Few things are considered more American than baseball, apple pie, and the .45 ACP M1911 Colt Government Model. John Moses Browning's crowning achievement in firearm design paired with the only caliber for self-defense, and winner of two world wars. No one needs anything else, and especially not one of those plastic wondernine gizmos, because if you need more than seven shots, you need more range time, right? Right?
Yeah, I think I need to poke some holes in another Fudd myth.
In case you missed the first installment, the term Fudd is applied to old-fashioned gun owners who are dismissive of anything invented after World War 2, and gun owners who are embarrassingly sloppy in firearm safety. Often they are one and the same. The 1911 .45 pistol is almost an icon for such shooters. In fact, it almost seems the various capacity restrictions written into state laws are deliberately designed to not threaten revolvers and the 1911 to keep the baby boomers happy. It's those new-fangled Glocks and other high-capacity 9mm handguns that need to be restricted!
The push to adopt a .45 caliber handgun for the US military began during the Moro Rebellion following American annexation of the Phillipines. Oddly enough, the Moros didn't much like their new overlords any more than they liked the Spanish, and responded by waging a guerrilla war. The .38 caliber Colt revolvers issued to the military were deemed insufficient to stop the Moro attackers.
Whether these insurgent fighters really shrugged off bullet wounds long enough to take lives, or soldiers missed, I can't say. But the decision was made to bring the old .45 Colt Single Action Army revolvers out of storage to deal with the threat. As the military modernized its arsenal in the early 1900s, a call went out for a semi-automatic pistol, with the requirement that it also fire a .45 round.
Meanwhile, in Europe, typical sidearms were often .32 ACP, .380 ACP, or 9mm Parabellum in the leadup to World War I. When the US military moved to replace the Colt .45 with a Beretta 9mm, there was much rage. The 9mm was perceived as weaker, and the Beretta was deemed unreliable. Was this traditionalism or a legitimate complaint?
John Moses Browning was a brilliant firearm engineer. His designs continue to be made today, and his innovations are still incorporated into many modern models. Minor improvements to the controls over the years improved the already-adequate ergonomics into something that set the standard for years to come. There is room for modern materials, modification, and simplification, but the core M1911 of AD 1911 is still largely a modern handgun in every respect over a century later.
I have heard it said that the only way to get a better trigger than a 1911 is to get a better 1911, and I tend to agree. I also find the grip angle ideal. All told, I do tend to side with those who support the 1911 on mechanical grounds. I don't see anything wrong here.
While an all-steel handgun was the only option in 1911, the weight and durability of the design are still valued today due to the way mass mitigates felt recoil. However, these are noticeably heavier after a long day compared to modern polymer designs. While this is irrelevant if your gun is a safe queen or display piece, I have to side with the fans of plastic pistols when it comes to everyday carry.
"I carry a .45 'cause Colt don't make a .46!"
A .45 ACP round typically lobs a heavy bullet at subsonic velocities. A 9mm (9mm Parabellum, 9mm Luger, 9x19 NATO, or whatever other label it carries) typically fires a lighter bullet at supersonic velocities. While the numbers can vary based on bullet weight, powder charge, barrel length, atmospheric conditions, chronometer variations, etc, the power of a .45 ACP round is in the range of 400-600 joules according to some quick Googling, while a 9mm is... also 400-600 joules.
I may be miscalculating something here, so feel free to argue the data if you can support your dispute mathematically. The higher numbers in both scales are from '+P' high-pressure rounds instead of the usual ammunition of World Wars I & II. Still, I would argue that when comparing the same cartridges in 9mm and .45 ACP from the same manufacturer, .45 ACP probably has an edge in power.
However, I should also note that a lot of opinions regarding these rounds is anecdotal data from military-issue round-nose full metal jacket "ball" ammunition, too. Under those circumstances, a case can be made that a bigger bullet makes a bigger hole and is thus objectively more effective in a combat or self-defense scenario as opposed to clinical mathematic analysis. There may be some merit to these concerns. In a modern handgun with jacketed hollow-point +P ammunition, though, the 9mm is arguably a superior round.
In 1911, when the US Army formally adopted the Browning-designed handgun from Colt and gave it its M1911 designation, pistol magazines stacked rounds in a single column. Capacity for any caliber was usually 7-10 rounds. While I have never personally been in combat, whether in the military or a self-defense situation, I am of two minds on the capacity question.
Statistically, when shots are fired in self-defense, the issue is usually resolved with only a few rounds. Most revolvers and 1911s have adequate capacity for most situations. Yes, you need to practice so the odds of missing are minimized. Yes, you can probably reload with a fresh magazine, since that is one of the major advantages to modern semi-auto pistols in the first place.
We also need to consider the outlying cases, though. People do miss, especially when under stress and facing a moving target. One person may be confronted by many adversaries. One hand may be restrained or disabled, rendering reloads problematic. Carrying multiple magazines can be an issue. There are very legitimate reasons to want as high a capacity as possible.
During the interwar period, Browning began designing the Hi-Power, and it was completed after his death by Dieudonné Saive of Fabrique Nationale prior to World War II. It was made in Belgium, and adopted by several of the Allied powers. When the Germans occupied Belgium, they continued production for their own military. This firearm staggered the 9mm rounds in what is known as a double-stack magazine, resulting in a 13-round capacity. This magazine design became more commonplace after World War 2. Even if 9mm might be less effective under certain circumstances, it is still likely to be effective enough, and more ammo with less reloading is better, plain and simple.
To some, the 1911 is the gold standard in combat handgun reliability. To others, it's unlikely to empty a magazine without a failure of some kind. This is complicated by the fact that so many variants are made by so many manufacturers now, so this debare is a lot harder to narrow down.
Reliability relies on many factors. Some guns are designed to such tight tolerances that the inevitable fouling from shooting can interfere with proper operation. Others are so loose that parts do not align properly, or suffer from tolerance stacking due to poor quality control. Damaged magazines are also the bane of any self-loading firearm.
That said, a good 1911 from Colt or any other reputable manufacturer should be as reliable as any other firearm. And the same goes for Beretta, Glock, Walther, Sig Sauer, H&K, FN, Springfield, and so on. You generally get what you pay for. And sometimes some gunsmithing can remedy the problem, too. Polishing the feed ramp and enlarging the ejection port are common modifications.
I like the 1911. I have shot many, and would like to own one some day myself. I like the .45 ACP round. It has some advantages under some circumstances. If your magazine capacity is restricted legislatively, maybe you might as well carry the largest rounds you can.
On the other hand, if you are not bound by such edicts, carry as many as you want, because you never know what you might need. For concealment, a single-stack .45 or even 9mm can be a slimmer option, because some gun is always better than no gun, and you may not want to advertise that you are armed.
I can't get on board with either the 1911 fanboys or the .45 haters. I do think that 9mm is much maligned by Fudds who live in the past too much, though, and "high-capacity" polymer-framed pistols are perfectly suitable for self-defense and the target range alike. Don't be afraid of changing technology and modern materials, OK?
