In your opinion, what are the best pistols ever designed?

[Canis-Lupus]

The Colt M1911 is about the best field-tested all around (Moro-piercing!) knock-down pistol I ever used. It's easy to use/strip/fires-true and varients of it made by other companies IMHO improved on the 1911 .45 concept/operation. Shame Sam Colt only made it a 6-rd mag weapon, the larger (10+) mags jam-up. Carried one for 10 years but IMHO it's too big for true CC in jeans/T's. Fave weapon is also too big for CC, but I love shooting my Beretta 96 FS (Centurion) .40 cal. The 9mm M-9 is OK.
Smaller calibers: I like what I carry: Springfield XD-9/mm.
The XDM's do look sweet and I wish that build had been around when I picked-up the smaller XD-9.

Canis-Lupus

[festus]

Originally Posted by Canis-Lupus

The Colt M1911 is about the best field-tested all around (Moro-piercing!) knock-down pistol I ever used. It's easy to use/strip/fires-true and varients of it made by other companies IMHO improved on the 1911 .45 concept/operation. Shame Sam Colt only made it a 6-rd mag weapon, the larger (10+) mags jam-up. Carried one for 10 years but IMHO it's too big for true CC in jeans/T's. Fave weapon is also too big for CC, but I love shooting my Beretta 96 FS (Centurion) .40 cal. The 9mm M-9 is OK.
Smaller calibers: I like what I carry: Springfield XD-9/mm.
The XDM's do look sweet and I wish that build had been around when I picked-up the smaller XD-9.

Canis-Lupus

John Moses Browning designed the 1911!:93:
It has a 7 round capacity plus one in the barrel (7+1=8):O_O:

[festus]

HK USP Torture Testing

That's all I have to say bout that!:mp160603224922jps:

[Canis-Lupus]

Festus,
Thank you for your atutute math and civilian take on the WRONG build of the weapon I used!
"Given a 6 round magazine you will lock and load one six round magazine. You will be engaging targets from 10 to 50 meters. Lock and load one 6-round magazine, ready on the left? "All clear!" Ready on the right? "All clear!" "Is there any one down-range?" (Yelled three times) "The range is now clear and hot, firers watch your lanes!" Or so it went if you had ever gone through the gig.
The commands given during M1911A1 BRM circa 1977-1989 when I fired them every 6 months for basic semiannual pistol qualification. The mags were 6 (SIX) and you were not permitted to chamber a round until given the order to, once that went down you had 1 in the spout and 5 left in the mag, 5+1=6. That's just how it was, rules changed when you deployed, and chambering 1 round with 6 left in the mag with the weapon on safe was a norm.
Military range and usage of the M1911A1 when I was carrying one. Ref this URL:
M1911 History, Pistol History
Soon after the war, Colt introduced a new gun, based on the M-1911 A1 "Government" design, which was a shortened version of the M-1911 A1 pistol. This new gun featured a 4.25" barrel, (compared to the 5" of its predecessor) and had an aluminum frame (for the first time this material was used in a handgun frame). The gun was called "Commander" (and not "Lightweight Commander" which was adopted later by Colt for this pistol) and was very well received by the public. In the years to come, Colt also produced the same pistol but with a steel frame, named "Combat Commander", and the term "Commander" has been used ever since to denote guns with 4.25" barrels. Still later on, Colt introduced a pistol with an even shorter barrel (3.75"), targeting the concealed carry users, called "Officer's", which also had a shorter frame, thus using 6 round magazines. Again, this model name, is used today to denote the smallest model versions, with shorter barrel and frames.
John Moses Browning did design it but it was Colt that made it in mass and sold it to the U.S. Army. There are sure some anal folks around who assume to rip the truth apart to fit a civilian take on a weapon made for military use: from killing doped-up-Moros in the Philippines to doing the same to some communist sods in 'Nam!
Out of this thread 4 good.

Canis-Lupus

[festus]

M1911 pistol
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United States Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911.

