"What are we gonna do to replace these colt 1911's?" "....why don't we just buy more colt 1911s?"

"The grips are nice and grippy." That's the kinda things that makes Ian so lovable.

1911-2016 I think John Browning would be proud that his gun lasted 105 years as a military pistol Bravo devil dogs for keeping the old girl a little longer

Before the M45A1, there was the M45. The M45 is the replacement to the MEU(SOC) .45. The MEU(SOC) was built by the Rifle Team Equipment shop. It is the grandfather of pretty much all the modern combat 1911s. They were built by the Marines of the RTE shop at the request of some Force Recon Marines. They were what we would call "match conditioned". They were built to run. They would start with standard government slides and frames. Then had match barrels fitted, in-house machined sights, ambi-safety and an extended beaver tail grip safety. We say match conditioned because at the time the RTE shop was building match 1911s for competition. We didn't fully build them as match guns but a lot of fitting of the barrel to the slide was completed. Enough were built for the Force Recon battalions. They continually were getting rebuilt after they went through a MEU deployment rotation. The Kimbers Ian spoke of were a limited amount of guns bought by the short lived detachment of Marines assigned to SOCCOM. They were bought due to, at the time, RTE (now called Precision Weapons Section-PWS) didn't have the capacity to build more guns for the SOCCOM detachment. I got to PWS in mid-2008. By that time they were building the M45. The M45 was a slightly modified MEU(SOC). There were a few more commercially sourced parts used. We built them off of the stockpile of government frames had. Used Springfield slides with semi-fit Bar-Sto barrels and bushings and Novak sights. Wilson Combat sear, hammer, disconnector, trigger, ambi-thumb safety and beaver tail grip safety. Wrapped with Pachmayr grips. The government frames underwent some modifications. The front hole of the ejector was drilled through to the mag well. The mag well was beveled. The reciever bridge was relieved to prevent shearing the barrel legs off. A standard guide rod was used. After building and QC inspection, the guns were bead blasted and then parkerized and then blued. After refinishing they were proof fired and function fired. We did not have an accuracy standard for the M45. During my time at PWS, we had anywhere from 4 to 8 builders for the M45. We would each build 10 guns at a time. A build cycle (fitting through testing) would take about 2-3 weeks. We could do more than the 50-60 a year Ian stated. The M45A1 came about due to our stockpile of frames drying up. At one point we bought 800 1911s from the Army and ended up with around 200 frames that met our inspection criteria. MarSOC wanted M45s but due to their rapid growth, they outpaced our production capabilities and ultimately the supply of frames. That's when the solicitations went out for a commercial replacement. Thus, the M45A1 was born.

>Colt Rail Gun >named for having a 1913 picatinny rail, not for being able to launch a projectile electromagnetically at Mach 10 Weak showing, Colt. No wonder you're constantly going bankrupt.

US Ordnance: You can't just ignore the advantages of the 9x19mm cartridge such as lower recoil, less wear, cheaper ammunition, higher capacity as well as NATO compliance etc. etc. etc. USMC: haha big boolet go boom.

Doesn't this means that the US armed forces has issued 1911's to _somebody_ for a solid 108 years? That's a dang good service life.

“Colt Railgun” sounds so much cooler than what it is.

Some days you just wish had enough money to buy EVERY gun on this channel...

Remember these have dual recoil springs. Makes for a much nicer recoil impulse compared to a normal 1911

All haters aside John Browning knew what the hell he was doing when he designed the original 1911.

As a former USMC officer (and before that a military brat raised on various Marine bases), you nailed the why. It was the combination of traditional emphasis on marksmanship and the “Marines are too tough” for a 9 mm pistol that made so many Marines want to keep the M1911.

I have a soft spot for 1911s, picatinny rails and guns parkerized with a tan color. This is literally my dream handgun. Edit: It's on sale on their website. Imbel M45 GC MD2, but you still can't customize it. No picatinny, tan color and it's a double stack 14+1 and it's around 1.1K USD. I'm out, I'll stick to my G42 for a while...

Finest quarantine content from Gun Jesus

“Even in 2016 these were replaced with Glock 19s” It’s as if a million fudds cried out and were suddenly silenced

I inherited my grandpas Vietnam era M1911, it is my favorite pistol shoots great, has a lot of finish wear but functions flawlessly, it is my everyday carry because I know it will fire every time

Loved the video! For what it's worth, the Glock 19, literally called the M007, was adopted by MARSOC in 2016/17. However, the M45A1 is still going strong within the Marine Reconnaissance community! The 1911 is kicking the can a little further down the road...

The mag has only 7 rounds cause thats the highest number the average marine can count to

"Italian sissy-pistol", do I detect a new product of Forgotten Weapons merch?

