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Michael McCandless

Colt 1911- The greatest .45 handgun ever made

Updated: Mar 8

Over a century old and yet still as popular as ever, the .45 ACP giant has- for longer than any other handgun we've reviewed- served with bold, flying colors (red, white and blue as well as many others).


 

Table of contents



 

Colt M1911 white background
The Colt M1911 "classic" government model. (Image credit: Palmetto State Armory)

Introduction and history


One of the greatest firearms ever made, the Colt 1911 is still serving today, and while it is somewhat outdated for many practical uses in militaries and police agencies, it is nonetheless considered an archetypical "modern" firearm, and its iconic status- as well as its reputation- have their origins in the development and early years of service of the handgun itself.


Indeed, the 1911 was one of those guns triumphed right from it's very beginning.


In the 1890's, the United States military as a whole was rapidly undergoing modernization efforts and were adopting new firearms seemingly every few years as firearm technology advanced remarkably fast in the final few decades before The Great War (World War 1).


Technologies such as smokeless powder, repeating firearms and spitzer bullets where all on the rapid rise, paving the way for the era of modern warfare today, and the United States- involved in multiple wars around this time- needed to catch up.


By the beginning of the 20th century, they had in their service a great many revolvers, and the U.S military was still adopting new firearms at a dizzying pace- some weapons only served for a few years before it was decided on a replacement.


While their revolvers- such as the Colt M1892- served admirably, military officials were beginning to warm up to the idea of adopting semi-automatic pistols after the turn of the century. Additionally, experience in the Philippine-American war (as well as numerous tests by military officials around this time) ultimately concluded that most existing handgun calibers lacked sufficient stopping power and a new service pistol was needed.


In 1904, another series of tests were conducted in order to find a handgun caliber most suitable for U.S personnel, and the conclusion of these tests, in the words of Colonel John T. Thompson, where that the new pistol "should not be of less than .45 caliber", while still being semi-automatic in operation.


This resulted in yet another series of tests in 1906. In these tests, six handgun designs where submitted by various manufacturers (including Colt), and over the next 5 years, even more testing gradually eliminated all the candidate pistols except the Colt design.


In late 1910, the Colt design was tested with its designer (the now legendary John Moses Browning) in attendance. According to the results, out of six thousand rounds fired, it fired every single one without malfunctioning. As a result of its success in the trials, the Colt pistol was formally adopted in March 1911 by the U.S Army as the "Model of 1911" (later shortened to "Model 1911" in 1917).


It arrived just in time for World War 1, where it gave excellent service as a result of its stopping power and superb reliability and continued to serve with distinction as the main sidearm of U.S armed forces until 1985- 74 years after its first introduction. Long before this time, many other countries had caught on to it and were using it in an official capacity, as well.


Even today, it is still in use by militaries all over the world (albeit mostly in a limited role).


From here, it follows a familiar success story- it also became hugely popular with American (and eventually international) law enforcement agencies, civilians, criminals and terrorists across the planet, and likely will remain so for decades to come.


It's become a pop culture icon as well- in fact, many people consider it "America's handgun", and it retains a "colt" following here even a century after its inception (sorry, I had too).


Want to know why? Read our Colt 1911 review below!


 

Colt 1911 hands-on experience: Shooting, function, features and more


How it feels and handles


One word that instantly comes to mind is "classy". Everything about the Colt 1911 feels expensive and high-quality (even on clones many 1911 fans would deem "cheap").


The trigger is among the best parts- a crisp, clean, single-action trigger that breaks like glass at around 5 foot-pounds is something that is now regarded as a must-have on any decent pistol, and the 1911 proudly delivers.

It's a nice, sleek design that's neither too big nor too small to get a good grip on, and although it's heavy at over 35 ounces empty, it still doesn't feel big. In fact, it feels just right.


External features


One of the more unique features of the 1911 is the grip safety. Located on the rear of the grip, it's low-profile and easy to miss, but it ensures the 1911 will not fire unless you are actually gripping it.


