Looks like the CMP is really going to get those M1911s after all
The Army bought millions of M1911/1911A1s between 1913 and 1946 and they remained the standard service pistol until 1985 when they were replaced by the M9 Beretta (92F), which in turn was replaced this year by the M17/M18 (Sig Sauer P320).
Well, the thing is, there are an estimated 100,000 old .45s still in the Army’s inventory in excess to the hundreds in use by various shooting teams and on display in the service’s museums and with historical honor guards. Stored at Anniston Army Depot, the service has been selling them for $150 a pop to law enforcement agencies since the 1990s but they still have a pretty large stockpile of the dated guns.
And the latest NDAA directs they get a move on to the CMP with said GI Longslides.
On the handguns headed to the CMP, the bill instructs the Secretary of the Army to conduct a two-year pilot program that will transfer “not less than 8,000 surplus caliber .45 M1911/M1911A1 pistols” in 2018 with a cap of no more than 10,000 transferred per fiscal year. The program would then be reviewed to ensure the guns were sold by CMP in accordance with applicable federal laws and evaluate its cost to the Army.