The M1911 automatic pistol has been the standard pistol of the U.S. military for more than 70 years. Although the M1911A1 was replaced by the U.S. military in 1985 when the standard pistol (M9 pistol) was updated, various M1911 pistols are still produced by many companies and provided to the military, law enforcement agencies, and security personnel.
and civilian enthusiasts. The gun adopts the working principle of short recoil of the barrel, and the shooting mode is semi-automatic. It fires 0.45-inch (11.43 mm) Colt pistol bullets and uses a 7-round magazine to feed the ammunition. The characteristics of this pistol: First, it has a simple structure.
The number of parts is small, and it is more convenient to disassemble and combine; secondly, the mechanism is reliable in action, has good safety, and has a low failure rate. The biggest shortcomings of this gun are: large weight and volume, and large recoil when shooting, which affects shooting accuracy.
Development history
The U.S.M1911A1 pistol is a 0.45ACP caliber military pistol. The original designer of this pistol was John Moses Browning. The initial product was the M1911 model, which became the standard pistol for U.S. military officers. From 1922 to 23
Some improvement work was carried out during the period, and it was finalized as the M1911A1 pistol; due to the single-row magazine design, the ammunition capacity was only 7+1 rounds.
Until 1985, the U.S. military adopted the Beretta 92F (now Beretta 92FS) as the standard pistol M9 to replace the original M1911A1. The M1911A1 can be said to be the traditional 0.45 caliber used by the U.S. Army since the American Civil War.
The last product of the standard handgun. The characteristic of the M1911A1 lies in its extra large caliber. This type of gun uses 0.45ACP (automatic Colt pistol) bullets as ammunition. The caliber of this bullet is 11.43
MM can be said to be a large and heavy bullet. Because the bullet is relatively large, the initial velocity of the bullet is not high, only 246m/second, but it has extremely high human body restraining force. The design focus of the bullet is not
Pursuing penetrating power and long-range shooting capabilities, it is designed to stop attacking enemies and achieve a deterrent effect.
The M1911 pistol was originally designed by John Moses Browning. Browning began to experiment with automatic loading technology in 1889. In 1895, he invented a new pistol structural design with a recoil barrel working principle. In 1896, Browning
Browning and his brother formed a partnership with the Colt Patent Arms Manufacturing Company of Connecticut (now Colt Industries). Browning designed a launcher for Colt using the newly invented pistol construction.
A self-loading pistol using 0.38-inch Colt pistol ammunition. This gun was given to the U.S. military for testing. As a result, the military was not satisfied with the performance of the gun. It believed that the reliability of semi-automatic pistols was worse than that of revolvers, so it was not adopted.
From 1899 to 1902, the U.S. Army was engaged in armed conflicts with the local indigenous people in the Philippines. During the battle, the U.S. soldiers discovered that the 0.38-inch (9MM short bullet) caliber Colt revolver they were equipped with was not powerful enough to stop, so they reloaded it.
The bullet speed was too slow. Therefore, the U.S. Army decided to develop a new more powerful pistol and new bullets, hoping to kill tenacious enemies with one shot at close range. Based on the experience of fighting the indigenous rebels in the Philippines, and on animals and
After extensive testing on human corpses, the directors of the U.S. Army Ordnance Directorate, Colonel John Thomson (for whom the Thomson submachine gun was named) and Colonel Louis Lagarde believed that the U.S. Army needed a 0.45-inch (11.43
mm) caliber bullets can provide sufficient stopping effect.
In 1907, the U.S. military began to invite bids to develop 0.45-inch large-caliber revolvers and semi-automatic pistols as its new generation of standard pistols. Browning used 15g fully armored warheads to convert the 0.38-inch semi-rim pistol bullets into 0.45-inch caliber bullet-proof pistols.
rim-fired pistol cartridges, and submitted automatic pistols of this caliber to the U.S. Army for evaluation in 1905. Selection trials began in 1906, with many companies participating in the competition. In the end, Colt and Savage samples
The gun was selected. However, both prototype guns could not fully meet the requirements. The Ordnance Department asked the manufacturer to continue to improve the function and reliability and participate in further tests.
In order to supervise production, Browning personally went to the Hartford factory. The most severe test began on March 3, 1911. During the test, each gun had to fire 6,000 rounds, and the pistol would be cooled for 5 seconds after every 100 rounds.
Minutes, the pistols will undergo simple maintenance and oiling after every 1,000 rounds fired. After firing these 6,000 rounds, these pistols are tested with some poorly assembled bullets. Then these guns are immersed in acid or sand.
and sludge in water until the surface rusted, and then conducted more shooting tests. This is the first time in history that a firearm has withstood such a rigorous test, especially the durability test of 6,000 rounds. This record was not broken until 1917.
