1911 Pistol

Why 1911? The “1911” was given its name because the pistol was adopted by the U.S. Army in the year 1911.

The M1911 is also known as the Colt 1911 or the Colt Government. John Browning designed the pistol in the late 1890s to replace the variety of revolvers then in service with a self-loading (or semi-automatic) pistol. The 1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. This operating system became the most popular of nearly all the modern centerfire pistols adopted during the 20th century. The gun served as the standard-issue sidearm for the U.S. Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985. Modern variants of the pistol are still used by the U.S. Army Special Forces, the U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy today.