Nomenclature 1911

[Catpop]

If a 5" 1911-A1 is known as a government model.
What is the correct name for the 4" and 3" versions?
Officers and compact maybe? Something else?
Tx Catpop

 

[WestKentucky]

Officer and commander?

 

[Jim Watson]

If a Colt
5" Government Model
4.25" Commander, Combat Commander, "Lightweight Commander", CCO.
3.5" Officer's ACP
3" Defender, Agent

Other brands can and do make up their own names.

 

[Catpop]

Tx Jim, Catpop

 

[maxxhavoc]

Jim nailed it. Accessory vendors (and many people) generally refer to them like this:

Full grip, 5" Barrel-government model.
Full grip, <5" barrel-Commander
Short Grip-Officer's, Compact

Other brand's compacts have the most variety, 3", 3.25" and 3.5" barrels are common. The grips and magazines are the same size (as far as I have seen.)

 

[Lucky Derby]

If a Colt
5" Government Model
4.25" Commander, Combat Commander, "Lightweight Commander", CCO.
3.5" Officer's ACP
3" Defender, Agent

Other brands can and do make up their own names.

This

 

[Catpop]

So the short grip is also "one" of the main distinctions between the officers and government models.
Tx maxxhavoc, Catpop

 

[JTQ]

So the short grip is also "one" of the main distinctions between the officers and government models.

Correct.

Government and Commander have a full size grip.

Officer, Defender, and CCO have a shorter grip.

 

[19-3Ben]

If I'm not mistaken, CCO is the oddball in that we get a 4.25" barrel of the commander, but attached to the smaller officer's frame, rather than the commander frame which is full sized.

 

[Nom de Forum]

"Lightweight Commander" It is just "Commander". Would you refer to a "Combat Commander" as a "Heavyweight Commander"? I don't think so.

 

[JTQ]

"Lightweight Commander" It is just "Commander". Would you refer to a "Combat Commander" as a "Heavyweight Commander"? I don't think so.

For clarity, in Colt's original nomenclature your observation is correct. However, at some point in the not too distant past, Colt started calling their steel framed Commanders simply Commander, dropping the Combat name. Their aluminum framed Commander guns were then called Lightweight Commander to differentiate them from the steel framed guns.

 

[Jim Watson]

JTQ has it right.
I am of the generation that considers the Combat Commander to be a latecomer to the product lineup. But low production of Coltalloy guns and the devolution of the language has led even Colt to invert the nomenclature. To wit
http://www.colt.com/ShopOnline/tabid/62/ProdID/165/Default.aspx

 

[AlexanderA]

"Government Model" was Colt's name for the civilian ("C"-prefix serial number) version of what they were producing for the U.S. military. An actual GI M1911 or M1911A1 was not called a "Government Model" -- or at least it wasn't marked that way.

(To muddy the waters further, I have Colt-made military replacement slides dating from the 1950's or 60's, that are indeed marked "Government Model." But these were made long after the government contracts for the pistols themselves were over.)

 

[Jim K]

The military guns were called by the military nomenclature - M1911 or M1911A1. It sounds contradictory, but the Government Model was never used by the U.S. government. (Some were sold to other governments, though.)

Strictly speaking, the term "1911" can be applied ONLY to the U.S. Army Model 1911 pistol, not to commercial models, clones, lookalikes, toy guns, plastic pistols, .22 versions, or any other type of pistol, even the Model 1911A1. But, realistically, that term is now used for almost any handgun that even vaguely resembles a Model 1911. IIRC, someone once put a flintlock top on what looked like a Model 1911 frame and called it a "1911".

Jim

 

[Catpop]

Tx for all the great info. Catpop

 

[Lucky Derby]

JTQ has it right.
I am of the generation that considers the Combat Commander to be a latecomer to the product lineup. But low production of Coltalloy guns and the devolution of the language has led even Colt to invert the nomenclature. To wit
http://www.colt.com/ShopOnline/tabid/62/ProdID/165/Default.aspx

Yes, and this drives me nuts.

 

[Nom de Forum]

Yes, and this drives me nuts.

Me too!:banghead: I long ago accepted the fact that Colt is often the most idiotically operated firearms maker. It is amazing they are still around, but I think surviving on a reputation for past glories may someday come to an fatal end.