Cold War Guns: The M1911A1 .45 ACP Pistol

Continuing on with our Cold War guns series, this next one up is a carry over from WWI and WWII. Yes, you already read the title and looked at the pictures, we are going to discuss the famous M1911A1 .45 ACP pistol. 

While many folks might view the old 1911 as “the gun that won two world wars”, prior to the first Gulf War, American servicemen carried the classic .45 ACP pistol in all of the previously mentioned proxy wars during the era we refer to as the Cold War. Rather than attempt to retell the 1911 origin story, I will instead give you a personal perspective of training with and carrying the M1911A1 during the Cold War.

In the summer of 1986 I was all of 19 years old. Young and motivated, I had enrolled in the executive protection (bodyguard) training program of Executive Security International. The Lead Firearms Instructor for that school was none other than John S. Farnam.

During the two-week residency program held in Aspen, Colorado, John put us through an intensive 4-day tactical handgun course. Everyone but me showed up with their own blasters. Being the tender young age that I was, I couldn’t even purchase a handgun, so I rented one for the duration. 

The rental guns of choice in 1986 were WWII surplus M1911A1 pistols in stock configuration. No flared and lowered ejection ports, no perfectly fit magwells, no Pachmayr grips, no extended controls, and no aftermarket sights. Nope, none of that. For the class I was issued a stock M1911A1 pistol, three 7-round magazines (the new follower design to allow eight rounds wasn’t available yet), a leather “pancake” holster and two leather mag pouches.

For four days we launched reloaded .45 ACP ammunition that used cast lead round-nosed bullets. I recall that everyone in my class had some form of M1911A1 save for two exceptions. A gentleman from South America had a DA revolver and one other student had a then-new stainless S&W DA/SA 9mm pistol.

All told, for my very first formal firearms training course I likely fired well in excess of 1000 rounds of ammo. The guns got very dirty and we cleaned them in our hotel rooms in the evening. I recall that by the morning of Day 3, my roommate and I had put white athletic tape on our hands and fingers to protect the spots that were red and rubbed raw. 

A former US Marine officer and platoon leader in Vietnam, Mr. Farnam was a serious taskmaster. On the final day there was an intense qualification course shot entirely on steel targets, under time, from the holster. Also, I should mention that John was running a “hot range” when the rest of the country would never dare to do so. John taught us to load and carry our 1911 pistols “locked and loaded” as they should be.

During the evening after our successful graduation from the firearms portion, we were all righteously proud of our achievement and celebrated with Corona and tequila, but that is a story for a different day.

United States Marine Corps Training

Regardless of any training that I might have taken, I was struck by the reality that no security company in the world was going to hire a 19-year-old kid and let him carry a gun. Discussing my frustration with a police officer acquaintance, he offered some advice. “Why don’t you join the Army? Get some real experience and then look for a bodyguard job.”

Well, there was no way I was going to join the Army. My mind was set on the US Marine Corps and that’s what I did. Less than a week after my 20th birthday, I was on Parris Island. 

The two-week rifle marksmanship program in basic training was one of the best courses in the world. A sign over the road to the rifle range read, “We Train the World’s Finest Marksmen” and that was not hyperbole. I took the training seriously and applied myself and qualified as an Expert with the M16A2 rifle. However, I was disappointed by the “Fam Fire” portion where we recruits were introduced to the M1911A1 pistol. 

“Fam” is shorthand for “familiarization.” This was merely a block-checking exercise. The instructors marched us to the range tables where we pulled the trigger on two magazines loaded with five rounds each. That was it. Ten rounds total. I recall OD green silhouettes being down range, but no one cared if we hit them or not.

Infantry School wasn’t much different. We had one single training day set aside for pistol qual. The armorers brought out large OD green wooden cases filled with pistols and magazines. They set the pistols and mags on the firing point range tables. We were instructed to load and told when to fire. If we had a stoppage, we were commanded to raise our left hand and let a coach clear the gun.

During the qual course, I distinctly remember the barrel bushing, plug and recoil spring of my pistol launching themselves down range. I raised my hand and the armorer, completely unphased, took the pistol from me and handed me another one so I could finish.

There was nothing that even resembled “training” in that portion of the program. Aside from officers and senior NCOs, infantrymen didn’t carry pistols. Once more it was a block-checking exercise. The pistols were so old and worn that when you shook them you could literally hear them rattle. I would venture to say that what rifling there once had been in the barrels was long gone.

