Tag Archives: 1911

New Springfield Armory Optics-Ready TRP AOS 1911

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Back in the 1990s, the FBI was in the market for a pistol to equip its elite Hostage Rescue Team and regional SWAT teams, and the contract went to Springfield in 1998 for 500 M1911s crafted to very tight specs via meticulous hand fitting in the SA Custom Shop. Shortly after, the Marines ordered a batch of 150 similar pistols for its MEU(SOC) units. The HRT contract gun soon morphed into the Professional Model and eventually the TRP, which has gone on to become legendary over the past couple of decades.

SA’s Professional 1911s

Standard features on today’s top-shelf TRPs– going beyond the careful selection and fitment of components– include front strap checkering at 20 lines per inch, forward slide serrations, sighting plane serrations, the company’s Gen 2 Speed Trigger, a skeletonized hammer, premium sights, a straight mainspring housing, and G10 grips.

New for 2025 are eight optics-ready models, all equipped with an Agency Arms optics sighting system and offered in 9mm- both a first for the TRP. Priced at $1,999 across the board (we told you these were Springfield’s top shelf 1911s), there are full-sized all-steel 5-inch railed models in either black or Coyote Brown and in .45 and 9mm, as well as a lightweight Commander-length (4.25-inch) Carry Contour series in the same calibers and color options.

Springfield sent me a Coyote Commander-length Carry Contour TRP AOS in 9mm in this review; light and optic are not included.

In a nutshell, we found it to look good, feel great, and run like a gazelle. The slide-to-frame fit is legit, and the gun has no slop. The AOS system allows for lots of different optics, and it is great that SA is now making the TRP in a 9mm option, even if some consider such a thing in a 1911 platform to be an abomination.

The only rocks we can find to throw on this one are that the asking price of $1,999 is a bit steep, even in today’s inflated dollars, and that, perhaps a direct mount ACRO footprint would be a bigger hit.

The full review is over in my column at Guns.com.

Just in case: Aircrew Bail Out Handguns

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One peculiar thing that has endured from the ages of the Red Baron through today is the custom of pilots and aircrews carrying so-called “bail-out guns” to be used on the ground should they lose their main ride. 

The first instance of opposing aircraft encountering each other while over the battlefield is thought to have occurred when high-flying American soldiers of fortune Dean Ivan Lamb and Phil Rader, each at the controls of early fabric-covered biplanes, fired pistols at each other in the first “dogfight.” The action while flying for rival sides during the Mexican Revolution in November 1913 was bloodless, but the habit of Yankee flying birdmen carrying hog legs with them aloft persisted.

During the Great War, while Americans flew more advanced British- and French-made fighters against the Germans, the pilots often carried their M1917 Colt and S&W .45 ACP revolvers and M1911 pistols with them, even while Vickers and Lewis machine guns were their primary weapons. 

Not just a preux chevalier throwback, the handguns became mandatory to a degree, part of the survival kit with the plane – often for good reason. 

In 1924, during the famed “First Around the World Flight,” Army pilot Maj. Frederick Martin and his mechanic, Sgt. Alva Harvey, were forced to walk for 10 days across Alaska to civilization after their plane crashed into the side of a mountain in the fog. 

Note the pistol belt on Harvey’s hip, complete with a revolver. (Photo: National Archives 342-FH-3B-7971-11517AS)

More in my column at Guns.com.

 

Baa, Baa .45

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While on the ground at the SHOT Show in Las Vegas last month, we came across a Government Issue .45 1911 that looked more at home in the South Pacific in 1943. 

As part of its Air Aces Series, Auto-Ordnance had its new Black Sheep 1911 on display. Crafted by the folks over at Outlaw Ordnance, the artists start with an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 and then apply a carefully researched red, white, and blue Cerakote finish that emulates a World War II aircraft associated with famed Marine air ace Major Gregory “Pappy” Boyington. 

