While your best and most effective bet in the majority of hairy self-defense scenarios (barring something laser-guided or belt-fed) is a rifle– preferably a few different ones in a range of calibers– in a pinch a handgun is better than verbal judo, a pointy stick, or the lid off a can of sardines. With that in mind, I made a list centered on pistols and revolvers that are 1) modern, 2) accept common ammunition, 3) have spare parts that are readily available, 4) proven, 5) are simple to manipulate, and 6) easy to maintain.
Sure, each of these has their haters, but most importantly each type has a huge crowd of fans and users that have kept them in regular production for decades.
American engineers emerge from the woods and move out of defensive positions after fighting in the vicinity of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Note the M1 Garand, M1 Carbine and M9 Bazookas, along with a liberal sprinkling of grenades and spare ammo. (Photo: U.S. Army)
Today is the 75th Anniversary of the last great German offensive of WWII. Launched through the densely forested Ardennes region near the intersection of the eastern borders of Belgium, France, and Luxembourg, some 200,000 Germans fell on less than 80,000 unsuspecting American troops, many of which were recovering from the summer and Fall push through France and the Lowlands.
While the German offensive gained ground at first, eventually reinforcements– including Lt. Gen. George S. Patton Jr.’s Third Army–were rushed to the scene and counterattacked.
However, for the men trapped inside the 75-mile “bulged” salient from St. Vith to the week-long Siege of Bastogne, it was a white hell of exploding trees and an onslaught from 1,000 German panzers that those who survived never forgot.
The U.S. Army suffered over 89,000 casualties in the six-week-long Battle of the Bulge, making it one of the largest and bloodiest battles fought by the nation’s servicemen.
U.S. Army infantrymen of the 290th Regiment, 75th Infantry Division, fight in fresh snowfall near Amonines, Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, Jan. 4, 1945. Note the M3 Grease Gun to the right and M1 Carbine to the left. (Photo: U.S. Army)
For a more detailed look at the men, firepower, and background of the battle, check out the (free) 685-page U.S. Army Center of Military History reference, “The Ardennes: Battle of the Bulge” by Hugh M. Cole, as well as the vast records available through the National Archives. For more information about commemorating the battle Bastogne and other events, visit Bastogne 75 and Belgium Remembers 44-45.
On 7 December 1941, the Mahan-class destroyer USS Shaw (DD-373) was in the old New Orleans YFD2 drydock at the Pearl Harbor Naval Yard. Soon after the Japanese attack began, she suffered three direct hits by 500-pound bombs and two more that landed inside the dock itself. Within 20 minutes, the resulting inferno, fueled by wooden shoring and blocks under her hull, reached her forward magazine.
The resulting spectacular explosion, caught on cameras across at Ford Island, blew Shaw’s bow off and filled the holed dock with water and blazing fuel oil.
USS SHAW exploding Pearl Harbor. NARA 80-G-16871
In the days after the attack, a civilian employee at PHNY found a battered and burned Colt M1911 transitional model on the deck of YFD2 that remained above water. Besides Shaw’s 1936-dated bell which is at the U.S. Navy Museum in Washington, the pistol is part of the destroyer’s legacy and remains at Pearl today.
So I am working on a new gun review currently. Check these two .45s out and tell me what you think.
Below on the left is a correct/all-matching circa 1943 Remington-Rand M1911A1 in excellent condition, produced for the War Department’s contract administered by the U.S. Army.
The gun on the right? It’s a new Auto-Ordnance M1911A1 BKO (black oxide finish) which came from the company’s assembly line in Massachusetts last week.
Billed as a dream match using DNA from two of the most iconic handguns of the old and new world, the new Dan Wesson DWX has been announced.
Teased this week, the new gun has a release date only of “2020” and is promised in both full-size and compact variants.
“It started as an experiment — a grand melding of Dan Wesson and CZ pistols,” says the company. “Borrowing the crisp single-action fire control group of a DW 1911 and combining it with the ergonomics and capacity of a CZ, the resulting pistol emerged as something great.”
