The Quintessential Handgun

     The Colt 1911 is an American created semi-automatic handgun created at the beginning of the 20th century. At this time, the semi-automatic pistol was at its advent; many other nations produced their own form of a semi-auto handgun: Germany with its P08 Luger, Belgium with their FN Model 1903, and the Austrian Roth-Steyr 1909 just to name a few. Colt bought four designs from John Moses Browning in 1896, one of which, the Colt 1900, eventually transformed into the Colt 1911. This model lasted until 1923 when the Colt M1911A1 was created and has remained unchanged (basically) ever since. The pistol itself is a recoil-operated handgun and loaded from a 7 round magazine. It was one of among the string of handguns born in the early 20th century to feature two safety's: one located on the side and a grip safety. The handgun fired a .45 ACP round with significant stopping power which was one of the main draws. It had an effective range of about 55 yards. 

     It saw action in both World Wars, Korea, and of course Vietnam. In Vietnam, it was very servicable, most notably for its stopping power and dependability. The pistol was used by American, Filipino, South Korean and ARVN forces. It lasted in U.S. service officially until the late 1970s when the military looked for a new pistol to adopt which would eventually lead to the adoption of the Beretta 92FS. However, it is still widely used by many countries worldwide and is one of the most recognizable handguns ever.