It's still insanely cool that the 1911 as a platform has existed as a standard issue item for the US for over 100 years. Nothing except the M2 comes even close.

"The feeding ramp is polished to a mirror sheen. The slide's been reinforced. And the interlock with the frame is tightened for added precision. The sight system is original, too. The thumb safety is extended to make it easier on the finger. A long-type trigger with non-slip grooves. A ring hammer... The base of the trigger guard's been filed down for a higher grip. And not only that, nearly every part of this gun has been expertly crafted and customized. Where'd you get something like this?"

"Italian Sissy Pistol" should be the official name of the Beretta M9

“Marine Special Forces” I can feel all those jimmies getting rustled like the wind through my beard.

That is probably the nicest looking 1911 pistol I’ve ever seen!

I'm not a 1911 guy but that gun is beautiful

Hey Ian, just a little clarification on the replacement. Marine Recon continues to use the M45 today, although the Marine Corps as a whole is beginning the transition to the M17/18 pistols. That being said, Marine Special Operations Command (which is a separate command to Recon) did switch to the Glock 19 in 2016.

That type of barcode is referred to as a data matrix.

Where do the crayons go?

The 1911 design has one advantage over many other handguns it points very well for most people and don't forget old Slab Sides does not do to bad when it runs out of ammo it makes a pretty good melee weapon.

First gun I was issued 43 years ago. Still my favourite, still got one. Thank you for the upload Sir, stay cool and safe.

"How productive is your remote working Wraith?" "I clicked on a vid that said Uploaded 16 seconds ago"

That is a dream handgun for me lmao. The nice color and unique grips complement the weapons form very nicely. And your presentation was informative and easy to listen too. Over all well done.

USMC 250 years of history unimpeded by progress!

"Italian sissy pistol" Why am I imagining some Gunny dude in the Marines saying that before throwing the Beretta into the ground and stomping hard on it repeatedly?

A friend of mine was in the Marines and had the newer Glock you mentioned. Got to try it out on the range and it was awesome. I was shocked how many rounds it held

Italian sissy pistol, yep sounds like the marine Corp acquisition board

I have one of those, and it's one of my favorite pieces. It's an immaculate handgun, and unbelievably tough. Highly recommended if you can afford it.

Got to handle a couple of these when I was a Marine FAP working alongside the Special Reaction Team. Awesome pistol with an action as smooth as glass.

It's great to see that at least guns get some tan these days.

colt: we made a railgun me: nice, but how do you power it? colt: nah nah, it's a traditional gun me: so... you add the whole train for free? how do i go about laying down the railroads to use it? colt: .... me: ... colt: it's a 1911 with a picatinny rail

I once saw a Marine gate guard carrying one of these when I went to see my friend graduate Marine boot camp at MCRD San Diego. As a 1911 fan I thought it was neat. Never saw one again though.

For some reason, I envy whoever's gonna own this pistol.

While everyone one walking around at a multi unit exercise had a m9 you knew the guys with the tan 1911s were badass haha

What a good looking pistol in a very understated way.

"...some 9mm Italian sissy pistol..." I got a chuckle out of that. :-)

theres a marine that stands gate guard for my base that still carries one of these as his sidearm actually. even while holstered, this is extremely distinguishable from the m9's that everybody else carries around lol

Yay new video time. I am running out of videos to watch on youtube over the past week at home.

my go-to sidearm in Insurgency: Sandstorm :)

You forgot to mention the General Keys. A three star general. The Three stars on the side of the pistol is a reference to him.

In 1909-1910 one of the test pistols went through 6000 rounds of ammo. It got so hot they simply just dunked it in water to cool it down and go at it again. Browning supervised the test himself

They were built by the Precision Weapons Shop, Ian. About 300 yds away from the rifle team’s offices at Quantico.

Your videos are always great. Especially on lockdown, they have been an oasis of sanity; thanks for what you do, Ian.

I carried that exact weapon in the Marine corps when I served. 2002-2012. I love it

Knowing as many Marines as I do (and almost becoming one, myself), I can say your assessment of both those lines of thought being correct is spot on.

Wow. What a piece of art. A hundred years. Amazing.

These never actually got fully "replaced" in the end and are still being used today by any marsoc unit that wants to use them and has actually seen a massive uptick in use again in recent years.

The extended beaver tail also plays well when wearing gloves.

I just realized this video just came out and hope of finding one of these sky rocketed (Estimated Bid) 5-8 thousand dollars And another dream shatters.

Nice that the M1911 is still around as I always wanted one of these guns

The Glock has only replaced it among the Raiders. Recon is still rocking them in full as of late 2020

Love forgotten weapons early in the morning!

