The Down Range Forum
Member Section => Down Range Cafe => Topic started by: PegLeg45 on July 28, 2012, 02:28:11 PM
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.....to the tune of a $22.5 million Colt contract.......
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2012/07/28/marines-pay-22m-to-go-back-to-their-old-guns-colt-45-caliber-pistols/
Sticking to their guns: Marines place $22.5M order for the Colt .45 M1911
It’s been called the greatest handgun ever made, and it has barely changed sine 1911, when the legendary John Browning designed it especially for the U.S. Military.
And now, the Colt .45 M1911 is making a big comeback, now that the U.S. Marines have placed a $22.5 million order for the Connecticut-made pistols.
The gun, which has been wielded on film by John Wayne and in real life by Sgt. Alvin York and Maj. Audie Murphy, was the standard-issue sidearm in the military for decades, until it was replaced by the Beretta M9 in 1985.
"It just became an iconic part of military and American history," Gerry Dinkel, CEO and president of Colt Defense, told FoxNews.com.
The gun, one of the most successful pistols ever used at Camp Perry's National Matches, a competition known to be the main world event in artillery sports, has barely changed since it's creation. Dinkel says that shows the gun's "elegant design" just can't be improved on. And firearms experts agree.
"You can’t beat a .45 cartridge," Jack Lewis, firearms director for Cowan's Auctions, told FoxNews.com. "Some things are hard to replace," he said.
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;D
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What's that sound I hear in the distance? Is that the sound the Glock fan-boys make when they pass a brick? :D
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What's that sound I hear in the distance? Is that the sound the Glock fan-boys make when they pass a brick? :D
Not at all. They made a good choice....Never should have left the .45ACP.
And most most Glock owners upgraded from a 1911....everything just takes longer in the military ;D ;D ;D
And the switch needed to be made...and selling the brass the 1911 had to be an easier job than a switch to Glock.
Maybe in another 80 years ;D ;D ;D
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9mm was the prob. damn euro pansy round.
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I am a dyed-in-the-wool 1911 lover, but I also agree the Glock, and any of the the other 'plastic fantastic' guns could make more sense, if not from a reliability, then from a capacity standpoint, but when has .gov ever made sense?
You may laugh, but it all shakes out to two things when it comes to the .gov buying the 1911: the manual safety and hand fit.
For some reason, the military ordnance guys have seemed to always lean on guns with a manual safety...... and from my own witnessing at the range, the 1911 can fit hands that the Glock can't. I've seen folks who couldn't reach the trigger on a full-sized Glock be able to fire the 1911. Not all hands are the same.... I've seen kids with unusually long monkey-fingers and 300 lb guys with short sausage fingers...one does not set the example.
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Remember Colt lost a huge chunk of the AR mkt to Ruger....So I'm "guessing" that since Colt and the military have such a historically long relationship, and the (as TAB put it "damn Euro Pansy Round"),..was getting flack from inside the ranks, that of course they would choose a 1911,,,,(again)....
Good.
Can we get the UN crap about hollowpoints being forbidden also?
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I am a dyed-in-the-wool 1911 lover, but I also agree the Glock, and any of the the other 'plastic fantastic' guns could make more sense, if not from a reliability, then from a capacity standpoint, but when has .gov ever made sense?
You may laugh, but it all shakes out to two things when it comes to the .gov buying the 1911: the manual safety and hand fit.
For some reason, the military ordnance guys have seemed to always lean on guns with a manual safety...... and from my own witnessing at the range, the 1911 can fit hands that the Glock can't. I've seen folks who couldn't reach the trigger on a full-sized Glock be able to fire the 1911. Not all hands are the same.... I've seen kids with unusually long monkey-fingers and 300 lb guys with short sausage fingers...one does not set the example.
That extra vowel changes the whole meaning Chuck....
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Can we get the UN crap about hollowpoints being forbidden also?
That predates the United Nations. It's stipulated in the Hague Convention of 1899.
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That extra vowel changes the whole meaning Chuck....
;D
I must be paranoid.....you made me go and check my spelling......... ;D
And for the record, I do know the difference...... my sausage fingers have just been adding exxtra letters lately and I missed it on my scan. ;D
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That predates the United Nations. It's stipulated in the Hague Convention of 1899.
Just as bad.....I can go into combat and use grenades, flame throwers, Ka-Bar knives, bayonets, rifle butt, my teeth, my bare hands, .50 Cal. to the head, and use whatever means necessary to dispatch an enemy on the battlefield,....but I am in "violation" if I shoot the enemy with a holllow-point?
Genghis Kahn would not approve,..... :-\
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9mm was the prob. damn euro pansy round.
Mark the calendar ! TAB and I agree :o
.38 didn't get the job done in 1900's, so they went back to .45 Cal.
Only a liberal would be dumb enough to think that a 9MM, roughly the same diameter, and velocity, would work better 80 years later.
So Europe uses it, BFD, they also think .32 and .380 are police service calibers .
Now if we can just find a real bullet to replace that over hyped varmint round in the service rifle we will be back in business.
The fan boys will bleat that "A lot of bad guys have been killed with 5.56 " true enough, but they were not killed because of the round, they were killed in spite of it.
There would have been a lot more dead BG's if our troops had rifle and machine guns in calibers worth a crap.
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The 308 worked just fine. A little bigger then needed,but not much. There is no replacment for displacment. Its true of motors and its true for bullets. you need the mass to fook shit up.
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Genghis Kahn would not approve,..... :-\
They probably frown on using your enemies severed head for the soccer tourney as well! ;D
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The Navy and Marines tried a 6MM in the 1890's but it lacked modern boat tailed bullets, They liked it OK, but the Lee rifle was to delicate and complicated for service.
The Soviets went with 2 calibers 7.62X 39 for individual weapons and Squad automatic and 7.62X54 for Sniper rifles and heavier machine guns, it works but complicates the supply chain, (even more so when the pistol cartridge was also a 7.62 X25 Tok ).
So twice in a row I have to agree with TAB.
The .308 is technically a known commodity, loads, bullet wts, barrel twist rates, have all been worked out years ago.
It deprives the individual soldier of the ability to spray and pray, but conventional troops do not need full auto fire. they need to know how to shoot.
Full auto is appropriate for specific military purposes and is supplied by dedicated machine guns that are designed to handle the stress's, heat, and recoil of sustained fire, that can be chambered in the same caliber simplifying supply.