The Dan Wesson DWX. Concept art firearm vaporware? We shall see…
Using a locked-breech barrel system and a CZ-style takedown, the 9mm DWX incorporates a 5-inch match-grade barrel without the 1911’s link system or barrel bushing. However, it contains many 1911 parts while coming to the party with a 19+1 magazine capacity based on the CZ P-09/P-10 and aluminum CZ 75 grips.
Here we see an excellent photo of a Vietnamese Ranger of the ARVN clad in sandals, shades and an nón lá “rice hat” over his U.S.-supplied duck hunter/frog lizard camo uniform (which was popular at the time among irregular units around Indochina). Armed with a similarly surplus M1911 .45 in his belt as well as what looks to be a French MAS 38 SMG over his shoulder, he sports binos and a commercial transistor radio for the latest in Saigon-based AM stations.
Note the more traditionally-equipped ARVN infantry behind him, armed with M1 Garands.
Speaking of which, this beauty came from a recent blog post over at the “WWII After WWII” blog examining M1 Garand use in Vietnam.
The plan to transfer some of the Army’s stockpile of vintage M1911 pistols to the public via the Civilian Marksmanship Program has been met with a big response.
On Tuesday, the federally chartered non-profit corporation tasked with promoting firearms safety and practice announced that they had received and were processing 19,000 packets submitted for a chance to acquire one of the classic .45ACP handguns. That’s more than twice the number of guns in the CMP’s warehouse.
These are not the kind of guys you want to pick a fight with.
NHHC NH 100612
Ensign Schuyler F. Heim and other members of the landing party from the South Carolina-class battleship USS Michigan (BB-27) preparing to disembark, 22 April 1914, at Vera Cruz, Mexico.
Their white uniforms have been crudely dyed for camouflage purposes. Heim is wearing an M1912 pistol belt and magazine pocket, with a very newly issued M1911 automatic .45cal pistol in a swivel holster. The immense First Class Boatswain’s Mate beside him wears the M1910 dismounted cartridge belt for the Springfield M1903 rifle. Note additional ’03s in chests on deck.
BB-23’s career was cut short by the Washington Naval Treaty in 1922 and she was decommissioned in February 1923 and broken up for scrap the following year.
Heim went on to become a commodore and was in command of the Naval Air Station on Terminal Island in 1942, resulting in a bridge named in his honor crossing the Cerritos Channel at the Port of LA that remained in service until 2015.
From the CMP on the pending 8,000-10,000 surplus M1911s coming from the Army each year for at least the next two years (with as many as 100,000 possibly transferring over time) and how they will be put up for grabs.
The CMP Board of Directors has discussed at length how the sales of 1911s would be handled, if the CMP were to ever receive them from the United States Army.
Some preliminary decisions:
-Decisions concerning the grade and pricing of the 1911s will not be made until inspection has occurred of a substantial quantity which will take an estimated 150 days post receipt.
-All laws pertaining to the sale of 1911s by CMP will be strictly obeyed.
-Potential purchasers will have to provide to CMP a new set of documents exhibiting: 1) proof of U.S. Citizenship, 2) proof of membership in a CMP affiliated club, 3) proof of participation in a marksmanship activity, 4) a new form 2A with notary, 5) successful completion of a NICS background check, 6) a signed copy of the 01 Federal Firearms License in which the 1911 will be transferred to.
-The CMP customer will be required to complete a form 4473 in person and successfully complete another NICS check by the recipient FFL holder before the pistol can be transferred.
-Qualified CMP customer will only be allowed to purchase one 1911 per calendar year.
– No 1911s available in the CMP stores, or on line, only mail order sales.
– CMP will set the date in which it will accept orders for the 1911s. The date will be posted to the world.
-Orders will only be accepted via mail order delivery.
-Orders will only be accepted post marked on the date or after, no early orders.
-Once CMP receives 10,000 orders, customer names will be loaded into the Random Number Generator.
-The Random Number Generator will provide a list of names in sequence order through a random picking process to CMP.
-Customers will be contacted in the sequence provided by the Random Number Generator.
-When the customer is contacted a list of 1911 grades and pricing options that are available will be offered for selection of one.
-As CMP proceeds down the sequenced list less grade and pricing options will be available. Again, this done completely random
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.