Mid-1945 produced M1911A1 U.S. Army semi-automatic pistol by Remington Rand. This one was re-built by Anniston Army Depot, October 1972, and carries the ANAD 1072 stamp. The cartridges shown are the .45 ACP (left) and 7.65 mm Browning/.32 ACP (right). Confiscated early 2004 in or around Al-Qurna, Iraq, by Dancon/Irak. Destroyed shortly after.
Type Pistol
Place of origin Flag of the United States United States
Service history
Used by United States, United Kingdom, Commonwealth of Nations, (.455 caliber, WWI)
Wars (As official Service pistol)
World War I, World War II, Korean War, Vietnam War
Production history
Designed 1911 & 1927(A1)
Number built Over 2 million
Variants M1911A1, RIA Officers
Specifications
Weight 2.437 lb (1,105 g) empty, w/ magazine (FM 23–35, 1940)
Length 8.25 in (210 mm)
Barrel length 5.03 in (127 mm), Government model;

4.25 in (108 mm), Commander model;
3.5 in (89 mm), Officer's ACP model
Cartridge .45 ACP
Action Short recoil operation
Muzzle velocity 800 ft/s (244 m/s)
Effective range 75 yd (62 m) (FM 23–35 of 1940)
Feed system 7 rounds (standard-capacity magazine), +1 in chamber

The M1911 is a single-action, semiautomatic handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It was designed by John M. Browning, and was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985, and is still carried by some U.S. forces. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War and the Vietnam War. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era. In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols during its service life.

The M1911 is the most well-known of John Browning's designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. Besides the pistol being widely copied itself, this operating system rose to become the pre-eminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols.
Contents
[hide]

* 1 History
o 1.1 Early history and adoption
o 1.2 Service history
+ 1.2.1 World War II
+ 1.2.2 Replacement for most uses
o 1.3 Current users
+ 1.3.1 MEU(SOC) pistol
o 1.4 Other users
* 2 Design
* 3 Specifications
* 4 Notes
* 5 References
* 6 External links

[edit] History

[edit] Early history and adoption

The M1911 pistol originated in the late 1890s, as a search for a suitable self-loading (or semi-automatic) handgun, to replace the variety of revolvers then in service. The United States of America was adopting new firearms at a phenomenal rate; several new handguns and two all-new service rifles (the M1892/96/98 Krag and M1895 Navy Lee), as well as a series of revolvers by Colt and Smith & Wesson for the Army and Navy were adopted just in that decade. The next decade would see a similar pace, including the adoption of several more revolvers and an intensive search for a self-loading pistol that would culminate in official adoption of the M1911 after the turn of the decade.

Hiram S. Maxim had designed a self-loading pistol in the 1880s, but was preoccupied with machine guns. Nevertheless, the application of his principle of using bullet energy to reload led to several self-loading pistols in the 1890s. The designs caught the attention of various militaries, which began programs to find a suitable one for their forces. In the U.S., such a program would lead to a formal test at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

Canus Lupus...I mean you no disrespect but nearly every 1911 type pistol I have ever handled used a standard 7 round military magazine. I am not so arrogant so as to say it was not originally designed that way, That is just the standard for today. The Marine Expeditionary Units are moving back to the 1911A1 due to its ability to end a fight very quickly. It is a very well designed hand cannon that deserves much respect. I think We can both agree on that.

[DJ58]

S+W 629 classic
H+K= all
no autos

[Torch]

1911, for sure.
I don't think JMB designed any revolvers, they were outdated by then. :)

[ronwill]

My personal Favorites:

Pistol - Colt 1911

Revolver - Colt Python and S&W 586

[MufDady]

GLOCK, is my choice.............. No bells or whistles, just gets its job done every time............

[DarrellM5]

Semi auto: Sig P229 in .40 S&W

Revolver: Colt Python .357 magnum



My 2nd choices in each category would be:
Semi auto - 1911
Revolver - tie between the Ruger GP100 .357 magnum & the S&W model 629 .44 magnum.