So, the 1911 has a Birthday...

(of sorts) today and some folks want to trot out their examples and well wishings. Never one to miss a gathering, I humbly submit my small family of 1911s...

Clockwise from top left is a Smith & Wesson PD, a Sig Sauer Blackwater, a Colt Defender and finally, a Kimber Pro Raptor II. All in .45 ACP and all similar in their 1911ishness.

Notably missing is an early 1940 era Colt that I am still searching for. That, is my project for this year... find a WW II Colt 45... lots a luck cowboy. ;)

I do note that my birthday is in a couple of days, perhaps the planets will align causing it to rain vintage 1911 pistols in Alabama. ;)

Happy 100th birthday 1911...

Home... before it was home

Article forwarded to me via e-mail, appreciate it Momma... Devil's Tower, WY in 1890... picture courtesy of the Denver Post & the Library of Congress and taken by John C.H. Grabill. It looks like it is taken from about 180 degrees away from the one in the header.

An expanded answer to a question...

posed here... "Would you prefer a selection of guns in common calibers that shared ammo and parts? Or would you want a wide variety of weapons in as many calibers as possible so that you could take advantage of anything that might come your way?"

My original plan was to be able to use one caliber in a pistol / carbine combination and ultimately gravitated toward Beretta and 9 x 19mm. As of today, I own two Beretta pistols (both of them in 9 x 19mm) and a couple carbines (notably in .30 Carbine and 5.56 NATO, not 9 x 19mm).

As the collection has matured, I seem to have ended up with something that shoots just about anything. Having said that, it appears, from a recent purchase, that anything in .40 S&W will grab my attention. And, truthfully, I have migrated to the .40 S&W pretty much completely as my daily carry.

The aforementioned purchase? A heretofore unknown to me... a Sig Mauser M2... that I probably wouldn't have noticed except for the Mauser logo on the slide and much less bought except that it was in my current 'pet' caliber. All of that blather pretty much boils down to, I picked a fairly common caliber and now have a pile of different arms that will chamber it. So much for the original plan...

So, in a roundabout way, I started out with a desire to own a couple of guns in a common caliber and ended up with a selection that will shoot just about anything that shows up. Even though that be true, I still believe having two of something is better than having one of something... most times. ;)

7 + 1 Rounds of ...

.25 ACP Goodness?!? That's right, 35 grains of centerfire blam... meh and, not really 7 + 1, the manual talks, at fair length, about not carrying it around with a round chambered... as the firing pin protrudes from the bolt face when at rest.


Meet the Junior Colt in .25 ACP, this one manufactured in 1971

Went to the dentist today for a cleaning and left with clean teeth and no cavities. ;) That, of course, means a trip to the Fun Cellar (as it is just down the street from my dentist)... low and behold, a Happy Clean Teeth Day gift for yours truly.

What a nifty little bit of pocket half-full of blam. Anemic (per Hornady... 900 fps / 63 ft-lbs at muzzle, 813/51 at 50 yds and 742/43 at 100 yds... 100 yds... WTF?) that it may be, would probably still suck to get shot with it; and, it won't be replacing the G22 / G27 duo any time soon.

Apparently, these were originally manufactured for Colt by Astra (in Spain) and then, after the GCA of 1968, they were assembled in the US from parts and ultimately, they were manufactured by a, now defunct, Firearms International of Washington, DC or someplace in MD... pending whose Internet blather you believe. Not to be confused with the current Firearms International currently of Houston, Texas or with the, now also defunct, Firearms International Export of Florida.

Now for the Department of I Didn't Know That... disassembly requires locking the slide back, twisting the barrel a quarter turn right, pulling, twisting the barrel a quarter turn left and pulling it the rest of the way out. Then, capture the slide in one hand, release the slide catch and ease the slide off of the pistol. Not sure how long (if ever) it would have taken me to figure that out without the Internet.

Of course, being the obsessive compulsive cleaner of guns that I am, once disassembled it took a good cleaning. Probably not a bad thing in this case... dislodged some pocket lint and removed a fair bit of surface rust that was hiding under the grip panels. From the wear patterns on the gun and the location of the hidden rust, this was likely somebody's pretty constant companion... pimp gun that it may be... :p

Now, for a pocket holster... probably won't ever carry it, but a gun without a holster is like a day without sunshine.

That, is exactly right

From Brigid