Authored by Antonio J. "TRB" Phillips for the M1911
Pistols Home Page
Webmaster : John Caradimas
Legal Stuff: This FAQ is copyright 2000 by Antonio Phillips, John Caradimas, and the M1911 homepage.
Use of this FAQ on your website is permitted only with permission from the author and John Caradimas.
Contact info:
Author: trb@triad.rr.com
John Caradimas: sv1cec@hol.gr
Table of contents:
Version 0.1.5: Extremely slight revision, mostly proofreading.
Version 0.2: Added safety and "condition" checking to 3: Operating Principles. Added information on gun materials and finishes to 6: Maintenance. Moved the "What's up with the "Commander", "Officer" and so on?" question from 9: Specialized Variants to 2: The M1911 Pistol: an overview. Added several companies to 8: Manufacturers.
Version 0.3: Modified to HTML format to addess display problems. Minor reformatting for readability. Added Valtro to 8: Manufacturers.
Q: What is the M1911?
A: The M1911 is a box magazine fed, semi-automatic, locked breech, single action pistol. It evolved from several earlier designs into the pistol that the United States Military adopted in 1911 as its new standard sidearm, giving it the designation United States Pistol, Caliber .45, Model of 1911, or M1911. As originally designed, the pistol fired the .45 Automatic Colt Pistol (.45 ACP, or .45 Auto) cartridge, and utilized a 7 round single-stack magazine, giving it a capacity of 7 plus 1 in the chamber. In 1923 the pistol was mildly redesigned into the M1911A1, which persists in production today, by several companies.
Q: What is the difference between a M1911 and a M1911A1?
A: The original changes implemented in the M1911A1 were:
Q: Who designed the M1911?
A: John Moses Browning is the man behind the 1911, as well as many other great arms of the twentieth century. The M1911 homepage, www.m1911.org, has a short biography of this great gun designer.
Q: What's up with the "Commander", "Officer" and so on?
A: Those familiar with the M-1911 use these Colt-created brand names generically to describe the general size of a M-1911 that is smaller than full-size. Full size, or Government size, is defined as full-length butt and a five-inch barrel. Commander size is also a full sized butt, but with a slightly shortened barrel, generally 4.25 inches. Springfield Armory markets pistols of this size under the name "Champion". Officer's ACP, or Officer, size is defined as a barrel of 3.5 inches and an abbreviated butt. Springfield's designation here would be the Ultra Compact. Size hybrids are not unheard of, either: "Commander length slide, Officer's frame" is a common and practical hybrid.
Q: What about the High Capacity M1911s?
A: Para-Ordnance, Entreprise Arms, STI, SVI, and others make frames that accept basic M1911 inner workings and slide assemblies, as well as large capacity double column magazines. These frames are available both made of steel and polymer. More information can be found in 5: Magazine Capacities and 8: Manufacturers.
In the M-1911 Pistols Home Page, when we refer to "M-1911", we are actually talking about any pistol, which can be consider an exact clone of the original or the M-1911 A1 design.
A: The M1911 pistol works on the Browning short recoil principle, and utilizes a locked breech and a tilting barrel. An in-depth description of the M1911's operating principles can be found in the "Operation" section of the M1911 Pistols Homepage, along with some excellent 3D rendered cutaway animations of the pistol in action. Another description can be found in the "Technical Issues" section.
Q: I can/can't drop the hammer from half cock with the trigger! Is my pistol broken?
A: This is a difficult question to answer, as it depends largely on the individual pistol, when it was made, and by whom. For example, Series 80 Colts will drop the hammer from half-cock with a simple trigger pull; Series 70s will not. If your pistol is stock, contact the manufacturer; if it is a custom job, consult the the pistolsmith who built or modified it. In general, it is accepted that the hammer should not fall from the half-cock notch, even if the trigger is pulled. This is considered as an unsafe point and should be corrected, if you are safety-minded.
Q: How do I verify that the M-1911's mechanical safeties are working?
A: As with any weapon maintenance procedure, the first step is to remove the magazine and retract the slide, at which point you visually verify there is no round in the chamber or breech. Thumb safety: Hold the pistol, pointing in a safe direction, in a normal firing grip. Cock the hammer, and press the manual thumb safety upwards to engage it. Pull the trigger. The hammer should -not- fall. Grip safety: Hold the pistol, pointing in a safe direction, in such a way that the grip safety is -not- depressed. Cock the hammer, and, without depressing the grip safety, pull the trigger. The hammer should -not- fall. Disconnector: Hold the pistol in a normal firing grip, pointing in a safe direction. Lock the slide to the rear either by manually actuating the slide stop, or by inserting an empty magazine and retracting the slide. Once this is done, pull the trigger and hold it fully to the rear. Take control of the slide and ease it fully forward. Do not trip the slide release on an empty gun. The hammer should stay cocked throughout this entire operation. Once the slide is all the way forward, release the trigger. You should hear a slight click, and if you pull the trigger again, the hammer -should- fall.
