1911A1s finish was changed from dull blue to Parkerizing. Also around that time grip material was changed from walnut to various types of synthetic materials. That shows that between about 1924 and 1941 only approxi- mately 34,000 Model 1911A1s were purchased for military use. Now here’s an interesting fact
about the US military and their .45 ACP pistols. In 1940, American mili- tary thinkers decided their armed services could do without handguns altogether. At that time, doctrine called for officers and some non- commissioned officers (NCOs) to be issued handguns. Also, members of crew-served weapons teams were issued handguns with which to de- fend themselves if enemies got too close. In 1940, the feeling was hand- guns were inefficient for that sort of fighting because training recruits to shoot them accurately was difficult. Therefore a movement was launched to develop a “light rifle,” chambered for a small .30-caliber cartridge with which to arm such troops. It was a logical assumption, that a hit from a light-caliber rifle was better than a complete miss from a big caliber handgun such as the .45 ACP. The end result was the adoption in 1941 of the US M1 .30 Carbine. What did not result was the dis-
continuation of the US Model 1911A1 as a sidearm in American military forces. In fact, when the United States entered World War II, large contracts for more .45 ACP pistols were given to Colt, Remington Rand (the typewriter manufacturer, not the arms manufacturer), Ithaca Gun Company and Union Switch & Signal Company. About 500 were even made by the Singer Sewing Machine Com- pany. Purchase of .45 ACP pistols by the US Government ceased at the end of World War II in 1945 and although
The US military’s idea with the development of the M1 .30 Carbine was to replace both the .45 ACP Thompson submachine gun and 1911 pistol.
You can see the differences between an US Model 1911 .45 ACP and an US Model 1911A1. The A1 is at right. Note the frame bevel behind the trigger and the arched mainspring housing. Both of those features are absent on the 1911.
that model handgun remained stan- dard issue for America’s military un- til 1985, no more were ever bought. It can’t be documented with certainty exactly how many US Model 1911/ Model 1911A1 pistols were purchased by the government between 1911 and 1945. For instance, there were serial number overlaps between the vari-
ous World War II manufacturers and also blocs of serial numbers that were never used. The most educated guesses are that somewhere between 2 to 2.5 million of both versions were acquired in total.
Other .45 ACP Weapons The .45 ACP’s story does not end
Duke’s Smith & Wesson US Model 1917 .45 ACP revolver (left) with his Colt US Model 1917 .45 ACP revolver (right).
WWW.AMERICANHANDGUNNER.COM
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