1911 News

12/8/99 - Site Updates:

One very interesting and valuable website to check out if you haven't been there already, is Sam Lisker's ColtAutos.com. Sam's site covers all of the Colt Autos and provides dissassembly instructions, production information, and collector information. Some of the images of the very old 1911's in my gallery are used by permission from Sam.

11/18/99 - Site Updates:

I've opened up a new section, The Library. It includes sections on 1911 technical issues, history, reviews, RKBA, CCW, and odds and ends that don't fit anywhere else. I am particularly interested in getting reviews from users of their equipment. The reviews don't even have to be about M1911 pistols or gear. Reviews of other firearms, holsters, or other shooting gear will be welcome here. Although I'd like to, I can't buy every gun in the world to try it out, so I would very much appreciate hearing your rants and raves about firearms and gear you've spent some time with and have an opinion about. A lot of people come to this site looking for information to help them make a purchase. If we all pool our thoughts and experience, we can develop a sort of "buyers guide" for guns and equipment. I don't even want to limit this solicitation to equipment reviews only. If you have a tale, a technical or shooting tip, or a piece of 1911 history that you'd like to share and see posted here, jot it down and send it to me.

11/7/99 - News bits:

I have added some new "legends" to the Myth and Legend page: Lt. Walt Hagan's confrontation with a headhunter, The Death of a Jeep in a small French village in WWII, MG Sheffield Banta's dispatch of an over-confident Japanese officer, elk hunting with a 1911, Sheriff Jim Wilson, and the capture (assassination?) of Pretty Boy Floyd.

11/5/99 - News bits:

LAW ENFORCEMENT REJECTS GUN CONTROL

The 12th Annual National Police Survey once again affirms what most of us already know -- that the overwhelming majority of those in the law enforcement community believe gun control does not prevent crime. The 1999 survey, conducted by the National Association of Chiefs of Police, posed questions to 18,102 Chiefs of Police and Sheriffs. Here are some highlights: 93% believe law-abiding citizens should be able to purchase a firearm for self-defense or sport; 88% believe that a convicted felon in possession of a gun should be prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney, and if convicted, receive the maximum prison term; 66% reject the idea that law-abiding citizens should be limited to one gun per month; 56% believe that gun shows are NOT a major source of illegal guns for criminals; and within the past year, 93% of the agencies surveyed have NOT been asked to arrest anyone making a false statement on an application to purchase a firearm.

Collector Grade Publications has a new book out on pre-war National Match pistols, American Beauty: The Prewar Colt National Match Government Model Pistol, by Timothy J Mullin. http://www.collectorgrade.com/bookshelf6.html

I have heard that the reconstituted Dan Wesson company will bring out a 1911 after the first of the year. Now, that's a pistol I'd like to see.

With a grant from the Lawyers' Second Amendment Society, Inc. (LSAS), Advertising Creative Director Jim Houck and founding members of Guntruths.com have formed a non-profit organization for the sole purpose of giving all Americans a way to strike back--hard--against the Rights Killers who are trying to destroy the 2nd Amendment of our Bill of Rights. See http://www.citizensofamerica.org/ Of the organizer Jim Houk, Keith Whaley says, "I know Jim Houck, and he's genuinely one of the good guys, but also of the "take no prisoners" demeanor. He thinks we've been silent and timid and gentlemen too long, and he wants to change all that."

10/22/99 - Site Updates:

I have made some updates to The Sight M1911-A1 in the past few days. The 1911 Notebook, http://www.win.net/~sydwdn/1911/notebook.pdf, has received a major update, adding articles and pictures that I’ve collected over the past few months. This is an Adobe Acrobat PDF document which requires Acrobat Reader 3.0 to view.

The most recent major addition to the site is the M1911-A1 bookstore, http://www.win.net/~sydwdn/1911/bookstore/bookstore.htm. It’s one of those Amazon affiliation things which gives me a referral commission when you buy a book through one of my links. Bare faced capitalism, to be sure, but it benefits everybody. You get books at a discount price delivered to your door. I get the commission which helps me with the costs of maintaining the site, and Amazon sells some more books. I have tried to find the good books on 1911, gunsmithing, tactics, self defense, RKBA, and snipers that Amazon lists. So, if you were going to buy some of these books anyway, buy them through my links and it will be a help to me.