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During the review period, Browning continued to make improvements to the original design, such as improving the hinge, manual safety, grip safety and empty magazine hanger, lengthening the grip and increasing the tilt angle. The Browning pistol passed the review
The series of tests, with its outstanding performance, won the contract for military standard pistols. The review committee wrote in its report issued on March 20, 1911: "Of these two pistols, the Council believes that Colt is the best because it
More reliable, more durable, easier to disassemble and replace when parts are damaged, and more accurate." On March 29, 1911, the 0.45-inch automatic pistol designed by Browning and produced by Colt was selected as the U.S. military standard
The weapon was officially named "Colt M191 0.45-inch Automatic Pistol". It was equipped with troops in April 1912 and became the first semi-automatic pistol equipped by the US military.
When the United States entered World War I, the U.S. government had purchased approximately 140,000 M1911 pistols from the Colt Company and Springfield Arsenal. Springfield Arsenal began acquiring machinery to produce M1911s in 1913. Due to wartime
In order to meet the needs of the rapid expansion of the army, Colt Company and many contractors outside of Springfield Arsenal joined to share the huge production task. During World War I, Colt Company and various contractors
A total of 450,000 M1911 pistols were produced.
M1911A1
After the end of World War I, the U.S. Army Ordnance Department evaluated the combat performance of the M1911 pistol and asked Colt to make improvements. Colt's improvements include:
(1) Widen the front sight and develop the Patridgesight, a gun mechanical sight composed of a flat-headed thick-blade front sight and a square or rectangular notch rear sight. It was developed by the former president of the American Revolver Association.
Invented by Partridge), allowing shooters to aim quickly under poor lighting conditions;
(2), lengthen the hammer to make it easier to pull with the thumb;
(3), shorten the clamping distance and increase the anti-skid pattern;
(4) The back of the grip is designed to be arched, and anti-slip patterns are added to the surface to make the shooter's grip stronger;
(5), Change the anti-slip grid pattern of the grip guard to make it more comfortable to hold;
(6), a thumb groove is added behind the trigger to make pulling the trigger easier;
(7), Extend the grip safety.
These improvement projects were completed in 1923. The new gun that passed the test was officially adopted by the US military on June 25, 1926, and was renamed the "0.45-inch caliber M1911A1 automatic pistol." Since then, the gun has undergone almost no major structural changes.
Changes. In addition, many foreign companies or governments have obtained authorization from Colt Browning to produce M1911 models of different calibers. However, the improvement in point 4 is actually subject to some controversy. The arc of the original M1911A1 improvement
The reason for the arched design is that the military believes that under-trained soldiers have a low muzzle when firing (related to insufficient inclination of the grip), so this arc design is added so that when the hand is naturally stretched out, the barrel of the gun is
Closer to the level. But not many people agree with this modification. Most skilled pistol shooters believe that the straight back plate does not affect their shooting accuracy, and there is no unnatural feeling when holding it, and the straight back plate
It makes the appearance of the whole gun more concise and beautiful. Therefore, although after the end of World War II, most of the M1911A1s on the market were still curved, but after decades of development and natural elimination, major gun manufacturers found that consumers tended to prefer straight shapes.
, so today, most of the newly produced 1911-style pistols on the market are designed with the M1911 straight back plate, and the curved back plate has become a name that only exists on the modification accessories list.
During World War II from 1941 to 1945, the U.S. military and other allied countries ordered a total of 2.5 million weapons (including M1911 and M1911A1). In order to ensure timely delivery, the U.S. government added four contractors to share the burden.
Production tasks. The material of the M1911Al grip guard produced during the war was changed from the original walnut wood to brown plastic. By the end of the war, the US Army alone had 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1. After the end of World War II,
The M1911A1 pistol has experienced the Korean War and the Vietnam War. The M1911A1 is still widely used, and there are some other modifications, such as the shortened M15 Commander type, MKIV series government pistols of different lengths, grips and other accessories, etc.
, in addition, there are many different competition pistols. In 1985, the US military decided to replace the M1911A1 with the 9mm caliber M9 automatic pistol produced by Beretta. When the Congressional order was promulgated, the US Marine Corps fiercely opposed it, and the US Navy, Army and Air Force
Many special forces within the military still continue to use the M1911 pistol as a secondary weapon, and many people still believe that the M1911 pistol is the best combat pistol. Although the standard pistol of the U.S. Army has been replaced by the M9 pistol, various M1911 pistols are still used by many companies
Due to its unparalleled absolute lethality and accurate and rapid single-action shooting mode of its large-caliber ammunition in actual combat, some elite military and police forces in the United States (such as SWAT) have always listed it as the standard pistol for special operations members. In Iraq
The U.S. Special Forces fighting in Afghanistan still use the M1911 pistol, which is almost identical to the design of the last century. The M1911 pistol has experienced a dramatic renaissance. Special forces and police departments have abandoned the 9mm that was heavily equipped in the 1980s and 1990s.
caliber pistol, and instead re-adopted the caliber 0.45ACPM1911 pistol, which was once considered to be behind the times. Today, the world's largest M1911 pistol manufacturer-KIMBER Company produces the "Desert Warrior" government-type M1911 pistol for the United States.