Ahhh, the sidearm of every tryhard airsoft player out there.

When your current service weapon is a video on forgotten weapons. Man, that one hurts.

Firing pool balls as opposed to marbles. 45 has a great track record of ending a threat quickly

“Emphasis on marksmanship” proceeds to come in 10th place behind the coastguard in the 2018 International Sniper Competition at Ft Benning

Having handled both M9s and 1911s, and Glocks, obviously the Glock is the superior 'hammer', but it's just that, a hammer. The M9 is well...meh. Kinda fat, kinda heavy for what it is, safety is in a downright dumb position and lacks some ergonomics, etc. The 1911 has great ergonomics, just lacks capacity for its size/weight...."An elegant weapon, for a more civilized age". Overall, yes the 1911 is obsolescent...not obsolete just yet but getting close. But I'd also argue the M9 was obsolescent the day the first Glock 17 rolled out of Austria. There are a couple of considerations to keep in mind though when you're comparing them as 'military' pistols. 1) 9mm NATO is a 124gr FMJ with a rather sharp point. .45ACP is a rather broad round nose 230gr FMJ. 2) .45 isn't going to shrink, and 9mm in the modern context has fully eclipsed .45 because of the insanely good performance of modern JHPs. Which the military can't take advantage of. 3) If you're firing more than a dozen pistol rounds, you should have long since gotten your rifle back up and into action. 4) In a military context, muzzle report and some other related factors can under the right circumstances have a bearing on the morale of the opposition...hence why we don't do widespread suppressed weapons. 5) Neither caliber will penetrate body armor in standard loadings, so the increased penetration of 9mm is functionally irrelevant. 6) Pistol engagements are typically less than 25m, and 9mm doesn't get an edge over .45 for point of aim-impact until you stretch it out to at least 50m. Conclusion: There are valid arguments for having the bigger heavier bullet when you consider the above. And several different experiences in different theaters over the last century or two have shown that for pistols, a larger round can be more effective on certain types of opposition (mainly ones that are high). And in what is decidedly a back up weapon, you're not as overridingly concerned with capacity. My preference if I had my druthers would be a Glock 19, with backup Magpul 21 round magazines as reloads, and 124gr +P JHPs. But given military-type restrictions, I wouldn't consider myself to be under prepared with my rifle and a 1911....it's probably only going to come out of the holster for the rare sneak-n-peek into a closet or something, and at contact range it's about reliably getting off 2-3 rounds.

Whoever did this is a professional, no question. This thing could shoot a one-hole at 25 yards in a machine rest.

Enjoyed the video/history. I bought a Colt M45A1 a few years ago and mine is more of a Dark Earth finish, Shoots just fine.

So, let me get this straight: The *M45A1* is the modernized version of the *M45 MEU(SOC),* which is the modernized version of the Colt M1911? Basically a modernized version of a MODERNIZED VERSION?

The last time I was this early, it had a sight-safety...lol. Awesome to hear about this version! Ian you are keeping many of us sane during a trying time, thank you and best of wishes to you and your family thank you!

Imagine a small mechanical marvel such as this to be in use for well over 100 years and lead the way in pistol design, as well. Stunning. Gun design so old it outlasted very nearly every person on the planet.

0:15 "This is far from forgotten yet, but I'm pretty sure it will be..."

If you want to do an interesting story, do one on the Kimber DET-1 pistol and why they destroyed all of them when they went to the Railgun.

Your information is usually spot on. But history on the these reject Colt m45s with bad coatings and PWS built MEUSOC 1911s is less than accurate. The deactivated Force Recon Companies or Force Co. which no longer exist and most integrated into MARSOC DET1 (KIMBER) and now MARSOC Raiders. Force Recon now is part of Battalion Recon. Not even close to the former 8654 operators selection or capabilities or training pipeline. And FYI these M9s would never had held up to the rigors and round count the hand built 1911s or NSW 226s for that matter went through. All American SMUs at that time inlcuding Delta and ST6 used hand built and constantly maintained match 1911s as they saw up to 2k rounds a day. In the heyday the USMC or Force Recon didnt have much money but had a surplus of 45ACP ammo. You should do a review of various SMU 1911s including the HRT ones built by SA custom shop.

I would love to have a Colt M45A1 in my collection. Thanks for showing this awesome 1911 , Gun Jesus !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Force recon and some marine mp units still use the m45a1 and hasnt been replaced yet. Some recon units are switching to p320s but for the most part the m45a1 hasnt been replaced yet. Marsoc raiders replaced the m45 with the glock but that was it.

Watching this while “ Sergeant York” is playing on the TV !

Wild. It looks almost like one of those plastic guns in a multi-pack you'd find at the dollar general.

