surplus,
government-issued Rem-
ington-Rand .45. That old Rem- ington served me well for several years. Housed in its military holster it would later ride under the seat of my ’65 Ford station wagon provid- ing protection for my young family. When I made the trip up through Idaho and across the Lewis and Clark Highway into Missoula to attend the University of Montana Graduate School that old .45 rode in the middle of my back as I made many trips home during those three summers. Alas I let it eventually get away. It has been replaced many
The standard Government Model is the semi-auto equivalent of the bigbore S&W N-frame sixguns. From top left, clockwise: Para GI Expert, 1914 Colt Com- mercial Model, Series ’70 Colt, Iver Johnson 1911A1, Springfi eld Armory Mil-Spec.
times over by everything from a circa-1914 Commercial Model to highly customized Commanders by Jimmy Clark and Bill Wilson. In between have been .45s from Colt, Kimber, Springfield Armory, Para USA, USFA, Dan Wesson, Taurus and just recently, Iver Johnson. In the early 1950s the standard Gov- ernment Model was given a shorter barrel and the alloy grip frame to become the Commander, which was soon offered in a steel frame as well. Several companies have vied with each other to see who could make the smallest 1911, and several com- panies have even offered double-ac- tion versions. Whatever one desires in a 1911 is readily available and it is second only to the AR-15 in the number of add-on and custom parts being offered.
Empty Brass I have no idea how many thou-
Commanders are sometimes easier to pack than full-sized 1911s: Combat Commander Custom by Jimmy Clark, Wilson Professional and Colt Com- mander are shown. Wood stocks are by Herrett’s.
sands of rounds I have run through several dozen .45 1911s in the past half-century-plus. I do know there is a 5-gallon bucket of empty brass in the loading room waiting to be refilled, and since my grandsons have learned the joy of shooting a .45 ACP, I best have those reloaded by spring. I especially like home- cast bullets such as the H&G #68 which is duplicated by the RCBS #45-201 or the commercial cast Or- egon Trail 200 SWC. Loaded over 7 grains of Unique it is both accurate and powerful. As mentioned, my fi rst Colt 1911
USFA reaches deep back into his- tory to offer the 1910 and 1911.
32
was actually manufactured during the war by Remington; it would be in the late 1960s before I had a real Colt, which was a lightweight Com- mander. We could argue for days on end about who is putting out the best 1911 today however, Colt has been making them for a century now with today’s Government Models being some of the fi nest ever offered. Sev- eral years ago, actually too many
AMERICAN HANDGUNNER TACTICAL • 2011 SPECIAL EDITION
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