A simple thumb safety lever is another plus for the more safety-oriented people. It's nothing remarkable, but if you want the gun to not go bang, use it.


The Colt 1911 is, for the most part, a unique design among modern firearms in the sense that it is, as we have previously mentioned, a single-action only pistol- one that's hammer fired (as opposed to being striker-fired like a Glock). While it's still certainly very safe to carry, the hammer might provide a bit of a snagging risk, and while I personally don't like hammers on single-action only pistols, they don't seem to bother very many people.


Other than these, it's your fairly standard pistol- button magazine release just below and behind the trigger, standard iron sights and, while placed noticeably farther back on the slide than other pistols (such as the Glock family), it also has nice, large takedown levers that shouldn't hinder efforts to disassemble the gun when you need too.


Shooting it


Where the 1911 really shines is in the fantastic shooting experience it provides. Sure, (most) guns are fun to shoot, but the solid frame and classic look of the 1911, combined with the power of the .45 ACP cartridge and utterly flawless reliability with pretty much any load you feed it makes it a blast to shoot.


While not an "authentic" vintage model, I shot a modern reproduction of a government-standard WW2-era recently, and while it functionally isn't any different from any other 1911 out there, it definitely felt like shooting an actual battlefield weapon.


It was so enjoyable, I ended up putting an insane number of rounds through it in a single session, too- probably at least 1,200 (all the ammo was cheap, basically worthless 230 grain ball ammo, which is a pretty common .45 ACP load. I do not remember the name of the manufacturer). As predicted, no issues whatsoever.


As mentioned earlier, the 1911's weight does a good job at taming the .45 ACP's chunky recoil, but it does it in a way that still makes it feel powerful to shoot.


It's certainly manageable but not uncomfortable while still being stiff and meaty and more than accurate enough to keep on target during rapid strings of fire, although given that it only 7 rounds in its magazine, expect to do a lot of reloading.


While I did not test for accuracy, reports of the 1911's ability to lay down lead in the same spot with remarkable consistency exist in abundance on the internet, and I wouldn't be surprised if even this "cheap" pistol I was shooting could land a 5 shot group withing 3 inches at 25 yards. In other words, this pistol (particularly given its super light single-action trigger) should do well in competitions.


Other things worth mentioning


The Colt 1911 is visually very pleasing to behold regardless of what its color scheme is, but on that note, a great many color schemes by a great many manufacturers exist.


Additionally, variants with come with picatinny rails and other goodies not found on the main models also exist, so it you want to add the typical "tacticool" attire your 1911, there's that option as well.


 

Pros and cons


Colt 1911 pros:


  • 100% reliable (and then some)

  • Very safe to carry overall

  • A literal blast to shoot

  • Surprisingly accurate due to the single-action trigger, weight and long barrel

  • Trigger is excellent


Colt 1911 cons:


  • Small magazine capacity will put you at a disadvantage if you're planning on using it as an EDC pistol, but should be fine for most other practical purposes

  • It's heavy. Not extremely so, but heavy nonetheless


 

Final thoughts


In the header, we mentioned the Colt 1911 is probably the greatest .45 ACP pistol ever made. Its iconic status was made possible though it's decades of outstanding service as well as it's stopping power, reliability and revolutionary design that still influences the development and production of firearms today, more than a century later.


Even now, it's a viable choice for any armed citizen regardless of the scenario (bar a few exceptions), and it will undoubtable remain a favorite choice of Americans and millions of others worldwide for many more years.


Here's to you, John Browning.


 

Gun stats

Caliber

.45 ACP (other chamberings such as 9mm also exist, however)

Action

Single action

Height

5.5 inches (standard "government model")

Barrel length

5 inches

Overall length

8.5 inches

Width

1 inch (standard "government model" grip width)

Weight

~34-39 ounces (depending on model)

Magazine capacity

7 or 8 rounds (depending on specific model. Some may hold more)

Safety

Grip safety, frame-mounted manual thumb safety


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