The United States adopted the M1911 pistol just in time for the First World War, and between Colt and Springfield Arsenal some 643,000 of these pistols were made by the end of 1918. During that production and the gun's field service in France, a number of potential improvements were recognized. T...

In the summer of 1918, the US government wanted to increase production of M1911 pistols, but all current manufacturers were working at capacity. So they looked to issue new contracts, and someone realized that the Ross rifle factory was a potential option. Now, the Ross Rifle Company was bankrupt...

The Colt 1911 is one of the most recognisable weapons firearms, featuring in two World Wars as well as being a regular on the big screen and across the biggest video game titles. What you may not have known about this famous pistol is that the British army seriously considered adopting the 1911's...

On the eve of World War One, the Royal Horse Artillery and Royal Flying Corps had both adopted the Webley Self-Loading Pistol, chambered for a special .455 caliber semi-rimmed cartridge. With the needs of wartime, Webley deliveries of these pistols were too slow, and alternatives were sought. The...

France was in an interesting position during World War One of being a primary supplier of rifles and machine guns to its allies, but a major importer of handguns. In addition to a great many Spanish pistols of several types, the French government purchased both revolvers and Government Model 1911...

The Ballester-Molina was designed to be a more economical pistol to produce than the 1911A1, which had been adopted by Argentina as the Pistola Sistema Colt Modelo 1927. It was produced by a company called HAFDASA, an Argentine franchise of the Hispano-Suiza firm created by Arturo Ballester and E...

Korth is a boutique firearms manufacturer in Germany generally known for their very fine and very expensive revolvers. In 2015, they decided to introduce an automatic pistol as well, which they called the PRS. It is a combination of a 1911 frame and a roller-delayed, fixed barrel slide assembly. ...

During World War One, the Russian Government purchased some 51,000 Colt 1911 pistols. These were standard commercial production guns, chambered for .45 ACP, and were shipped in 1916 and 1917, with JP Morgan acting as purchasing agent. They have serial numbers between about C21,000 and C89,000. Th...

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The Colt 1902 Military model was a more popular pistol than some folks might expect, and remained in production well after the introduction of the various .45ACP caliber Colts. It was also rather popular in Mexico - shipments to Mexican dealers accounted for about 2400 guns, roughly 13% of total ...

Edit: I mistakenly referenced North Korea in the video, when I should have said South Korea, as Pusan in well within the South of the country. Sorry!

During (and probably for a short time after) the Korean War, a Korean facility called the Pusan Iron Works did fabrication and repair of 1911-styl...

This is an example of a craft-made pistol captured in Vietnam and brought back to the US. While many Vietnamese fighters were supplied with good-quality weapons from other nations (primarily Chinese-made AK and SKS rifles), weapons are virtually never in sufficient supply for guerrilla-type force...