Marines New M45 Close Battle Pistol
The US Marine Corps Systems Command in Quantico Virginia made it official July 19, 2012. They are going back to the Colt .45ACP as a standard sidearm.
Kinda.
The US Army adopted, after an epic and legendary series of tests, the Colt prototype semi-automatic .45ACP pistol on n March 29, 1911 and dubbed it the M1911, a designation that it retains to this day. By 1913, the Navy Department likewise adopted the Army’s pistol to replace underpowered 38S&W caliber revolvers. This began a nearly 100-year love affair with the distinctive John Browning-designed hog leg. Through two world wars, the Korean conflict, Vietnam, and dozens of forgotten Banana Wars, the Marines carried the M1911 in combat and in peacetime service.
In 1985, with most of their inventory of Colts on hand being elderly WWII era remnants, the Marines along with the rest of the Department of Defense, adopted the Italian-designed Beretta 92-F as the M9 pistol. This ended 72 years of faithful service of the design to the Marines. Or did it?
Read the rest at my column at Firearms Talk
