An American Warhorse

"Innovations" come and go---replaced, improved upon, or discarded altogether. Few have withstood the test of time spanning an entire century, and STILL be going strong.

The Colt 45 automatic is one of them.

John Moses Browning was one of our most prolific gun designers. From his shop in Ogden Utah, he turned out some great pistols, but his most famous design was what would become the Model 1911 Colt 45 automatic.

It was named the Model 1911, because that was the year it was accepted into the Army, Navy and Marine Corps as their standard sidearm.

The 1911 was/is a classic example of the "kiss" principle (keep it simple stupid). So many other gun designers over the years, both here and abroad, have felt the need to come up with a lot of complicated designs to accomodaate their "gee whiz" features, as I call them, some of them even resorting to special plastics and polymers, etc, cutting corners to cut down "heft", and occasionally coming up with new calibers, smaller, light-recoiling cartridges that allow for 15-round magazines.

Everybody seems to have some new "gimmick, and the cop shows on television portray them pretty well. But just because a pistol LOOKS "bad", doesn't necessarily mean that it is.

John Browning's 45 auto saw service in World War I, World War II, Korea, Vietnam and beyond. The 45 ACP cartridge (acp=Automatic Colt Pistol), is a reliable 1-shot manstopper and the old 1911 was designed to the point where you could get it pretty dirty & grungy, and it'll still work for you. As automatics go, the 1911 remains (to MY mind) the most reliable, both in functioning and in stopping a fight.

It was a favorite of the Feds as well. FBI Agent Melvin Purvis killed John Dillinger with a 1911, while Dillinger HIMSELF was trying to draw HIS 1911 out of his coat at the Biograph Theater.

In 1983, the Department of Defense decided to replace it with the little Model 92 Beretta, which the military re-dubbed the "M9". The 45 was being "replaced" by the little 9mm?

While that sounded pretty ignorant to us firearm hobbyists, the government had THEIR own "logic" behind it. First off, was CAPACITY. The big 45 only held 7 rounds of ammo in the magazine + 1 in the chamber. The Beretta holds 15 (of course, shooting the smaller 9mm, you often NEED more of them to get the job done, and FILES of police reports substantiate that, during encounters with felons who were "hopped up on PCP & other narcotics").....(the 45 slug is nearly 100 grains heavier than the wimpy little "nine" and will stop the BIGGEST thug in his tracks).

"The nine has less recoil." Sure it does.......it has less POWER."

"Our European allies" all use the nine, so ammo can be interchanged on a combimed battlefield if necessary...........ah-----THERE's the real reason.

"PC"

And so.........after 72 years of loyal knockdown duty, the Colt 45 was phased out of military service. But it wasn't dead, because shooters out here still LOVE that old gun, and different manufacturers still make 45 autos of their own design. Colt still makes the original, Springfield and Remington make them in original configuration as well, Smith & Wesson and Kimber make THEIR versions of the basic 1911 design. Here in 2011, that design is still being made after 100 years.

But IN this 100th Anniversary of John Browning's most famous pistol, ANOTHER manufacturer is building a "1911 45 auto" this year, and it's been in-development for awhile, just waiting for the right time to bring it out. That company is RUGER.

To those of you out there who are NOT "gun people", Ruger rounds out what is known as the "Big 3", (the other two being Smith & Wesson......and Colt). I have lost track of how many other companies there are out there making handguns (both revolvers & automatics), but THOSE three are the most trusted, and with good reason.

If you're a gun enthusist reading this post, I don't need to tell you how good of a gun RUGER makes! This new SR1911 will probably exceed what John Browing HIMSELF did.............and you KNOW how STRONG this gun will be! Ruger tends to build "engine blocks."

I've seen the reports in the current issue of Shooting Times, plus what I've read on the internet. Every piece of each individual gun, is cast from the same block of stainless steel to ensure exact matching of heat temperance per gun. It has smoother porting for ejection, a titanium firing pin, a swedged toggle link, trigger-pull=4.5 lbs right out of the box! It has a no-frills uncluttered appearance, and on the left side of the top slide-----right under the company logo.............it proudly says "MADE IN USA"

When we DO start seeing them, they'll be around $700 or so, and I've already ordered one. As a rule, I never order anything "new" until it's been out there awhile, but the field tests are oustanding........and Ruger has NEVER built anything that WASN'T top-notch, so I'm gonna go for it. Besides, we all remember what happened to guns & ammo prices 2 and a half years ago.........ain't takin' no chances while this thing is still in my price range, and nobody knows what's "coming down the road."

But the 1911 design is a century old now, and will still get the job done BETTER than any other automatic, (except for the "exotics" like the Lee Juras' or the Desert Eagles, which aren't really concealable & ammo is tough to find). To many, the 1911 is an antiquated design and lacks the "Hollywood flair" of a lot of these newer 9's & 40's. There are no "gee-whiz" features, "lazer sights",. "ambidetrous de-cocking" and all the rest of that "glitz & glitter."

It's just a classic, honest gun, simply built, firing a big 230-grain bullet that'll drop an intruder right now, the same as it did on Iwo Jima, the Chosin Reservoir, Quang Tri...........or the Biograph Theater!

The old 45 auto.......be it one of these new Rugers, or a Springfield or even one of the Colts........to MY mind and the hearts & minds of a lot of others, is still the old "American Warhorse"......nowhere NEAR being ready to be "put out to pasture!"

By the way..........some of you newcomers are gonna have to help me out here...........

What IS it with this new "gangsta'" shooting stance? Pistol turned upside-down, sideways, etc.......is that somehow supposed to improve ACCURACY or something? It looks like a total waste of ammo to ME (and ammo isn't cheap anymore).

Besides that, if you DID hit something, it would only be by chance. I remember seeing a video that was passed around (maybe some of you saw it too), about this big fight that started in a bar around a pool table. A gunfight ensued between several people, that eventually went out into the street. A LOT of that "upside down" crap was going on-----must have been 30-35 shots fired, and NOBODY was hit!

These new "15 round magazines" don't seem to count for much, especially if you can't hit what you're shooting at! (I've actually tried it-------with the gun "upside-down", you really can't see the sights very well!) But you'll be "lookin' COOL when the other guy DRILLS ya!