Customized for use by Special Operations Command's Naval Task Forces.
M1911 structural principle
Although the M1911 has produced many new models, its basic structure, such as the firing and firing mechanism, and the safety mechanism have remained unchanged. The automatic mode of the 1911 pistol is the barrel short recoil type, and the locking method is the barrel offset type (gun
The barrel swings up and down around the hinge), also called the barrel swing type or the barrel lifting type. After the bullet is fired, under the pressure of the gunpowder gas (or the sleeve is pulled by hand when loading the gun manually), the sleeve and the barrel recoil together.
Since the lower end of the hinge is fixed on the sleeve seat, its upper end rotates backwards, and after crossing the dead center (which delays unlocking), it gradually pulls the tail end of the barrel downward to unlock. When the sleeve returns, the bullet is pushed into the chamber.
When the barrel moves forward, push the barrel back into place. Because the rear lower end of the barrel is connected to the sleeve seat by a hinge, when the barrel moves forward, the hinge rotates forward, jacks up the rear end of the barrel, and makes the barrel rear and upward.
The two locking ribs just enter the corresponding locking grooves on the inner wall of the sleeve.
The M1911 uses a single-action firing mechanism and can only fire a single shot. Its firing and firing mechanism consists of a firing pin, a firing pin spring, a hammer, a hammer spring, a sear, a sear spring, a single-shot rod, a trigger connecting rod, and a trigger.
Composition. Among them, the single-shot rod is a rod-shaped piece, assembled together with the sear. It can move up and down in a straight line, and can also rotate around the axis together with the sear. There is a lug at the bottom. After the sleeve is in place,
, the single-shot rod moves up into the gap in the sleeve, and the lug engages with the sear. At this time, if the grip safety is pressed tightly and the trigger is pulled, the hammer in the cocking position can be released. If the sleeve does not reset
Into the position, the single-shot lever is pressed down by the sleeve, and the lug is under the sear and separated from the sear. At this time, although the grip safety is pressed tightly and the trigger is pulled, the hammer cannot be released. Except for the single-shot lever
In addition to the above functions, it can also prevent the trigger from being fired once. The safety mechanism acts on the firing and firing mechanism to ensure the safety of the entire gun. Like many modern pistols, the M1911 has a variety of safety mechanisms to prevent the gun from accidentally firing.
Fire. The safety mechanism of the M1911 includes a manual safety, a grip safety, and a semi-cocking safety. The manual safety button is located at the upper rear left side of the gun body. Push the safety button upward, and the safety button enters the gap in the sleeve, limiting the movement of the sleeve.
Move forward and backward. At the same time, the inner cam surface of the safety engages with the sear, restricting the sear from rotating forward. In this way, although the trigger is pulled, it cannot be released in the cocking position (the upper teeth of the sear are stuck in the cocking groove of the hammer).
The hammer. The manual safety can reliably lock the slide and the hammer to be fired, ensuring the safety of carrying the pistol. The manual safety button of the M1911 is designed to be of moderate size, which is convenient for concealed carrying or tactical applications, and is not easy to hook when drawing the pistol.
Clothes. The grip safety is located at the tiger's mouth of the grip. Under the action of the spring force, the grip safety is automatically in the safety position. At this time, the grip safety convex teeth are against the trigger connecting rod, restricting the trigger connecting rod from moving backward, allowing the trigger to be pulled.
Not in place. Only when the grip safety is pressed tightly by the tiger's mouth, so that the grip safety teeth are disengaged from the trigger connecting rod. At this time, the trigger connecting rod can freely move backwards, and the trigger can be pulled in place. Some people think that there is no need to have a grip on the pistol.
Put the safety on. In fact, the self-defense pistol is safer if it has this kind of safety.
M1911 performance data
M1911 prototype
Use ammunition (.45ACP). 45-inch Colt pistol ammunition
Automatic mode barrel short recoil type
Locking method hinged barrel offset locking
Launch mode: single action launch
The weight of the whole gun is 1.1KG (excluding magazine) and 1.13KG (including an empty magazine)
Full gun length 216mm
Barrel length 127mm, six riflings, right-hand rotation