Posted on 08/18/2012 2:50:53 PM PDT by Jet Jaguar
HARTFORD, Conn. — The newest Colt .45-caliber pistol is touted for its durability and design.
It is tested to make sure it can be dropped in water, covered in mud, immersed in sand or ice, or left in a dust storm — and still be able to blast off a round when you pull the trigger.
"Virtually, it's indestructible," said Casimir Pawlowski, who works in international sales and technical sevices for Colt Defense LLC. "You can drive over these things with a Humvee and they're still gonna work. It's like a brick that shoots bullets."
An order last month of new M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistols for the Marines is the first purchase of any Colt handgun in almost three decades by any branch of the U.S. military, though .45-caliber Colts were a trusty sidearm of the Army and Marines for most of the 20th century.
Pawlowski started working at Colt Defense several years ago after a 30-year career as a Navy Corpsman. In 1977, he joined the medical corps serving the Navy and U.S. Marines who carried an earlier version of the Colt as their official sidearm — the Model 1911 .45-caliber automatic.
"We saw the .45s out there, and that's what the guys wanted," Pawlowski said.
Connecticut's historic gun manufacturer first sold its semi-automatic Model 1911, designed by John Moses Browning, to the U.S. military in 1911. At the turn of the 19th century, the military was looking for a stronger handgun than the .38-caliber revolvers used in close combat during the Phillipine-American War. The .45-caliber promised knock-down power — more likely to kill than injure — compared with the .38-caliber.
Browning's design was an impressive development from 19th century single-action Army revolvers that held six, individually loaded bullets. The Model 1911 was designed to have a spring-loaded magazine of bullets fit vertically inside the pistol grip. The Model 1911 features a sliding top which ejects a bullet casing, or shell, immediately after a bullet is fired while slipping another round into position for the next shot.
"It's been a brilliant design," Pawlowski said. "Browning was kind of like the Jimi Hendrix of the gun world at the time."
The Model 1911 Colt has been called the "most respected handgun" and was carried, mostly by U.S. military officers, during both World Wars, in Korea and Vietnam.
But in 1985, the federal government, switched to Italian-owned Beretta to provide 9-millimeter pistols as the new official sidearm for the military. The switch was controversial in the 1980s.
The argument in favor of changing to 9-millimeter cartridges was mostly to standardize the U.S. military with other members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, NATO. The U.S. General Accounting Office, however, said in 1982, leading up to the change, that substituting an existing inventory with 9-mm pistols would be costly. It wasn't clear if there was any advantage to a 9-mm round versus existing sidearms, the GAO report said.
In recent years, the Marine Corps has been building its own .45-caliber pistols at a facility in Quantico, Va., using parts from existing inventory of Model 1911 pistols and other commercial parts, said Barbara Hamby, spokeswoman for Marine Corps System Command, which orders guns for the Marines. The government, however, hadn't bought new handguns from Colt for decades. That changed this month with the first order of up to 12,000 Colt pistols, starting with 4,036 right away.
"The Colt pistol met or exceeded all requirements put forth in the solicitation and offered the best value to the government," Hamby said. "Colt Defense LLC successfully competed under a best value competitive source selection utilizing a performance specification. Any historical significance inferred from the selection of Colt's offered weapon is coincidental."
The West Hartford Colt manufacturing plant where the pistols are made, along with many other guns, is a spectacle of curiosities.
A computerized lathe about the size of an MRI machine sculpts gun barrels to the 1/10,000th of an inch.
In one room, a team of highly skilled engravers chisel designs on custom-made revolvers, making art on the firearm. They tap tiny, 24-karat-gold-wire strands into inlaid designs, including one pistol with a scrimshaw-scratched portrait of Samuel Colt on one side of the ivory handle.
Engraver Jan Gwinnell says he has been carving designs for Colt for 33 years. Master engraver George Spring said he's been with the company since 1975, though he started engraving earlier than that.
Colt even has a special sauce.
Deep inside the big-box factory is a square vat of chemicals that looks like a doughnut grease fryer, labeled "Activated Black Magic." Beside it are similar vats full of water. This is where polished, carbon steel pistols can be stained as azure as the deep ocean in Belize.
"That'll give you your royal blue finish on carbine steel," said Phil Hinkley, vice president of quality at Colt Defense LLC, said of the oxidizing chemical. "After they pull it out of here, they'll dip it into a cold water tank."
The color can be contrasted with inlaid gold, for example, for an exotic look to the expensive, custom-designed guns that are sold to collectors by the other Colt — the company under the same roof that makes consumer guns sold at WalMart, Cabela's, Bass Pro Shops and gun stores.
Colt gives a pair of customized guns to each standing president, though Bill Clinton was the only one not to accept the offer, Hinkley said.
In the back of the factory, the accuracy of guns is tested in an indoor shooting range. In addition to paper targets, a series of microphones use acoustics to track the bullets.
"They pick up the acoustics of the round going by, and they'll chart what the group size is," Hinkley said. The microphones also measure the number of rounds fired per minute and the gun's muzzle velocity.
Two companies share the 310,000-square-foot facility on New Park Avenue in a commercial and industrial strip next to BJ's Wholesale Club.
Colt Defense LLC was spun off from its parent company Colt's Manufacturing Company LLC in 2002 to protect the military-contract business from lawsuits against gun makers. Colt Defense sells to U.S. and allied militaries in 90 nations around the world as well as to law enforcement agencies. Colt's Manufacturing makes guns for regular customers, such as collectors, hunters and target shooters.
While the military hasn't bought Colt handguns in 27 years, the federal government has purchased other Colt firearms all along. Since the M4 carbine was introduced in 1993, the U.S. Army has been a major customer, buying 19,000 the next year for the Army and Special Forces. Colt sells machine guns to the military, too.
