1/8/2024 0 Comments Colt combat commanderLike all personal-defense firearms, Commanders are carried a lot more than they are fired. Over the years, the details of sights, finish and grips have varied with the times and customer preference. 45 ACPs or 9 mms, there have also been some. The company has made these handy, easy-to-carry. The idea caught on, and Colt never looked back. The first Commander weighed 26 ounces, compared to 39 for a standard 5-inch M1911A1. A shortened gun is a lighter gun, but when the frame of that pistol is made of aluminum, it is significantly lighter. The second difference was more significant. On the first Commanders, the grip tang was bit shorter and so was the distinctively different rowel hammer. There are two major differences: The slide is three-quarters of an inch shorter and houses a barrel similarly shortened. The Commander is functionally the same as the full-size Government Model. 45 ACP were massive and Colt started making them. But, the obvious commercial possibilities of a smaller, lighter. Since there was considerable interest in the 9 mm cartridge, the first Commanders were chambered for that round. Colt’s Cobra revolver was an instant hit with plainclothes police officers, and it didn’t take long before the company was looking at the 1911 and reflecting on the twin problems of size and weight. One of its best ideas involved the use of lightweight alloys for major components of handguns. It offered a range of revolvers, as well as new semi-autos for target work. When Army Ordnance officials began to talk to Colt about a new variation of the 1911, the die was cast.Ĭolt, in the early 1950s, was a forward-thinking company willing to experiment deeply. And rumors began to circulate about the government going to a new service sidearm. Still, it was a rather large pistol with a 5-inch barrel and overall weight of 39 ounces-empty. The M1911A1 came out of the war with an even greater level of respect than when it entered it. With changes to certain contours of the pistol, it was a better gun-enough as to be made in great quantity for service in World War II. The result was the M1911A1 version of the Government Model. There were a few little glitches in the management of the original 1911 pistol, and they got official attention in the 1920s. It hit hard, it hit often and was hugely reliable in trained hands. America was sixgun country before “Johnny Doughboy” was issued one of the new semi-autos. It was popular with those who used the gun to the point that a high percentage of those issued were never recovered. Initially made at the Colt plant in Connecticut and the Springfield Armory in Massachusetts, the pistol was in such demand as to warrant other gunmakers getting into the act. This was in the 19-teens, just before the nation went to war in Europe. Army in the defense of American lives and property along our Southern border. The gun was first used by Soldiers of the U.S. Every ammunition manufacturer offers at least a couple of loads of that stubby cartridge. ![]() handgun maker catalogs its version of the grand-old service pistol. We know that with patents long expired, every major U.S. Ten years ago, the centennial of this warrior’s tool was celebrated widely, and rightly so.īut, as we move toward its sesquicentennial, it is almost as though shooting folks in general have finally just accepted the full utility of the big cartridge and the Colt pistol that fires it. Few firearms enjoy such a long period of solid service. We are now well into the second century of the 1911 service pistol and its legendary cartridge. The satin-nickel-finished, steel-frame Combat Commander shown above serves as a testament to the many changes the 1911-based pistol has endured over the last 110 years.
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