I will have a few choice comments at the end of this piece, but enjoy, I received this via an email from a friend that really likes the .45ACP too. Thanks Bob!
The Gospel according to John M. Browning
1 In the beginning was the 1911, and the 1911 was THE pistol, and it was good. And behold the Lord said, “Thou shalt not muck with my disciple John’s design for it is good and it workith. For John made the 1911, and lo all of his weapons, from the designs which I, the Lord, gave him upon the mountain.”
2 “And shouldst thou muck with it, and hang all manner of foul implements upon it, and profane its internal parts, thou shalt surely have malfunctions, and in the midst of battle thou shalt surely come to harm.”
3 And as the ages passed men in their ignorance and arrogance didst forget the word of the Lord and began to profane the 1911. The tribe of the gamesman did place recoil spring guides and extended slide releases upon the 1911 and their metal smiths didst tighten the tolerances and alter parts to their liking, their clearness of mind being clouded by lust.
4 Their artisans did hang all manner of foul implements upon the 1911 and did so alter it that it became impractical to purchase. For lo, the artisans didst charge a great tax upon the purchasers of the 1911 so that the lowly field worker could not afford one. And the profaning of the internal parts didst render it unworkable when the dust of the land fell upon it.
5 And lo, they didst install adjustable sights, which are an abomination unto the Lord. For they doth break and lose their zero when thou dost need true aim. And those who have done so will be slain in great numbers by their enemies in the great battle.
6 And it came to pass that the Lord didst see the abomination wrought by man and didst cause, as he had warned, fearful malfunctions to come upon the abominations and upon the artisans who thought they could do no wrong.
7 Seeing the malfunctions and the confusion of men, the lord of the underworld did see an opportunity to further ensnare man and didst bring forth pistols made of plastic, whose form was such that they looked and felt like a brick, yet the eyes of man being clouded, they were consumed by the plastic pistol and did buy vast quantities of them.
8 And being a deceitful spirit the lord of the underworld did make these plastic pistols unamenable to the artisans of earth and they were unable to muck much with the design, and lo these pistols did appear to function.
9 And the evil one also brought forth pistols in which the trigger didst both cock and fire them and which require a “dingus” to make them appear safe.
10 But man being stupid did not understand these new pistols and didst proceed to shoot themselves with the plastic pistol and with the trigger cocking pistols for lo their manual of arms required great intelligence which man had long since forsaken. Yet man continue to gloat over these new pistols blaming evil forces for the negligent discharges which they themselves had committed.
11 And when man had been totally ensnared with the plastic pistol, the lord of the underworld didst cause a plague of the terrible Ka-Boom to descend upon man and the plastic pistols delivered their retribution upon men. And there was a great wailing and gnashing of teeth in the land.
12 Then seeing that the eyes of man were slowly being opened and that man was truly sorrowful for his sinful misdeeds, the Lord did send his messengers in the form of artisans who did hear and obey the teachings of the prophet and who didst restore the profaned 1911s to their proper configuration, and lo, to the amazement of men they didst begin to work as the prophet had intended.
13 And the men of the land didst drive out the charlatans and profaners from the land, and there was joy and peace in the land, except for the evil spirits which tried occasionally to prey on the men and women of the land and who were sent to the place of eternal damnation by the followers of John.
In it’s day, in it’s original configuration, the 1911 was a LOOSE rattle-trap that was not too much more than an inaccurate *lead chunker*. And I know that someone is going to say it, and it’s true, the old 1911 would FIRE, every time, on that you could rely. You may not hit a damned thing, unless you were relatively close to it, but the gun would go off when you pulled the trigger.
But if you DID hit something, like for instance, a human body, that body was going DOWN!
I have owned several 1911’s over the years, and I am a 1911 purist, if it’s not a COLT, it’s not a REAL 1911…that’s just me. I love the .45 and have since I was about 18 years old, that’s 40 years now. I still love a 1911, particularly a Mark IV Series 70, and I would love to have another one just for grins, but I would NEVER carry it for serious business.
The above article makes fun of the *plastic pistols*, and if they’re talking about a Glock *spit spit* I would have to agree, it looks like a brick and feels totally unnatural in the hand, but here’s the truth regarding the 1911 and modern .45 caliber pistols.