10/10/99 - A sad day for America

When Colt throws in the towels on pistols due to fear of lawsuits, it's a sad day for Colt fans and America. Depending on where you get your news, Colt is either withdrawing completely from the handgun market or drastically scaling back their handgun line and production. The reason given also depends on where your information comes from. The stories are (a) they're getting pasted by the competition already and are simply eliminating unprofitable lines or (b) they're afraid of product liability suits which could further weaken their already fragile financial condition. Odds are that it's both and then some. Their bread and butter is the M-16 and their pistols have not been making money for a long time. Some have speculated that they are reorganizing to protect the profitable rifle division from the unprofitable and and liability threatened pistol division. The last "official" communication I've seen from Colt stated that they were not exiting the pistol business at all and would continue to build their profitable Defender, OCC, and cowboy guns while dropping the service revolvers, the .380's and the 1991A1.

Regarless of what the real story is at Colt, the fact that an American tradition can be driven out of the market by dishonest lawsuits shows that our tort system is in critical need of reform. The gun abolitionists can't win in the legislatures so they are attempting to subvert the will of the American people in the courts with spurious "product liability" suits. This is wrong and dishonest and should be outlawed.

9/29/99 - More Site Updates:

As you may have noticed, I've gone commercial and put these little affiliate click-through bugs all over the site. I've tried to not be obnoxious about it. The reason for doing this is pretty straight-forward--I can make a little money and help defray the costs of maintaining the site, the research, software to produce it, and the time I spend helping people with their 1911 questions.  I love to do all of these things anyway, but it does get to be work at times. So you can help me out by clicking through to these affiliate merchants, using the search bugs, and if you're going to buy some of these products online, go through my click-throughs to buy them.

One that's kind of interesting and different is MailBits. It's the little bug at the bottom of the menu bar. What it does is it gives you a quick and easy way to send the link for The Sight to your friends. What's the hook? Well they want you to subscribe to their free newsletters, and some of them are OK, like Joke of the Day, but you don't have to subscribe to anything and they won't spam you or your friends. There is an "interests" screen which comes up afterwards and if you don't want anything else, just leave the check boxes blank and hit the button at the bottom of the page.

'Nuff said.

9/25/99 - Site Updates:

I have added a 1911 Survey to the site. If you have the time, please take a moment and share your thoughts and experiences with me. None of the answers are required and feel free not to answer something if you think I'm getting too snoopy. I have updated the Cutaways and Schematics Page to include more graphics, diagrams and firing cycle animations.

9/20/99 - A lesson from bad experience:

Almost as an afterthought, I put the digital caliper on one of my master blaster hardball reloads. Surprise, surprise, surprise. The OAL was 1.277". When I first set the die it was 1.256". The bullet seating die on the SDB had worked out in the several thousand rounds I've loaded since I set up the tool head. Moral of the story, check your OAL from time to time.

8/27/99 - From the NRA: SUPPORT MOUNTS FOR INDIVIDUAL RIGHT THEORY

The debate over the meaning of the Second Amendment -- whether it protects an individual's right to keep and bear arms or a collective right -- enters a new phase today, when the solicitor general's office in Washington, D.C., files legal briefs in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in New Orleans appealing the decision in U.S. v. Emerson. The solicitor general is tasked with appealing rulings that go against the federal government. This particular ruling -- handed down by U.S. District Court Judge Sam Cummings of the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas -- dismissed an indictment against Dr. Emerson based on the opinion that the federal law he was accused of violating (the Lautenberg misdemeanor domestic violence provision) represented an unconstitutional exercise of congressional power that violated his individual rights protected by the Second Amendment to the U.S. Constitution . NRA will soon file its own brief in support of Judge Cummings' ruling. Also filing briefs in support of the April ruling are the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and attorney Stephen Halbrook, who successfully argued before the Supreme Court that certain aspects of the Brady Act were unconstitutional. While NRA has always held that our right to bear arms is clearly an individual right, two USA Today articles from today's edition highlight the fact that more and more constitutional scholars are beginning to agree with this view.

