USMC going back to Ol' Slabsides.....

[PegLeg45]

.....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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[Ichiban]

What's that sound I hear in the distance?  Is that the sound the Glock fan-boys make when they pass a brick?   

[Solus]

What's that sound I hear in the distance?  Is that the sound the Glock fan-boys make when they pass a brick?   

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 

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 

[TAB]

9mm was the prob.   damn euro pansy round. 

[PegLeg45]

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.

[Sponsor]

[twyacht]

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?

[Timothy]

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....

[Timothy]

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.

[PegLeg45]

That extra vowel changes the whole meaning Chuck....

 

I must be paranoid.....you made me go and check my spelling.........  

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. 

[twyacht]

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,.....