Lets do the math…
A normal 1911 carries 8 rounds, 7 in the magazine (some folks call it a clip) and 1 round in the chamber, for a total of 8 rounds. I carried one for years, back when all of my buddies were carrying .357 Magnums. I felt I was much better armed because I carried a pistol that had 8 rounds in it as opposed to their 6 rounds, AND I had 2 magazines as a backup.
I carried a total of 22 rounds of .45ACP on my belt and I felt invincible!
Today I carry a Springfield XD-45 Tactical with 13 rounds in the magazine and 1 round in the chamber, for a total of 14 rounds. With the two 13 round magazines I carry as backup I have 40 rounds at my immediate disposal, in a Springfield XD Series pistol.
Now I know, some folks are going to say, “But Fred, there are some Hi-Capacity 1911’s out there” and they are what I like to call, WRONG, at least in MY opinion.
There are 1911 *knock-offs* out there that are Hi-Capacity guns. Remember, I said earlier that I’m a 1911 PURIST! 😛
The best thing that came out of the 1911 was the round itself.
Many guns today are chambered for the venerable, and powerful .45ACP. The Thompson Submachine Gun is a testament to the .45 round, it’s what the Tommy Gun ate for lunch!
Today there are MANY handguns on the market chambered for the .45ACP, and most guys that actually shoot a .45 have their personal preference and I’m not going to knock them, even if it is a Glock *spit spit*, but I have to say, as long as it’s a Hi-Capacity gun, as long as YOU are comfortable with it, and proficient, it doesn’t really matter what the *make* of the gun is, as long as it goes BANG every time your booger hook hits the boom switch.
Just be sure that whatever gun you choose is of such a HIGH QUALITY that you’d bet your life on it, because that is exactly what you’re doing.
I’m sure you all have seen one of those flutes that has a bunch of reeds or short pipes close together, you blow into to play a tune.
The small diameter has a soprano note, the middle diameter a middle note, and the large diameter has a low tone.
All I got to say is,,,,, that Daddy sings Bass!!!!
and that friends is the 45 auto, with it’s very large barrel opening.
Since I fully agree regarding the COLT 1911, the only thing NEW here that I learned is that you aren’t even 59 years old YET… damn, I thought you were at least as old as me… you are just a spring chicken my friend. 😀
I have two Springfield 1911’s and a Springfield XD-45 Tactical. Yep, I love me
some 45 goodness! I like Colt and I like Springfield. I would even like an old Essex.
I would stake my life on all of them. Woe to him that brings reason for me to weild any of them for defense purposes. Just saying.
Hey, Fred, you aren’t much older than me.
I love the XD’s, as you know, but in my mind, the true 1911 is pretty much a *show piece* now…
Damn Ron, I didn’t know you were THIS old…
Speaking of OLD…Tom Fulton wants you to come downtown with me Saturday, I am one of the judges in the Chili Cook-Off, he wanted me to pass along an invitation to you as well…
I’ve always liked something with a Big Hole on the end. My first purchase when I got hired full time was a Colt Government Mk. IV Series 70. Then I bought my Sig when another deputy told me he was going to purchase it at a particular gun shop. I went there and bought it out from under him with cash after I saw it and handled it.
Liked it when I was first in Patrol in the 70s and 80s, like it now as a Sergeant. Same gun: older Sig P220 single stack with Euro mag release. Nothing says I can’t have FOUR magazines in the pouch on the Sam Browne. All I had to do was dust off the old double pouch, polish it up — voila. And ain’t nothing wrong with 36 rounds on me now. That’s 9mm territory. But my rounds are fatter — like me.
There must be a reason LAPD SWAT uses the 1911, as well as FBI’s HRT.
BZ
Doesn’t the SWAT Team and FBI use a Hi-Cap version of the 1911?? I have NO idea…
I know the FBI is basically a bunch of wussies…
S&W designs a beautiful 10MM for em and they decide it’s just too powerful and too harsh for the delicate little hands of their agents…
If I could afford the ammo I’d STILL shoot a 10MM… But I’d have to order some special stuff from one of the big ammo manufacturers, something like a 10MM Ranger Talon, 210gr in full charge load… The 10MM today isn’t much more than a .40 +P.. Sad…
P.S.