Q: What are the 5 conditions? How do I check which of the "Conditions" my M1911 is in?
A: The five conditions, in order from most safe to least safe (and, conversely, least ready to most ready) are:
A: M1911s have been chambered for many rounds. Factory pistols can currently be had in .45 ACP, .40 S&W, 9x19mm Parabellum, and .38 Super. In the past, M1911s have been produced chambered for the 10mm Auto, but, to the best of my knowledge, no manufacturer is currently offering pistols so chambered. Custom barrels in 10mm are available, as well as 9x21mm, 9x23mm, and .400 Cor-Bon. A good pistolsmith can rechamber a pistol already built, or build you a complete pistol chambered in almost any round you choose. STI is the sole manufacturer offering pistols chambered for the new .40 Super cartridge.
A: This is dependant upon the frame and the calibre it is chambered for. A list would be as follows: (this is very likely -NOT- all-inclusive).
A: Your pistol's owner's manual has this information. If you are not in possession of your manual, check the Technical Issues and Disassembly sections of the M-1911 homepage, located at http://www.m1911.org
Q: What materials should my M1911 be made out of? What finishes are the best?
A: This is largely dependant upon one's needs, and also one's sense of aesthetics. As far as durability goes, there is little difference in Carbon and Stainless steels, and the myths about aluminum frames being breakage prone are largely untrue. Some Hi-Cap M1911s use polymer frames, with all the advantages and disadvantages that entails. Stainless guns are often chosen for concealed carry, especially in humid environments, as it is better equipped to resist skin oils, sweat, and airborne moisture. Care must still be exercised, though, as stainless steel can and will rust if allowed to. It's just harder to make it happen. Polymer frames will not rust, obviously, and they will be have reduced weight, which is good for concealed carry, or if the weight of a standard M1911 puts you off. Aluminum has the same advantage of reduced weight for those who desire it in a metal-framed gun. This brings us to standard steel. Standard carbon steel must be coated with something to prevent rust. This usually takes the form of bluing or a process called parkerizing. There are, however, many other finishes available. Nickel plating was once popular, and resulted in a shiny, smooth, silver weapon with a durable finish. It has fallen from grace due to environmental concerns, though, and has largely been supplanted by hard chrome plating, which gives similiar results. More exotic finishes are referred to by trademarked names, such as Wilson Combat's Armor-Tuff, Birdsong's Black-T, Robar's RoGard, etc. Consider your pistol's purpose, and research the advantages and disadvantages of the different materials and finishes before you decide. As always, the M1911 homepage is here to help, and there is a link to an article about Handgun Finishes in the Technical Issues section.
A: A full answer would be beyond the scope of this FAQ; there are literally hundreds of talented M-1911 pistolsmiths, and thousands of ways to build a gun. Most important in customizing a pistol is to have an absolutely clear picture in your mind of what the pistol's purpose is going to be, be it self-defense, concealed carry, IPSC competition, NRA Bullseye, hunting, or whatever, as pistols built for these purposes, while they may seem similiar, vary greatly.
A: To the best of my knowledge: Colt, Springfield Armory INC., Kimber, Para-Ordnance, Norinco (now banned from import), Wilson Combat (they source the raw forgings for slides and frames from Kimber, then machine them themselves), Les Baer, Ed Brown, IMI, AMT, Auto-Ordnance, Armscor (imported under the Charles Daly name), STI, SVI, Valtro and Entreprise Arms. List last updated June 12 2000.
A: Yes, Para-Ordnance currently produces a Double-Action-Only version of the M-1911 called the LDA. There have also been a few attempts by custom pistolsmiths to make the 1911 DA.
Q: What about the FBI pistol?
A: The FBI adopted two 1911s. The Hostage Rescue Team first got highly customized Para-Ordnances built by Les Baer. Les Baer markets copies of these as the Swift Response Pistol, or SRP. Later, FBI SWAT got single-stack M-1911s, built by Springfield Armory INC. The two pistols are basically same, except for one being double-stack and the other single. Springfield sells their FBI Pistol under the name Tactical Response Pistol Professional Model (TRP-Pro).