USFA’s .45 ACP Model 1910.
Wesson Model 1917 and a 1911 Government Model; the latter two were chambered in .45 ACP. At the time all of us teenagers owned a 1903 Springfield .30-06 and a Gov- ernment Model 1911. They were the cheapest firearms to be had selling for $15 or less. We also had access to ammunition, as we knew an old fellow who would bring us a box of military am- munition, 20 rounds of .30-06 and 50 rounds of .45 Hardball every payday for $1 per box. We were all working for 90 cents to one dollar per hour so in four days, or less, we could pay for those two firearms (the Colt Single Action took over three weeks pay!) and only two hours per week were necessary to earn the money for a Saturday afternoon’s shooting. I’ve had a
soft spot in my heart for the 1903 Springfield and N-frame Smiths and 1911 Government Models ever since. The Colt Single Action and Smith & Wesson double-action six- guns and the 1911 have been high on my list of favorite firearms for
fi cult time locating a sizing die for his .45 Colt cast bullets; in the 1950s I was much better off, however, re- loading
supplies,
guns and the 1911 have been high on my list of favorite firearms for over half a century.
over half a century. As shooters we are so blessed! In the 1920s Elmer Keith had a dif-
tion and Smith & Wes- son double-action six-
The Colt Single Ac- especially jack-
eted bullets, were in short supply. Now here we are in the fi rst decade of the 21st century and a veritable supermarket of equipment and fi rearms is so large our greatest problem is simply that of deci- sion-making. When it comes to .45s on the 1911 Government Model platform we have dozens upon dozens of choices and new manufacturers continue to enter the market. I certainly have not tested every manufacturer’s of- ferings, however, over the past 50-plus years I have had the great good fortune of testing a
good sampling of .45s. That first 1911, in fact my first bigbore handgun was a military
Para-Ordnance
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