It has been 100 years since Mr. Browning designed the most famous pistol in the history of the United States Armed Forces. The Colt 1911 has fought for freedom everywhere we could tote one of them. Sure wish I could afford one of these:
http://www.coltsmfg.com/Catalog/ColtPistols/100thAnniversaryModels.aspx
I know that many of you carried them into combat for our freedom. I thank you, Mr. Browning and Colt for your devotion to our liberties.
Mr. Browning had a good idea on what he was trying to accomplish for each of the firearms he designed. The list is too long to include here but the M2 Machine Gun remains in service.
The 1911 is the finest combat/self defense pistol ever made. I like the ANVIII the best. Bare-bones & business focused.
That is a nice piece. I agree, wish I could buy one. Guess I’ll stick with my Colt Huntsman .22
Nice piece. Colt makes great firearms. Love my .45 ACP Gold Cup.
Eric,
I love the Colt .45. Carried one as a sidearm through all my tours in Nam and other places. Hated to see it replaced with a 9mm. I’m with Joe, though, the ANVIII is the model I’d go for, and for the same reasons. Bare bones and all business.
Colt .45 ACP, because shooting twice is just silly.
REE
I own one, belonged to my father. Works fine every time.
Larry —sagefisher—
Ditto. Although I can’t hit the side of a barn with it.
I would agree that it’s a US military iconic weapon.
I LOVE mine and CAN hit the side of a barn if large enough. It was my fave untill the S&W 44 mag. REE once said it best " there’s nothing like the feel of a 1911 in your hand" ( I’m sure he said that in some “haste” and if given more time… :))
Mark
PS: AS in a fsihing report, a post without pics is just a post.
Marco,
If I didn’t say that, I sure as heck should have. There is nothing like the feel of a 1911 in your hand, especially after carressing that trigger and feeling the recoil.
I’ve had mine (Okay, the Army’s) in mud, rice paddies, etc and it still fired first time, every time. I don’t know about hitting a barn, side or front, but at 35 yards I know I used to be able to hit a North Viet Namese soldier center of mass with one. Like I said, shooting more than once is just silly.
REE
REE,
You DID say that when I posted my purchase of this gem about 2 years ago.
Mark
If you are looking for more of a workhorse model 1911, give these folks a try…
http://www.springfield-armory.com/armory.php
Brad
Oh Uncle Jesse the “Ma Deuce” was what I humped when I was with the ground elements. I am and was a large human. Then large, lean, mean, tough and good looking. Now large, fat, mean and ugly. Oh well what the years do to us.
For the lovers of the Ma Deuce M2 Browning Machine Gun you will like this video:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1uMRusOb0gU&feature=related
Ron,
Unfortunately as an enlisted air crew member I was issued a snub nosed Smith and Wesson .38 Special revolver. Now if you happen to find out what flavor of liquor your armorer likes to drink a Model 1911 will magically appear with your weapon number on it. Strange how that happens.
Eric,
In the units I was with, getting your weapon of choice was never a problem, even AK-47’s and SKS’s. Confuses the other guys when you shoot at them with their weapons. We always had plenty of guns, bullets, grenades, bayonets and such. Matter of fact, we had pretty much anything we needed when it comes to fighting a war.
REE
I started my daughter, Ally, off with Mr. Browning’s “other” design when she was five…
I let her start using this when she was about twelve…
Guess which one she wants to wear on her hip when we go out in the desert…???
PT/TB:p
The 45 ACP is a truly wonderful piece. I currently own a SA 1911 and was lucky enough to be issued one of these instead of the 9mm when the military switched over:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MEU(SOC)_pistol
One of these days I’ll “pull the trigger” and get my stock 1911 dressed up.
Nighthawk, one evening after some beverages were consumed, a buddy of mine convinced a supply-type to issue him a hand receipt for a “personal problem, one ea.”
Back then it was not uncommon for one of the ranks to be told, “That sounds like a personal problem, soldier! Did the Army issue you a personal problem?! Do you have a hand receipt for a personal problem?!”
The eventual result of Chuck’s hand receipt was as inevitable as it was amusing. 
(The icing on the cake was that the hand receipt couldn’t be confiscated… until he returned the personal problem. A more clever, less stunned victim of this prank would have turned it around, with interest. But Chuck wasn’t too dense and played his card at the right time and on the right person.)
Ed
Ron,
Never lacked firepower in an Air Cav Attack Helicopter unit or the Field Artillery unit I served with! Door gunning in a UH-1H is an experience that one has to live. Same as bringing all that firepower of the Cobra to bear or beating feet to get the heck out of the way of the fast movers you just called in to take out target. My normal office was the front left seat of an OH-58C Kiowa once I became an Aerial Observer.
Used to be amazed watching the guys so their thing on a fire mission with the 105mm howitzers. I liked doing hip shoots myself but as I was the truck driver for the base piece I would like them.
EdD,
Now that is too funny!
Now that is raising them the right way! My bet is she is a bullseye shooter with either one.