Richard Willing reports in one article that no one is willing to speculate how the Fifth Circuit will rule, but the eventual decision will certainly be critical to the debate over gun control. A ruling in support of Judge Cummings' decision could compel the Supreme Court to hear a case based on the Second Amendment -- something it has not done since the 1939 U.S. v. Miller case. Willing states that supporters of the collective right/militia argument, like Dennis Henigan, the legal director of the Center to Prevent Handgun Violence, feel that those who support the individual right view "endorse anarchy." However, the group of scholars who endorse the individual right to arms was recently joined by Harvard constitutional law professor Lawrence Tribe, whose opinions on the meaning of the Constitution have been cited in Supreme Court opinions more than 50 times.

In the other article, author Tony Mauro states that the growing support constitutional and legal scholars have been giving to the individual right argument "angers liberals." Tribe, who some feel is the most influential American constitutional scholar today, stated, "I've gotten an avalanche of angry mail from apparent liberals who said, 'How could you?'" He responds by stating, "As someone who takes the Constitution seriously, I thought I had a responsibility to see what the Second Amendment says, and how it fits." The 1978 edition of his legal treatise American Constitutional Law gave little attention to the Second Amendment, while his recently revised version, which has caused such a stir, gives far more attention to the belief in the individual right to keep and bear arms. "For Larry Tribe to say that there's more to the Second Amendment than originally thought is very important," commented Drake University law professor Tom Baker.

The Fifth Circuit will likely begin hearing arguments in the appeal of U.S. v. Emerson in January or February of next year. Rest assured that NRA, as well as the nation, will follow this case very closely.

The complete text of Judge Cummings landmark decision can be read or downloaded here. It is in Adobe Acrobat format.

8/23/99 - 1999 has certainly been a bad year for gun owners. We've had way too many crazy shootings, and every one strengthens the argument of the gun grabbers that firearms should be outlawed altogether. Of course, we know that gun bans and prohibitions don't work, but the body politic being what it is, the threat is real that we could suffer serious erosion of our Second Amendment rights as a result of these shootings. I enjoy the shooting sports and I value my guns in their personal defense role. It really upsets me when these crazy crimes happen because of the devastation and tragedy of them and the political damage they do to us. These are times when every gun owner needs to be involved in the political process where the decisions get made about our gun rights. Even if you only have hunting guns, get involved. Check out our Gun Control/RKBA links for intellectual ammunition. Also see our online Documents and Gun Quotes for the words of the world's leaders on gun control, the right to own and bear arms, and the Second Amendment.

8/20/99 - I subscribe to one gun magazine, Gun Tests. I read a bunch of others, but Gun Tests is the only one to which I subscribe. Why? Because Gun Tests accepts no advertising. I read several others, particularly Combat Handguns and American Handgunner, but I buy those off the rack when the spirit moves me. Gun Tests compares and tests guns, ammo, and some accessories, and since they aren't beholding to any manufacturer's big advertising budget, I have more confidence that they will give a fair evaluation. Most of the other gun mags publish reviews that make every new gun sound like the greatest thing since bubble gum, and you know intuitively that they all can't be great. Everybody builds a lemon sometime; even the greats come up with a bad design once in a while.

So, what can be gleaned from the pages of Gun Tests about 1911 Land? The first observation to be made is that the 1911 is perhaps more popular now that at any time in its history, or at least since WW II. There are certainly more 1911-pattern models and manufacturers today than at any time before. In fact, we have a bewildering array of choices when considering the purchase of a 1911-pattern pistol. A second major trend in 1911 guns is to add the "custom" features at the factory rather than selling only an M1911A1 clone and forcing the buyer to find customization on his or her own. I think of this as the "Kimber style" since the pistol upstart Kimber led the way on this particular trend, forcing Springfield and Colt to play catch-up. The last major trend worth noting is that everyone seems to want to build lightweight, ultra compact 1911's.

Some specifics from the pages of Gun Tests:

In the April, 1999 issue, Gun Tests tested three .45 for speed in getting the first and second shot off. The three guns were the Kimber Compact Custom (my favorite pistol), the Glock Model 21, and the Ruger P90. Guess what? The Kimber won.

In the June, 1999 issue, Gun Tests has a "Full-Size .45 Auto Showdown." The four guns tested were the Springfield Loaded 1911A1, Kimber's Custom Classic, Glock's Model 21, and the Colt M1991A1. In this test, the Springfield came in first and the Kimber second. They also liked the Glock but gave the Colt a "don't buy" based on function problems.

