Tag Archives: m1911a1

Proven handguns for tough times

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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.

More in my column at Guns.com

Running a basic 1911, successfully

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So I’ve been testing a basic $500 U.S.-made vanilla GI .45 format– the Auto-Ordnance BKO.

This thing

On the outside, it is a dead-ringer for a post-1926 made martial M1911A1. On this inside, it is an 80-series update with arguably a better trigger and tighter tolerances (due to CNC) than the old warhorse.

In range tests so far I have found that it ate 600 rounds of mixed bulk ammo from various makers, run through a hodgepodge of factory and aftermarket mags, with accuracy that is “close enough for Government work.”

Boom

Much more details in my column at Guns.com

A Handgun That Saw Hell

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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.

(NPS)

More in my column at Guns.com.

An aircrewman’s best friend

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This flak-damaged M1911A1 .45-cal pistol and cap badge were worn by USAAF Sgt. Roy Zeran, 97th Bomb Group, when his B-17 was shot down on November 20, 1942, during WWII. It stopped a piece of shrapnel that would have likely ruined more than the slide of his pistol.

USAF Museum #170405-F-IO108-031

I recently got to handle a minty correct 1943-issued Remington Rand and matching holster, reportedly used by a B17 bomber pilot during the war. It was an honor.

If only guns could talk.

Looking for a rare US&S 1911?

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During WWII, Uncle Sam ordered nearly two million Model 1911A1 GI .45ACPs, and the Union Switch & Signal company of Swissvale, Pennsylvania made one of the rarest and most sought-after variants. Now, at least seven have popped up at the upcoming auction

These include an “EXP” marked version– one of approximately 100 pistols made by US&S using preproduction slides, receivers and other components that were presented to company officers and employees and coated in a bright blue DuLite finish.

Another prized example is a factory cutaway or “skeletonized” 1911 used for demonstration purposes. Few of these guns were so modified.

More in my column at Guns.com

Finders Keepers

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colt-model-m1911a1-pistol-captured-1965-by-warrant-officer-class-ii-k-a-wheatley-australian-army-training-team-vietnam

Here we see a well-traveled M1911A1 .45ACP Government Issue long slide.

It’s a mismatch gun that likely became such in some long forgotten Army armory, with a (likely Great War era) Colt-marked slide and a 1943 U.S. Army-marked Remington Rand frame from the Second World War. As such, it or at least components, served in both World Wars, probably Korea, and definitely Vietnam.

How do we know the latter? Well, the gun, SN 1431274, was captured north of Da Nang in August 1965 by Warrant Officer Class 2 (WO2) Kevin “Dasher” Wheatley, Australian Army Training Team Vietnam (AATTV). The weapon was recovered from rom North Vietnamese Forces who were believed to have captured it earlier from ARVN forces or the Americans.

Wheatly passed it on to war correspondent Pat Burgess as a protective weapon when Burgess suffered a cut on the elbow and had to go to Da Nang accompanied only by some sketchy ARVN troopers.

Wheatly went on to die just two months later in an incident that would see him receive the VC. His medals came into the Australian Memorial’s collection in 1993, joining the 1911 on display.

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