Six months later I was in Sea School, the formal program for Marines prior to deployment as a member of a Marine Detachment aboard US Naval warships. This time the pistol program was a bit more serious. We had two whole days to go to the range and qualify. I was able to fire Expert with the pistol and rifle and was awarded the Class High Shooter plaque upon graduation. Ironically, the admin clerk misspelled my last name, but “PFC Paul Markle” went into the books as High Shooter for Class 1-88.

Making the Best of What We Had

I mention all of that to give you an idea of how things were in the military in the late 1980s. Having purchased over a million M1911A1 pistols for WWII, the US DoD had zero interest in buying new guns after the war. Ditto for replacement parts and barrels.

What I was to learn was that those armorers who had skills would take their units’ existing allotment of pistols and cannibalize pieces and parts to come up with the best functioning guns they could. For instance, if a unit had an allotment of 50 M1911A1 pistols, there might be 40 to 45 actual working guns among them.

When I got to the USS Forrestal, a Cold War-era aircraft carrier, I found that our unit’s armorer was, fortunately, a serious gun geek. Our 1911 pistols ran.

Marine detachments were responsible for the securing the movement and storage of the “special weapons” (the kind that make cities glow) on board the ship. As this was serious business, the guard detachment carried loaded pistols, shotguns and rifles as part of our duties.

This wasn’t a training exercise, it was the real deal. However, despite that, the sanctioned carry method for the M1911A1 at that time was “hammer down on an empty chamber, 5-round magazine loaded.” We were told that downloading to five rounds “saved the springs.” Keep in mind, our pistol magazines in 1987 were of WWII vintage. 

When it came time for our regular pistol quals, I was pleased to discover that our pistols did indeed have rifling in the barrels and I was once more able to get up on the board and “High Shooter.” It’s amazing what you can do when the pistol doesn’t fail catastrophically in the middle of shooting.

Although it wasn’t prescribed or officially sanctioned, I made a habit of dry-firing for at least 10 to 15 minutes, three to four times a week. That kept my trigger press sharp during the long at-sea times when we didn’t have a range on which to shoot. 

Americans and their 1911s

While the DoD kept hundreds of thousands of M1911A1 pistols, they also put hundreds of thousands into the surplus market. It was during this era of American history that an entire cottage industry of 1911 gunsmiths arose and the shortcomings of the original design were improved upon.

Larger, easier to manipulate manual safeties were introduced. The ejection ports were flared, polished, and lowered to reduce stovepipe stoppages. Barrel chambers and feed ramps were polished to allow a variety of hollowpoint ammunition to feed in them. The original M1911A1 pistol would not reliably cycle controlled-expansion bullets.

New grip stocks were developed. Back in the day, a true sign of a serious 1911 shooter was a set of Pachmayr rubber grips. Also, the 1911’s diminutive sights were replaced by those you could actually see and find in all lighting conditions. Front sights with brass and genuine gold beads became common. 

NATO and STANAG

Two things combined to create the long lag time before the United States adopted the 9x19mm NATO pistols cartridge, at least in my humble opinion. First and likely most important, the US DoD had a million M1911A1 pistols at the close of WWII and millions upon millions of rounds of .45 ACP ammunition stored in bunkers from coast to coast. The sheer expense of swapping out the old guns for the new NATO STANAG caliber of 9mm was more than they could justify. 

Secondly, Americans truly fell in love with the .45 ACP during the post-WWII era. Witness the riotous pushback in the gun culture when the US Army announced that it was buying a foreign made 9mm pistol. Such controversy dominated the American gun press for at least a decade. Hell, there are still folks carping around the “knockdown power” of .45ACP some forty years later. Despite being “out of service” for nearly four decades now, the M1911A1 pistol did indeed tough it out during the Cold War era. 

Specifications: M1911A1 B Pistol

Caliber: .45 ACP
Action: Single (semi-auto)
Capacity: 7+1 (others)
Barrel Length: 5 inches
Overall Length: 8.5 inches
Weight (empty): 39 ounces

 

Paul G. Markel is a combat decorated United States Marine veteran. He is also the founder of Student the Gun University and has been teaching Small Arms & Tactics to military personnel, police officers, and citizens for over three decades.