In the July, 1999 issue, Gun Tests compared the Kimber Compact Custom, the Glock 30, the Colt CCO, and the Springfield Champion. Their favorite was the Kimber. Second choice was the Glock. The Colt CCO was OK "with fixes" and the Springfield was not recommended, "We think the others are better buys."

In the September, 1999 issue, Gun Tests compared the Kimber Ultra-Elite, the Adventurer from Cylinder & Slide and the Sprinfield Ultra-Compact. Predictably, the favorite was the Kimber, the C&S pistol came in second, in part because of its high price, and the Springfield came in  third. However, I don't really feel that this was a fair comparison, in that the Kimber Ultra-Elite and the Cylinder & Slide pistols are both expensive, limited run pistols, closer to hand-fitted custom pistols than real production run guns like the Springfield. The Springfield cost $700; the Kimber was $1,000, and the C&S was $1400. Also, I would have liked to see the Wilson Sentinel included in this comparison.

One correspondent requested the contact info for Gun Tests since he couldn't buy it in his area. Here it is:

Gun Tests Magazine:

Belvoir Publications
P.O. Box 2626
Greenwich, CT 06836-2626
Telephone (203) 661-6111
customer_service@belvoir.com

8/1/99 - From Stacy Kness, a note on bad 1911 barrels:

"Just wanted to drop a line letting you know that there is a problem with High Standard barrels the US Army had contracted as replacement parts. After attending small arms repair school in the Army I learned that most of the barrels that were supplied by High Standard had not been tempered correctly and showed a marked problem in cracking on the upper part of the breech. After spending a weekend servicing 300 weapons, 85 were red flagged with this problem. 84 were High Standard barrels. I see a lot of spare barrels for the .45 Government Model at gun shows and have run across many High Standard ones, some even showing the cracks. Just something I learned and felt I needed to pass along. Would hate to see someone buy a replacement barrel and have it blow out on them. I do think they were recalled, but you still see a lot of them out there."

How do you spot a High Standard barrel? "From what I remember, they will be stamped HS right by the pin hole for the link. I think there were a few other codes listed as well."

7/19/99 - The patron saint of gun-toting statisticians, Professor John Lott, Jr. and his partner, William M. Landes, have released a study that confirms something I've been thinking for a long time--that these multiple murder shootings tend to take place where people are not allowed to carry personal defense weapons. The converse is also true: they don't tend to happen in places where people carry legal concealed weapons. The so-called "gun free zones" are actually free violence zones. This document is an Adobe Acrobat PDF. Read or download it here.

6/26/99 - Thanks to Steve Para, I have a set of cut-away photos of an Auto-Ordnance 1911-A1. Check them out.

6/10/99 - When you hear the word "Columbine" odds are you don’t think of a delicate blue and white flower that grows in the high country of the Rocky Mountains. The images which come to mind are of S.W.A.T. teams advancing cautiously behind fire trucks toward a concrete structure like Marines behind tanks on Okinawa. Images appear of bleeding teenagers, young faces stained with tears and terror, anguished parents, and grainy photos of the young killers who look too young and too normal to be capable of such a hideous crime. This crime has proven to be an absolute gold mine for the gun grabbers. The only thing which surprises me about it is the nakedness of their exploitation of this tragedy to push through gun control laws which have nothing to do with the crime at Columbine. None of the gun control proposals thrust upon the congress would have prevented the Columbine shooting. The passionate rhetoric about the safety of children is just a cynical smoke screen for a political agenda that cares little for the safety of children. If you are reading this, you probably care about guns and your constituional right to own and bear arms, and if you do care, join the NRA if you aren't already a member. If you don't like the NRA, join Gun Owners of America. Write your senators, representatives, and local newspapers. Don't allow yourself to believe that your voice doesn't count because it does. Get involved.

The tragic rampage at Columbine High School illustrates the great weakness of all gun control legislation: criminals don't respect laws. That's what makes them criminals. Eighteen existing gun laws were broken by these two young terrorists. Sawed-off shotguns are a felony without a special license. They concealed their guns without a permit to do so. One was too young to be in possession of a pistol. They had their guns on school property, another federal offense. There are also laws against murder, assault, possession of explosive devices, and destruction of public property. As we rush to ban guns to make the world safe for the criminally insane, perhaps we should outlaw plumbing and baseball, so that no one can build a bomb. For more on the failure of gun control laws, see Daniel B. Polsby's article, "The False Promise of Gun Control" and the "Letter to Congress" from 290 academic researchers attesting to the counterproductivity of gun control laws.