A functional work of art, underneath the custom Cerakote finish, the Black Sheep 1911 is still an Auto-Ordnance Stainless 1911 in .45 ACP. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

Note the “rivet” pattern, the sheet of Rising sun victory stencils, and the correct “Lucybelle” nose art. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

lso, note the “belly” of the gun is left in the white to emulate the aluminum body of an F4U Corsair. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com)

The aircraft Boyington was photographed with in November 1943, White 86 (BuNo.18086), was an F4U-1A Corsair of the same type he flew with the Black Sheep. Ironically, no records confirm he ever flew it in combat and the bird was made up specifically for the photoshoot. As such, it included 20 Kyokujitsu-ki rising suns, one for each confirmed Japanese aircraft he had shot down by that time, his name, and the nickname (“Lucybelle”) of his then-girlfriend, Lucy Malcomson. He would later fall out with Malcomson, leading to a bitter court case and, when the 1970s TV show “Baa Baa Black Sheep” would recreate this plane, Boyington, then on his fifth wife, advised the producers the plane was named “Lulubelle” instead.

A late model Goodyear FG 1D Corsair (BuNo 92246), one of only about 100 Corsairs left, is painted to emulate White 86 and is on display at the National Naval Aviation Museum in Pensacola. (Photo: Chris Eger/Guns.com) 

It has Boyington’s name stenciled under the cockpit but no “kill” flags or Lulubelle/Lucybelle nose art. I guess NNAM didn’t want to wade into that controversy

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Kicking around the Tisas Raider

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So I’ve spent the past couple of months putting 500 rounds through the SDS Imports Tisas-made Raider B45 M1911A1 railgun, which strives to emulate the Colt M45A1 CQBP used by the Marines until just very recently.

In a nutshell, the Raider looks good, shoots good, and faithfully recreates the aesthetic railgun used by the Marines in recent years without just slaughtering your bank account. I’d personally like some better sights and a trigger job to remove the “bounce” in the trigger, or a swap out for a shorter aluminum trigger but then again that would start cutting into that aesthetic that it so clearly strives to meet. It is ready for the range or for home defense but beware that, if carrying, holster fits could be funny due to the rail. 

The wonderful thing about the price is that you can use that saved cash to buy more ammo, a Kabar, and contribute the Toys for Tots program.

More in my column at Guns.com.

The Most Popular New Gun in India is a 1911 .45 ACP with a Familiar Name

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John Moses Browning’s most famed and enduring design is now available in domestic production to a potential 1.4 billion new fans. 

As I previously covered, Webley & Scott India spun up in early 2020 with a new manufacturing facility near Lucknow in Uttar Pradesh. Operating via a 2017 partnership with the famed English firm that dates back to 1790, the company started with traditional designs such as a reboot of the classic W&S Mark IV top-break revolver in .32 S&W Long for the commercial market – essentially a more polished answer to the overpriced Nirbheek revolver sold by the country’s state-owned Indian Ordnance Factory at Kanpur. 

However, they are now making something much more, well, Red White & Blue. 

Webley & Scott India’s 1911, dubbed the catchy WP4523 by the company, is an all-steel gun made in-house. It uses 70 Series internals, is chambered in .45 ACP, runs a skeletonized trigger, Novak-style combat sights, a rounded A1 style mainspring housing, and a round spur Commander-style hammer. 

Webley is offering their 1911 in a few different variants, including one with a matte finish, ambi safety lever, and Houge grips. Others carry a more traditional deep-blued finish and double-diamond wood grips. (Photo: W&SI)

First teased in March 2022, the pistol hit the market earlier this year and the company says sales are brisk. 

“The Webley 1911 WP4523 .45 Auto is getting rave reviews across the country,” says the company. “Production is in full swing and we are working tirelessly to fulfill demand.” 

Win won for Mr. Browning.

Got $110K and want to be in a club?

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Pennsylvania’s Cabot Guns has released (most) of their picks for the upcoming 2023 Gun of the Month Club Collection. Now the company, which has done this for the past three years, is the one that makes all those far-out 1911s crafted out of meteors, so keep in mind that they make above-top-shelf stuff specifically for collectors with deep pockets.

A club member, if selected, has to pay $110K but they get a limited edition 1911 shipped to their FFL each month, all with a theme. While that is a bit high– over $9,000 per gun on average– some of these actually look kind of cool.

Of course, in the words of Groucho Marx, “I refuse to join any club that would have me as a member.”

