My first big-bore handgun was one of the first Series 80 Colt Government Models in .45ACP to hit the market. There hadn’t even been any articles about it until I saw it on the cover of the National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman magazine about three months later. I was 14 years old, and about to start a lifetime journey with the 1911 pistol.
A Short History of the 1911
The Colt Government Model .45ACP was patented on February 14, 1911. An appropriate date, considering how many people love the 1911 design. It was adopted by the US Army that March and pistols began arriving in January of 1912. The first commercial versions began hitting stores in 1913, which is why the first blooding of the 1911 was not in World War I, but in the hands of soldiers of fortune who were fighting in the Mexican Revolution for Pancho Villa. Villa was paying in gold, and men going to fight with him acquired the finest firearms they could. The Texas Rangers were also early adopters of the 1911, the earliest reference of at least a couple of Rangers carrying them was in 1915.
It would see service in France in World War I, and Mexico again when General John ‘Blackjack’ Pershing led the expedition to capture Pancho Villa. From there, it saw combat in every major conflict the United States was involved in up to and including Operation Desert Shield/Desert Storm in 1990/91.
Commercially, the revolver stayed the popular choice among most shooters and law enforcement until US Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Jeff Cooper started writing about how the 1911 was the superior choice of handgun for personal defense. LTC Cooper opened his firearms training school, the American Pistol Institute, in 1976. Now known as Gunsite Academy, it continues to be one of the premier firearms training institutions in the world. Suffice it to say, the biggest proponent of the 1911 in the latter half of the 20th Century was Jeff Cooper, and its popularity today is largely due to him.
Gunsmiths have been customizing the 1911 for decades. The high time of customization was probably the ’70s and ’80s. Armand Swenson, Pachmayer, Bob Chow, Austin Behlert, and others turned run-of-the-mill 1911 pistols into smooth-running works of art. A young watchmaker named Bill Wilson started putting out custom 1911s in 1977, and Wilson Combat is still doing a booming business today. Nowadays, most factory 1911s come from the factory with all the modifications that we used to wait for months to have done on our bone stock pistols. So, when you see a 1911 on the shelf with an extended thumb safety, beavertail grip safety, flared magazine well, and high visibility sights, you’ll know who to thank.
The Original 1911
The original 1911 was designed by John Moses Browning, the most prolific firearms designer in history. It employs a five-inch barrel, uses a seven-round magazine, and weighs 39 ounces. Chambered in .45ACP and .38 Super, it originally had a flat mainspring housing, a long trigger, and a short grip safety. The sights were also hard to see, as they were fairly small. It was upgraded in 1926 with an arched mainspring housing and short trigger to better accommodate shooters with shorter fingers, and redesignated the 1911A1. It remained the US military service pistol until 1985, when it was officially replaced with the Beretta 92 9mm. Several smaller units of the military, mainly Special Operations Forces, continued to use the 1911 until just recently.
Colt was not the only manufacturer of the 1911, though they are the most famous. There have been many manufacturers throughout the years, such as Auto Ordnance, Remington Rand, Singer Sewing, Kimber, Smith & Wesson, and Springfield Armory, to name a few.
The Commander
Shortly after World War II, the Army began looking for a lighter handgun to issue, and also wanted something chambered in 9mm Parabellum. The answer from Colt was the Commander. The Commander was unique in that it was the first gun made by Colt in 9mm. It was also the first major handgun to be made with an aluminum alloy frame. The Army eventually shelved the project, but Colt brought the Commander to the civilian market in 1950, where it became extremely popular.
With its shorter barrel and lightweight frame, the weight was only 27 ounces, which makes a huge difference when the gun is carried every day. The .45ACP version gives a little more recoil because of the lighter weight, but nothing that will bother a seasoned shooter. The Commander was also chambered in 9mm and .38 Super and utilized nine-round magazines.
In 1970 Colt brought out a steel-framed version of the Commander, so to eliminate confusion it was designated the Combat Commander and the original renamed the Lightweight Commander.
The Officer’s ACP
The Officer’s ACP was Colt’s entry into the sub-compact 1911 market. In 1975, Star Benefacio Echeverria, a well-known Spanish firearms manufacturer, brought out their Model PD in .45ACP. Looking very much like a shorter and stubbier Government Model 1911, it featured a 3.9-inch barrel, a lightweight frame, and a six-round magazine capacity.
The following year, the Detonics Corporation brought out its own sub-compact 1911, the Combat Master. Around this same time, custom gunsmiths were doing conversions on full-size 1911s and cutting them down to sub-compact size. So, in 1985, Colt introduced the Officer’s ACP in .45ACP. It was offered in a blued all-steel model, a lightweight framed version of the same gun, and an all-stainless steel version. All versions have a 3.5-inch coned barrel and a six-round magazine.
While the Officer’s ACP was easy to carry as opposed to the full-size Government Model, it suffered from a couple of problems. One, the recoil spring had to be changed out every 500 rounds or so to maintain reliability. The recoil spring plug was held in place by a small tab which was known to occasionally shear off. Also, the Officer’s ACP suffers from the same malady as all sub-compact 1911s: they just are nowhere near as reliable as the larger guns. The further away you get from the original design, the more problems are created. In my experience, the shortest barrel length you can go to and still maintain reliability is 4.25 inches. Any shorter and you’re just taking too big a chance on reliability, and that won’t do for a fighting handgun.
Series 80 Guns
In 1983 Colt introduced the Series 80 1911s, which incorporated a firing pin safety that was released when the trigger was pulled. It consists of two levers and a plunger that was moved to allow the firing pin to move forward. The hammer geometry was also changed to provide a much shallower ‘half-cock’ notch. If you look at one, the ‘half-cock’ position is just a short distance from the firing pin. Historically, the original 1911 could potentially go off if dropped and the hammer was resting on a loaded chamber. The firing pin safety on the Series 80 was designed to eliminate that possibility.
Traditionalists tend to decry the Series 80 safety, saying it’s not needed and complaining that it makes getting a clean trigger pull much more difficult. While this may be true if we’re trying to achieve a 3-3.5lb National Match trigger weight, for self-defense purposes we want a trigger pull of 4.5-5lbs. There aren’t many people who can tell the differences between a Series 70 and Series 80 with that kind of trigger pull.
1911 Magazines
Quality magazines are essential to keep the 1911, or any semi-automatic firearm, running like it should. The gold standard of 1911 magazines are made by Wilson Combat, with Chip McCormick Power Mags a close second. I’ve used both brands, along with factory Colt magazines in seven-, eight-, and 10-round formats with great success.
Keep in mind, while Government and commander-sized pistols share the same magazine, the shorter Officer’s style utilizes a stubbier magazine that will NOT work in the larger guns. One of the purported advantages is being able to use the longer magazines in the shorter-gripped gun. The problem we run into is that the larger magazines, with no collar at the bottom of them, can be slammed too far into the gun if it’s reloaded with the slide locked open. Best to use the proper magazines with the smaller 1911s.
The Future and the 1911
The 1911 pistol has been pronounced dead many times, but it shows no sign of slowing down any time soon. More models come to market every year, and the basic design is still dominating in action pistol competition. Companies such as Wilson Combat and Nighthawk Firearms sell every 1911 they produce, and 1911 gunsmiths such as Novak’s and D&L Sports are constantly busy. The future will see more high-capacity 9mm 1911s with red dot sights mounted to them, but the original, the five-inch barreled Government Model .45ACP, will never disappear completely.
