Posted on 06/23/2023 9:33:52 AM PDT by Towed_Jumper
The U.S. Marine Corps has removed the last of its .45 caliber M45A1 Close Quarters Battle Pistols from service. The M45A1s, which are heavily upgraded variants of the venerable Colt M1911, have now been replaced by 9x19mm M18 pistols. The Marines had been the last major American military user of M1911-series pistols, though other versions remain in increasingly limited service in the U.S. special operations community.
Marine Corps Systems Command (MARCORSYSCOM) confirmed to The War Zone that the replacement of the M45A1s with new M18s began last year and was completed by October 2022. M45A1s had previously been issued primarily to Marine special operations and reconnaissance units, as well as Special Reaction Teams assigned to the service's Provost Marshal's Office.
The service had announced its intention to replace all of its standard-issue sidearms with M18s in 2019. The M18 is the compact variant of the Sig Sauer Modular Handgun System pistol family, or MHS, which the U.S. Army first adopted in 2017 and is now becoming the default sidearm across much of the U.S. military. This includes the U.S. Air Force, where the M18 was also selected to replace the last of that service's aging .38 caliber M15 revolvers, as well as other more modern pistols.
In addition to the M45A1, a number of different pistol options were available for Marines, depending on their job, as of 2019. The default sidearms for most units at the time were 9x19mm Beretta M9 and M9A1s. The Berettas had become the main sidearm U.S. military-wide in the 1980s.
(Excerpt) Read more at thedrive.com ...
My question is are/will the retired 1911s be available for purchase at some point and if so how would one go about it?
Shipped to Ukraine, no doubt..................
You’ll have to ask Zelenskyy.................
I don’t care much for pistols, have several for self and home defense, but don’t love them the way I love old side by side shotguns.
The exception is the Remington 1911 R1 Commander that I bought a few years ago. Love to shoot that pistol. John Browning (again) hit the nail on the head when he designed the 1911.
So much for using a true man-stopper. Now they’ll be stuck with the .380 magnum.
I wonder how the new 9 MM will do against a moslem Juramentado or Jhadi.
THAT looks like a Browning Hi-Power.
Hmmm...they do have those oh-so-politically-correct 7 round magazines.
MK II...Which is out of production....
“Ever since the 1840s the standard Army sidearm had been the .45-caliber single-action pistol. This old horse gun was a big, ugly thing that required an outsized trigger guard to accommodate the gloved finger of a cavalryman, but it had been a supremely effective weapon in conquering the American Indian. In 1892 the Army replaced it with a smaller .38 revolver, which was lighter, easier to fire, and more accurate. The fact that it had less stopping power was considered to be “no material disadvantage,” although the Army covered itself in a test report by admitting, “The question can only be definitely settled by actual trial against living objects.” The .38 failed that essential test in the Philippines, and line officers pleaded for a modern sidearm with the power of the old .45 pistol.”
The Islamic Moro Pirates in the Philippines would wrap wide leather bands around their major muscles and abdomen, which would shrink when moistened with sweat, then smoke hashish. A .38 would pass through them with minimal damage, but a .45 would leave a large, gaping wound on both sides, usually incapacitating an attacker, who typically would have charged a US position with a Bolo knife or sword, intent on mutilating the officer shooting at them.
My brother in law was a hand gun collector of sorts. He had several. One was a government model with a mfg. date of 1933.
Of all his hand guns I sold after he passed away the 1911s received the most interest by far.....1911 fans I discovered, are truly a subculture.....some border on fanatical.
Thanks. I figured that might be the case.
I think our military shooting at muzzies is pretty much over given we appear to have declared victory and gone home. The next test for the new Army and Marine Corps 9mm pistols will be shooting at gobs of Chinese hordes or Russians conscripts.
Yup. Mocked as a Fudd gun by some. It’s popularity is reflected in high prices for some specimens, and the fact the even Sig Sauer and S&W started producing them.
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