1911 guy, everyone knows the accomplishments of the 1911 but why have just about all police, military and private security firms, abandoned it? There must be a reason other then they are wrong.
Don't get me wrong the 1911 is my fav. gun and the one I trust my life to daily.
Yep, the 1911 is an incredible gun in the hands of a man or woman who knows how to use it well.
Why do police, miltary and private security firms avoid a 1911?
1. For our military . . . it was NATO politics at the time. We abandoned the .45ACP to go to the common NATO standard of a hot 9mm round.
Why an Italian bottom feeder? Geez, I don't know. I was talking with a friend who just returned from "playin' in the sand" (in Iraq AND Afganistan). He's an E-8 and he hates the M9 like I do. When you've got a determined suicide attacker comin' at you and you've only got access to a handgun, why in the hell would you want it to be a 9 millimeter? (On a side note, some of our guys who have to kick the doors in over there have gone to AK-47s for that down and dirty duty. Same issue . . . more knockdown power, vs. our .22 caliber rifles.) When you have an enemy who won't "lay down" and quit when hit . . . you'd better have something that will "plant" 'em before they can shoot your too!
The danged M9 pistol is HUGE for such a tiny cartridge and measley recoil levels too . . . plus the big grip makes it hard for some of today's military's members with small hands to point and shoot it accurately.
Why this choice will always baffle me. I'd rather be totin' a plastic framed pistol (such as a Glock) over there in the heat if I had to use a 9mm anyway, rather than a huge, metal-framed 9mm.
2. Why Police? Politics again. Cocked and Locked carry scares some folks, plus not all officers are any better at handling a gun than ol' Barney Fife. Thus, all officers in some jurisdictions who are wonderful handgunners are denyed the best automatic fighting handgun on the planet simply to lower the standard so the chosen handgun is "safe" in the hand of folks who REALLY shouldn't be carrying a gun anyway. Ditto with Security Firms.
Frankly, I'm in agreement on this one . . . when some folks simply cannot shoot worth a crapola, it is very wise to shoot a firearm that will be more idiot-proof than a 1911.
John Browning didn't design guns for folks who couldn't shoot . . . he designed the ultimate fighting handgun. Sgt. York shot his 21 times (3x7 rnd. clips) when capturing well over 100 German soldiers in WWI. He testified later that he doesn't believe he wasted a single shot from his rifle OR his 1911. Each round dropped another scared enemy soldier . . . fired by a country boy who knew how to hunt and shoot accurately. Would an M9 have done better? Would an M9 POSSIBLY have done worse by failing to incapacitate those Germans who were so well done in by York's 230 grain bullets?
In any event, John Browning knew how to build the perfect, single action fighting handgun.
Yep . . . I tote a 1911 too . . .