This Pistol Has Fought in Every American War for a Century

By Kyle Mizokami,War Is Boring

The 1911 is one of the most notorious handguns in history and easily the most famous in America, having seen action in every U.S. conflict since World War I. One of the most successful product designs ever, the 1911 has achieved something rare in the world of machines: immortality. Over a hundred years old, it remains largely unchanged.

What Apple is to consumer electronics, John Browning was to late 19th and early 20th century firearms. The 1911 is his most famous design. The typical 1911 is 8.25 inches from tip to tail and weighs 2.49 pounds empty — about as much as a trade paperback book. The 1911 is made of steel, steel and more steel, and takes a magazine that holds seven bullets.

The 1911 has seen service in World War I, Mexico, Haiti, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic (twice), Lebanon, World War II, the Korean War, Vietnam, Iran, Grenada, Panama, the Gulf War, the Iraq War and Afghanistan. It has chased bad men from Pancho Villa to Osama Bin Laden.

Minor adjustments have been added here and there, but the general appearance and function of the gun has largely been left unchanged. The 1911 is the personification — among weapons, anyway — of what architect Louis Sullivan termed “form follow[ing] function.” The 1911 was not designed to be beautiful; it was designed to be useful. Ergonomically everything is where it should be for maximum efficiency.

The patent on the 1911 has expired and nearly every gun manufacturer churns out its own copy. The gun you buy today is more or less the exact same gun that was used by doughboys in the Meuse-Argonne in World War I, Army Rangers on D-Day in World War II, and went up Hamburger Hill in Vietnam. You can’t really buy a lot of things that were for sale in 1918 today — not that you would want to.

The 1911 comes from another time — arguably, another America. Never once jamming in firing 6,000 rounds during acceptance testing in 1910, it comes from a time when something was done right the first time so it wouldn’t have to be done again and again and again. That sentiment also informed its killing power.

An effective killer

One day at a gun show in Reno a scraggly character walked up to my display table. He paid particular attention to the 1911 pistol pistols that were on display, with the look of someone who collected dangerous snakes admiring someone else’s snake collection. “I spent some time in the California correctional system,” he said with a grin. “I seen lots of guys with nine millimeter scars but I ain’t never seen anyone with .45 ACP scar.”