  • January – The Belligerent Rhone 9 mm – A loud yet elegantly functional bull barrel beauty
  • February – The Sandrin 1911 .45 ACP – The Fibonacci number sequence meets 1911
  • March – The Midnight Standard .45 ACP – A unique take on a favorite Commander pistol
  • April – Hunt Club .45 ACP – A collector-prized beauty with classic styling cues
  • May – The American Flair 1911 .45 ACP – An engraved collaboration with Master Engraver Otto Carter
  • June – The Bedside Demon 9 mm – An intense patterned stainless Damascus pistol
  • July – The Aristocrat .45 ACP – A class-ruling colossal 1911-style pistol.
  • August – Icon Royale .45 ACP.  Minimalism in 1911 in regal bold colors.
  • September – Apocalypse Deluxe 9 mm.  Mechanical innovation in our Vintage Classic finish.
  • October – La Arabesque .45 ACP – An engraved collaboration Master Engraver Lee Griffiths
  • November – The Hulk .45 ACP.  Hulk will smash expectations, two-tone, swooping serrations.
  • December – Top Secret.

January – Belligerent Rhone

February – Sandrin 1911

March – Midnight Standard

April – Hunt Club

May – The American Flair 1911

June – The Bedside Demon

July – The Aristocrat

August – Icon Royale

September – Apocalypse Deluxe

October – La Arabesque

Cabot November Hulk

Staccato, only smaller…

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Staccato, formerly STI, has been making steady in-roads with police tactical teams in recent years– having been adopted or approved by more than 250 law enforcement agencies including the elite U.S. Marshall Service’s Special Operations Group. At the same time, the company has been marketing its compact “C” series guns which have turned into a hit with consumers.

Speaking of which, the new Staccato CS is single-action like the M1911 but is in a double-stack format like the company’s 2011 line. Moreover, it runs a 3.5-inch bull barrel, making it even akin to a Colt Officer’s model– but carries with it a flush-fitting 16+1 round capacity in 9mm.

“Weighing under 23 ounces with a 3.5-inch bull barrel, this ‘little sibling’ is smaller than other members of the Staccato pistol family and made for concealed carry,” contends Staccato. (Photos: Staccato)

More in my column at Guns.com.

Could the days of pretty ponies be back?

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Colt long used a deep rich charcoal blue or “fire blue” on highly polished slides and frames going back to the early 1900s while their famed Royal Blue finish peaked on the company’s Python model .357 revolvers in the late 20th Century, the company moved away from it in most models about two decades ago, leaving the famed “Prancing Pony” short on show horses.

Well, In the latest installment of getting back to its roots, Colt announced this week that a high polish Royal Blue finish is making a come back on at least one handgun model.

Nice

More in my column at Guns.com.

Guns of the U.S. Army, 1775-2020

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While you may know of today’s standard U.S. Army infantry rifles, and those of the 20th Century, how about those present at Lexington and Concord or the line of Springfield muskets from 1795 through 1865? What came after?

For all this and more, check out the easy 2,000-word primer I did for this last weekend at Guns.com.

A little bit of my childhood just passed away

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Between 1973 and 2018, the swaggering Dirk Pitt, a decorated Air Force pilot on loan to a fictional maritime agency who often found himself a human monkey wrench thrust into the center of international intrigue and buried treasure, appeared in at least 25 high-octane adventure novels– two of which were made into movies— all featuring a lot of serious hardware in addition to a range of classic cars, exotic damsels in distress, and international thugs of all sorts with which to engage.

As such, he predated today’s “American James Bond” figures such as Robert Ludlum’s Jason Bourne and Tom Clancy’s Jack Ryan. In fact, you could go so far to say that those fellas couldn’t even hold Pitt’s orange-faced Doxa dive watch.

As a child of the 1970s and teen of the 1980s, I was on the hook from Raise the Titanic to Deep Six, Iceberg to Cyclops, and beyond. You could say that, in many ways, I was raised by Mr. Pitt, or at least his creator, Clive Eric Cussler, which would probably explain some things about how I tick.

Farewell, Mr. Cussler, finder of the Hunley and Manassas, manufacturer of heroes, and cultivator of sparks. We will try to pick up the torch from here.

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