1911

The 1911 pistol is as much a part of the fabric of America as is baseball, fast cars, and pretty girls. Literally, countless young men headed off into harm’s way with one of Mr. Browning’s hand cannons tucked into their belts.

Today, Sept. 4, 2018, is the day folks!  Ordering for the surplus 1911s from the Civilian Marksmanship Program has begun and will continue until Oct. 4, 2018. 

“The overall appearance makes for a pistol that looks like a WWII fighter plane getting ready to race into the skies hunting bandits! Auto-Ordnance is proud to offer this latest custom 1911 in honor of the pilots who flew in defense of our nation during WWII,” said the Pennsylvania-based company in a press release.  “May their bravery and sacrifice always be remembered!”

Remington Arms is launching a new family of competition-oriented 1911-pattern pistols called the R1 Limited Series in single- and double-stack configs.

There is an old story about a Texas Ranger.  He was attending a social event with his family, wearing his issue sidearm.  A woman approached the Ranger and said “I see you are wearing a pistol, are you expecting trouble?”  The Ranger replied politely, “Why no ma’am, if I was expecting trouble, I would have brought a rifle.”

The primary weapon of the infantryman is the rifle. Yes, at this time there were also submachine guns, pistols, anti-armor weapons, and machine guns. But these weapons were all intended to support the rifleman as he took or held ground. Interestingly enough, most of the armies in the Second World War were using either the same rifle their fathers carried in the First World War or a variant thereof.

My holster came with a retention strap, though a full cover flap is also an option if you’re really worried about protecting the pistol from the elements. For a backcountry gun, the extra security of the retentions strap is worth the slight penalty in speed. And if you need to get ready for the O.K. Corral, it is easy to move it out of the way.

Over time, we have seen numerous materials used for 1911 grip panels, each with pros and cons and each able to tell a story or improve a shooter’s ability to use the gun. Here are my top five materials used in 1911 grips.

The National Rifle Association’s American Rifleman got the first crack at the Civilian Marksmanship Program’s military surplus 1911s.