A comment on that Beaver Tail. It's not there to protect your hand against the hammer - it's there to protect your hand against that tang (or whatever the right term would be) that was there before (to protect your hand from the hammer). When I was in the Marines (1970-1972) - we carried 1911A1's on some posts. So they had us qualify with them. My Platoon Commander - in the one positive thing he ever did that I'm aware of - taught us a grip for the pistol to help with our accuracy. What we would do - is to put our little finger and the one next to it underneath the trigger guard - then - take our middle finger and (using the other hand) squeeze it in under the trigger guard too. This gave us a very firm grip on the pistol. Other than that it was a standard two handed grip. Now - whether or not it was from this grip or just the number of rounds we expended qualifying - I got a cut in the web of my right hand from that tang on the back of the .45 digging into it with every round fired - which got infected. The end result of that - was that to this day - I can see it as I type - I have this pale, little, crescent shaped scar on the web of my right hand. As to the efficacy of that grip ... well ... it's the only grip I've ever used firing a pistol so I don't have any experience with not using it. But - I did qualify Expert - so ... it doesn't seem to have hurt. As to the 9mm vs. the .45 ... . Pistols are a last ditch weapon of self protection for people whose normal weapon is something else. For security people their real weapon, is their fucking radio. At the distances at which pistols are used, if you can't hit them with 7 or 8 rounds - you deserve what happens - AND if you hit them with ONE round from a .45 - you will probably knock them down - which is what you want. If you disable them - then you can take your time killing them or making them your prisoner - but you have used your pistol to accomplish it's primary purpose - which is to protect YOU from someone about to do you harm. I certainly would not want to be shot by a 9mm (or anything else) but they do not have the stopping power of the .45 - and that is what you want. Stopping power. The REAL question here - since the .45 is undoubtedly superior to the 9mm in stopping power (which AGAIN is what you want) is - why the hell are the Europeans using the fucking 9mm? My guess is - that it's what they've always used. Your MP39-40's were 9mm ... Lugers were 9mm ... so - the Europeans have their heads stuck up their asses about that. For the Europeans - to whom it is simply an article of faith that Americans are stupid - they of course assume that they are right here - when in fact they are not. But they managed to convince our government, that in the interests of NATO commonality (since they were going to continue to be stupid about it) the US should go with a 9mm ... and Beretta won the competition. I have NEVER heard a single person who was trained in the use of the .45, then used the 9mm Beretta - say that they were happy with the transition. I have heard a LOT who were FURIOUS about it. I know nothing about the Glocks ... so I don't have a comment on that. Ah ... but I looked this up en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glock#Glock_19 and ... yeah ... .45's were available but they, being shit heads, stayed with the 9mm. Some people just can't admit they've made a mistake. Oh ... and one last thing - I have an interest in getting a 1911 type pistol so I looked at some of the online Prices for those M45A1's - and they were like $1400 - $5000 ... .

Got mine absolutely love it

Their is way more to this story this program was dead before it started I was on the test and evaluation team for this weapon

"Italian 9mm sissy pistol" - That is how i'll forever refer to my 92FS now lol

ICONIC sidearm right there. Awesome.

I carried the old M1911 in the Corps, at short range they were fine, but they were so old and beat up after 3 wars at that time, they needed to be replaced. I carry a P250 Sig in SW 40. I love it.

I'll gladly give you my nickel-satin Combat Commander on Tuesday, for an M45A1 today.

Grips for fancy battalion.

Nice bit of history. Thanks Ian.

1911 is like a sore pecker. You just can't beat it. Don't even try. Thanks for the content.

good old john moses browning

"this is far from forgotten yet, but it would be better if it was".

My favourite pistol of all time, beautiful things!

Absolutely beautiful pistol I'm a big fan of 1911's and that is a amazing example

The US military: finally adopts something in 9mm The USMC: but muh .45

I learned about this gun from R6, very cool and interesting history i must say

I bought one when they were first being sold. Marked USMC instead of M45A1 like the newer ones. I was a motivated Cpl at the time and just had to have one. Spent way too much on it but I still love the damn thing

Yes we would agree to both of those. I did notice how you tiptoed around that..

My thought, at first glance: "Who made a gun out of white chocolate?"

"Because it's in .45 and that's what they like." Hey, Crayon Eaters know what they want. Can't fault 'em on that.

I've watched this video before and somehow I missed the 9mm Italian Sissy Pistol part, this time I caught it though, and I shot the coffee straight out of my nose.

He's right we accept both explanations. These were usually used by Raiders, Recon, and MEU(SOC). The Glock 19 was chosen for it's size and reliability. On occasion MARSOC need to conceal weapons for various reasons.