Fred, gotcha beat: 61.
BZ
You could be the big brother I never had.. 😛
My brutha from anotha motha.
That said, here’s the skinny (because I worked for ’em) on the FBI 10mm thingy.
They got their asses handed to them and lost seven agents because of poor tactics and arrogance in 1986. I worked for them some years before and could see this coming.
Two agents were killed and five were wounded in the Miami shootout of 1986.
Their two robbery suspects were military-trained and mentally dedicated to their cause. They practiced their scenarios and their shooting. They practiced their shooting constantly. As opposed to contemporary thinking, the suspects were NOT on drugs at the time of the conflict, unless you count adrenaline.
“Toxicology tests showed that the abilities of Platt and Matix to fight through multiple traumatic gunshot wounds and continue to battle and attempt to escape were not achieved through any chemical means. Both of their bodies were drug-free at the time of their deaths.[23]”
In a nutshell, the FBI agents were all horribly unprepared and had no idea of vehicle stop tactics.
To its detriment, FBI vehicle stop tactics were still taught a number of years later, in Quantico, since. I know this from personal training in 1991 whilst working for my current agency. The FBI still thought it was “okay” to parallel suspects and cut them off with a car in front, then in parallel. This is, again, straight out of the ridiculous tactics of 1986. They learned very little from this incident because they primarily work from warrants and not from a continuing plethora of fresh arrests. Like local cops.
The ultimate HERO of the conflict, in my opinion, was Special Agent Edmundo Mireles, Jr. His MIND was into the scenario and into Base Survival Mode. Despite his serious hand wounds, he racked shotgun rounds and finally ended the scene.
Solution of the FBI: transition to the 10mm.
A nice gun, a nice round and a big frame, but presenting little FBI chicks and dinky males with a serious problem: how to wrap their short fingers around a large magazine well. I’m not speaking out of school; I’m presenting the facts that won’t be addressed.
The 10mm, as you well know, was cast aside.
One size does NOT, as any rational person knows, fit ALL.
BZ
Yeah, I knew the story of the why for the FBI to dump the 10MM, and yeah, I know, one size doesn’t fit all, and all things considered, a .40 is an all around not a bad choice.. .40 S&W… .40 Short and Weak..
Not too weak, but sure not a 10MM…
And once again we come back to a .45… Not a gun for everyone, but guys like us, we’d carry a .50 if they’d let us… 😈
500. S&W..? I love them!
Man I love these posts. Always a learning experience!
Every so often Fred just has to touch on this… That said!
My first 45 ACP was made by Singer, the sewing machine company, and was WW II surplus. It always fired, period. It shot five inch groups, period. Not to mention that it would only eat 230 grain ball ammo.
My next 45 was a 45 Colt SAA, a thumper of more than serious note…
Next was a Colt Delta Elite. Enough said!
As for “plastic” pistols? I like them for the most part, and Fred used to mess with me about that. Until I turned him on to the Springfields! Those are truly great pistols IMO. I do like Glocks, and if all those stories about kabooms were true there would not be a single Cop on the streets carrying one. So much for that.
10 Auto, the real 10 Auto, not the sissyfied “T” load, is serious business. There are several very good loads available from various ammo manufacturers available now using the very best of modern bullets. Except for Golden Sabers that is. I have worked up a strong and safe load for the 180 grain version using both Power Pistol and A7 powders. The power factor rivals 41 magnum, and yes, it’s not for limp wrist-ed wannabes. So be it. (Learn to shoot properly! )
On to bigger and better things. Remington is again making a very basic 45 ACP 1911 at an affordable price. It has a great trigger, is already throat-ed to accept modern bullets, and the ejection port has been lowered as well. A Hungarian company is also building one that appears to be very well made, and is pretty inexpensive.
As the Colonel said one day back in the 80’s I think it was; “Make sure your caliber starts with a four or larger.” The 40 / 10mm’s and 45’s do just that!
Shoot straight & Be Safe!