Throughout the Iraq and Afghanistan wars, the military bought a steady supply of the M4 — a short, lightweight rifle, which is a successor to the M-16 that the government bought from the Vietnam era until 1988.
The drawdown of troops a few years ago contributed to a financial slump at Colt Defense as net sales dropped from $270 million to $175 million between 2009 and 2010. Last year, sales were up to $208 million. The company also recovered from an $11.3 million net loss in 2010 to report net income of $5.2 million last year.
The Marines' contract to buy up to 12,000 pistols for $22.5 million over five years means it accounts for about 2 percent of Colt Defense's annual sales. That's not enough to drive the success of the company. But the historic return to Colt sidearms is significant and it's a morale boost within the company.
"I call it in the category of 'cool,'" said Gerry Dinkel, CEO and president of Colt Defense.
"It just has a lot of ring to it when you have something that's this long lived," Dinkel said of the Model 1911.
The return to West Hartford-made Colts from Italian-owned Beretta also carries some patriotic pride.
Dinkel said, "A lot of people have said it's great to go back to an American supplier."
About time! I understand that certain foreign designed and manufactured weapons systems are used by our military but like the .50 caliber, the .45 is a true American original. It’s not called ‘’Man Stopper’’ for nothing.
Obama took a pair of Colt .45 pistols? Are there photos or a press release to go along with that?
In science, it is closer to 1.304 Gazillions.
If he’s using his supporting hand in a two hand hold, he’s by definition, altering his grip.
I was joking. Shot placement is far more important than the ballistic differences between a 9mm, .40 S&W, and .45ACP.
The only case where the .45 has a distinct advantage in effectiveness over a 9mm is when both loads are FMJ “hardball”.
There are those who feel their .45 is the ultimate manstopper, and the 9mm is a weak joke that only a fool would use.
The Strasbourg tests and compiled gunfight data tend to show that higher velocity rounds with hollowpoints that fully expand and transfer the entire energy of the bullet into the body make the more effective loads.
I’m not knocking those who choose to use a .45. My point is that if terminal effectiveness is the overriding factor in choosing a handgun caliber, one should use a full power .357 magnum or 10mm load.
The .44 magnum will tend to over-penetrate on human targets and waste some of its energy. That same logic could be used to justify picking a .40 caliber over a 10mm as well.
“I’ll keep my origional military issue 1911 thank you!!!”
There is nothing wrong with that, just don’t bet your life on it feeding hollowpoints, especially the truncated cone types unless the mouth of the chamber has been throated.
Speer used to make a 200 grain .45 ACP load called the “flying ashtray”. It maintained the ogive profile of the original FMJ ball ammo bullet the 1911 was designed to use. It is the only hollowpoint load I would trust in an original mil-spec 1911.
Personally, I would prefer a Ruger P90, a S&W 4506, or a Sig P220 for maximum feed reliability in a .45 auto handgun.
What a waste of superb hardware on that POS!
That’s going to be a BIG problem in a SHTF situation, Clint. Big “IF”, I know, but nonetheless. Although the FN is a nice piece, I’d re-think that specific purchase. A Kimber has no such problems.
If you treat it timidly and let the recoil push you around it will jam. The energy of the recoil( and there is lot comparatively speaking) has to be transmitted back to the weapon by the shooter. Revolvers do not have this issue. In a combat situation if you let your weapon jam you will be dead. Combat requires no finesse at all.
There are better weapons(cheaper ammo) than the .45 for plinking paper targets with one eye shut trying to group.
Having said that you can pry my M1911 from my cold dead hands,
Hand salute.
In a SHTF situation I have 9 calibers covered, not counting gauges. Perhaps not in the depth you do but should rationing be a problem I’m diversified. I was thinking the 5.7 would add the 10th piece of the puzzle since it’s NATO it may be the only thing available if or when the SHTF. And it sure looks fun to shoot at Pistol League not to mention the WOW factor there ;o)
I know the “sting” of the bullet friend. I know exactly what they feel like when they enter the body, and exit it. I don’t need you too suggest the ouch. I can tell you it is a heck of a lot more than that.
At the State Museum in downtown Columbia there was the annual Toy Soldiers expo. It had a mix of reenactment stuff and toys/models.
It rained this one but a lot of what reenactment people that were stayed on when the museum offered them space in the big lobby and hallway.
One of the groups had this BAR. I admit when I first saw it sitting on the floor in what light there was, the finish looked almost plastic.
Here is some of it in slightly better light plus other mundane things......
In addition to getting high on drugs before attacking the US troops, the Moros would also wrap multiple layers of vines around their torsos, which helped slow or stop bullets and bayonets.
Then-lieutenant Fuller was rushed by a vine-wrapped Moro who was wielding a machete. His first five rounds failed to stop the Moro, who slashed him across the body, from right shoulder to left hip, with his machete. As he was going down, Fuller managed to put his last round into his attacker's throat, killing him and saving his own life.
Patton was quite a man. We lost him far too soon.
Fallout New Vegas Ping!
That’s a good, solid line-of-reasoning, Clint. Even if it’s NATO, it would still concern me that the ammo’s not so widely-available and so expensive, but maybe that will flatten-out and resolve itself with more time. Yet, if SHTF next Friday, it’d still be the scarcity/cost problem it’s been for past 2-3yrs. I’m wondering why the caliber hasn’t been more widely adopted. The same issue still surrounds the .357sig hardware and round, after 7-8yrs on-the-market; my G32 is still the “red-headed, step-child” in the massive Cannon T-54 dbl door gunsafe. I do have 10,000-rnds (Cor-Bon 125gr HP) for it, though, and got it cheap ($13/100) in a bulk co-op buy, 9yrs ago. It’s 8x ($122/100) the cost, now.d still be the scarcity/cost problem it
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