911 pistol and mortally wounded each man that was charging him, from the furthest back to the closest. He was then able to advance, killing 25 more soldiers before capturing 132 German Soldiers and 35 machine guns, allowing the American front to move ahead on the Battlefield. Because of his actions in combat against the enemy, he was promoted to Sergeant and awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor.
The Model of 1911 and the .45 ACP cartridge had proven their worth right then and there. But it isn’t the History before and during World War I that makes the 1911 so fascinating, it is the decades that would follow. The Model of 1911 Pistol served in the United States Military through every major conflict from 1911 up until just recently when it was replaced by the Beretta M9 pistol in 1985. The pistol saw the trenches of German numerous times, saw the tiny islands of the Pacific, and even saw the underground tunnels in the dense jungles of Vietnam. Its legacy spans the globe. Though the pistol may not be standard issue without our Military right now, it still valiantly serves the general public and law enforcement agencies around the country and it does so with little design changes. The pistol as seen in 1911 and the 1911 pistol we see today are the same gun in their entirety through design. The mechanism, the way the slide fits to the barrel and action, the way the trigger wraps around the magazine, the way the sear is designed and even when most conventional guns are being built around all coil and ‘dog leg’ springs, the 1911 still uses to this day a three fingered leaf spring to put tension on the sear, the trigger and the grip safety. Newer parts may look different, but they still function the exact same way as John Browning intended them to.
There is only one other firearm that has served this country to the extent the 1911 has and that is the Browning M2 .50 caliber machine gun, which was been in service since the 1920s. The 1911 is different only because the general populous helped shape its most recent history with the advent of pistols shooting sports and customization.
So in this monumental year of 2011, I celebrate a Century of Honor and Excellence, a Century of One design that has changed the very way we look at pistols. A celebration of the creator himself, John Moses Browning, who brought the world hundreds of radical new firearm designs during those beginning years of the Smokeless Powder Era. A reminder to all that true American craftsmanship and engineering will never die, that some of the greatest inventions of the past century still live on in the hands of millions. For 100 years, the Model of 1911 has been at the sides of millions of Americans, both citizens and soldiers, ready at a moment’s notice, to protect those from enemies both Foreign and Domestic.
This is a Colt Model M1911A1 built in Hartford, Connecticut in 1943 for use during the Second World War by the United States Army.
This is a new production 1911: Springfield Armory Operator being used currently by the Bridgeport Police Emergency Services Unit which was customized by Gunsmithing, LTD.
On this eve of the monumental year of 2011, I celebrate a Century of Honor and Excellence, a Century of One design that has changed the very way we look at pistols. A celebration of the creator himself, John Moses Browning, who brought the world hundreds of radical new firearm designs during those beginning years of the Smokeless Powder Era. A reminder to all that true American craftsmanship and engineering will never die, that some of the greatest inventions of the past century still live on in the hands of millions. For 100 years, the Model of 1911 has been at the sides of millions of Americans, both citizens and soldiers, ready at a moment’s notice, to protect those from enemies both Foreign and Domestic.
So over the course of the year of 2011, I will Celebrate 100 years of this pistol by gratuitously educating the ignorant masses of this wonderful weapon for your total enjoyment.
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