Colt M1911

Also known as M1911 pistol, M1911, Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911, Colt Government

semi-automatic pistol with caliber .45, standard service pistol of the US Army from 1911 to 1985; produced also by a large number of other weapons companies apart from original manufacturer Colt

Key facts

Type: Semi-automatic pistol
Place of origin: United States
In service: 1911–present
Used by: See Users
Designer: John Browning
Designed: 1911 (Model 1911) 1924 (Model 1911A1)
Manufacturer: Colt Manufacturing Company , Smith & Wesson , Norinco , other companies
Unit cost: $26.38 (1938), equal to $603 now
Produced: 1911–present
Number span no built: 2,734,345 (produced by Colt) , 4,294,345 (total including licensed copies)
Variants: M1911A1 M1911A2 FN Grand Browning RIA Officers Kongsberg Colt MEU(SOC) pistol
Mass: 39 oz (1,100 g ) empty, with magazine
Length: 8.5 in (216 mm)
Barrel length: Government model: 5.03 in (127 mm) Commander model: 4.25 in (108 mm) Officer model: 3.5 in (89 mm)
Cartridge: .45 ACP , .455 Webley Auto (British Contract), .38 Super , 9x19mm Parabellum , 7.65mm Parabellum , 9mm Steyr , .400 Corbon , others
Action: Short recoil operation
Muzzle velocity: 830 ft/s (253 m/s)
Effective firing range: 50 m (160 ft)

via Wikipedia infobox

~25 min read

Encyclopedic overview

The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge.

History

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “Colt M1911” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.