5/15/99 - What would really happen if guns were prohibited in society? Well, the military would still have them. I don’t see them going back to swords and spears anytime soon. The bodyguards of the wealthy and powerful would still have them. I doubt that the president will disarm his Secret Service bodyguards. And because firearms would be present in the system, criminals would be able to get them through theft, smuggling, and black market dealing. Law enforcement agencies would still have them because they would know that criminals would be armed. So really, only law-abiding citizens, the group that is least likely to misuse firearms, would be prevented from owning them. Consequently, our hypothetical gun prohibition would be discriminatory. It would allow certain classes of people to be in possession of firearms while other classes would be barred from owning them. This sounds like a typical banana republic dictatorship to me, not America where all people are created equal, and endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights such as life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. It sounds like the paternalistic elitism of pseudo-liberals who want to force their vision of a behaviorist utopia on American civilization.

4/7/99 - Missouri turned down the Concealed Carry referendum by a narrow margin. I'm bummed out by that. I don't even live in Missouri, but it's a loss to me anyway. What's really sad is that only 34% of the registered voters turned out to vote. Any time someone tells you their vote doesn't count, tell them they're full of crap. Apparently, the referendum carried in 90%+ of the precincts in the state only to be beaten by the suburban St. Louis vote. Apparently they bought into Hillary's double-speak prattle about "safety." This is a loss to the Constitution and to the safety of everyone in Missouri. In no state which has approved shall issue concealed carry have "Wild West" conditions emerged and in every state where shall issue concealed carry has been enacted, violent crime against persons has declined. That's safety. Nevertheless, Hillary, Sarah, HCI and the rest of the gun grabbers continue to spew forth the lie that we will be safer if we are disarmed, contrary to all the facts and statistics which reveal clearly that they are dead wrong.

A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.

United States Constitution, Amendment II

 

4/2/99 - The NRA has updated and reprinted the classic booklet, The .45 Automatic. The latest version offers owners and admirers of the classic hangun design by John M. Browning a selection of previously published articles covering "Assembly, history and performance of the U.S. M1911-series pistols and the commercial models." The 26-page booklet features photographs and technical drawings of rare and modified .45 pistols. To order up to three copies of the $2.95 booklet, stock No. PB01630, send payment plus $3.50 shipping to: National Rifle Association, P.O. Box 5000, Kearneysville, WV 25430-5000 or call (800) 336-7402.

2/20/99 - Springfield Armory has come out with a new line of "loaded" 1911's. They look suspiciously like Kimbers. Wonder why? Maybe `cause Kimber was eating Springfield's lunch? Springfield has brought out a ported Government Model called the V-12. I don't like ported pistols, but this one looks sharp. Check them out at http://www.springfield-armory.com/pistol_top.html. I definitely want one.

The Kimber Compacts continue to receive rave reviews from the gun rags, and in this case, it's not just hype. Their latest offering is a sub-compact called the Ultra Carry, one of those itty-bitty 1911's that look like it would tear your arm off. Bears a strong resemblance to the Wilson Sentinel. Kimber has updated their web site, btw. Kimber America

Wilson Combat has come out with a new ultra compact, The Sentinel. Looks pretty sharp if you can handle the price tag. See them at Wilson Combat.

For you listserv types, there's a new 1911 TechTalk listserv being run by Geoff Beneze on OneList. It seems to be picking up a lot of the users from the old 1911 list on scifi.squawk.com. This may have something to do with people's objections to the way Nick handled a dispute with Geoff. I, for one, felt that Nick was out of line in posting an insulting message about Geoff after he had bumped Geoff from the list. I'm not sure what Geoff did to annoy Nick, but I know there's usually two sides to everything.

A new 1911 web site with which I am very impressed is Model 1911A1.com, Oliver de Gravelle's site on WWII production 1911A1's. This site is a must see for collectors of the 1911A1. It features an extensive collection of pictures and production history of the guns built during WWII by Colt, Remington, Ithaca, and Union Switch.