Interesting...The 1911 Is Its Own Tool Box
- Thread starter Joe_Pike
- Start date
Deaf Smith
New member
My Colt Combat Commander, Delta Elite, and .40 S&W government all have stock bushings with no guide rod. Only my Kimber Gold Match Mk I has a guide rode (and it came that way.)
Now days 1911s like Colt series 90s don't need nothing. Leave them alone.
Deaf
Now days 1911s like Colt series 90s don't need nothing. Leave them alone.
Deaf
1911_Hardball
New member
Okay, we get it. JMB was a no talent hack. The 1911 was designed by the military.
I'm kidding, of course. EVERY great invention in history has been the result of collaboration. I doubt that John Garand created his masterpiece without seeking input from others.
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Yep, you are correct, and not only the 30...
28, 30, 31, M43, M40, M45, Megastars 10 & 45
When you push out the slide stop, it works as the tool
to remove everything else on the pistol!!
The Ultrastars have a little place you have to push with
a punch, as it's hidden in the Magwell...
or...
When you CAN'T remove a 1911 bushing...
Grow stronger!!!
or, you pistol is too tightly fitted...
I know that today, there are pistols made that require a wrench, but if you can't remove the barrel bushing from a GI spec 1911A1 without resorting to a tool, there is something wrong, either with the gun, or with you...
When you CAN'T remove a 1911 bushing...
Grow stronger!!!
or, you pistol is too tightly fitted...
I know that today, there are pistols made that require a wrench, but if you can't remove the barrel bushing from a GI spec 1911A1 without resorting to a tool, there is something wrong, either with the gun, or with you...
Rangerrich99
New member
That was a great post. Did you come up with that on your own, or did you find that somewhere? Either way, I really enjoyed reading it. Thanks.
Hi, bbqncigars and 1911_Hardball,
I won't deny that JMB was a great firearms designer, perhaps the best of the general gun designers. Others, like Garand, produced fine designs, but no one else had a record of successful designs of such a variety of arms, from vest pocket pistols to heavy machine guns. But I have long felt, (OK, had an obsession) about the JMB fans totally ignoring the role played by the Army boards in making what became the M1911 a better gun than it would have been if left to Browning alone. They are often dismissed as stupid dolts whose only role was to approve whatever "the Master" put before them. But Browning had never (as far as I know) fired a shot in anger and knew next to nothing about military tactics or the actual use of weapons in the field, let alone in combat. None, repeat none, of Browning's previous designs was made to be disassembled away from a workbench (the thought of "field disassembling" a Winchester Model 1886 is pretty frightening). It was just that sort of practical experience that was the contribution of the junior officers on the boards and made the 1911 a pioneer among the world's military pistols.
Jim
I won't deny that JMB was a great firearms designer, perhaps the best of the general gun designers. Others, like Garand, produced fine designs, but no one else had a record of successful designs of such a variety of arms, from vest pocket pistols to heavy machine guns. But I have long felt, (OK, had an obsession) about the JMB fans totally ignoring the role played by the Army boards in making what became the M1911 a better gun than it would have been if left to Browning alone. They are often dismissed as stupid dolts whose only role was to approve whatever "the Master" put before them. But Browning had never (as far as I know) fired a shot in anger and knew next to nothing about military tactics or the actual use of weapons in the field, let alone in combat. None, repeat none, of Browning's previous designs was made to be disassembled away from a workbench (the thought of "field disassembling" a Winchester Model 1886 is pretty frightening). It was just that sort of practical experience that was the contribution of the junior officers on the boards and made the 1911 a pioneer among the world's military pistols.
Jim
Sorry that I am focusing on simply one small bit of your (fine!) post, but if you can honestly say that John Browning was "...perhaps the best of the general gun designers" then I would truly like to know who else you believe would round out the top five?
I'm just one guy that doesn't know much, but I can't imagine anyone comes close to what JMB accomplished in firearms design.
Really, tell me who even approaches his accomplishments in firearms design?
I'm just one guy that doesn't know much, but I can't imagine anyone comes close to what JMB accomplished in firearms design.
Really, tell me who even approaches his accomplishments in firearms design?
I feel Browning truly deserves the title "genius", not just for the ingenuity of his designs, AND the number of them, but also for the way he did business.
And, by that I mean he gave the customer what they wanted. Browning wasn't a gunfighter, or a combat soldier, and based on what he did, he knew it.
He wasn't the kind of man who claimed his designs were "perfection". If the customer (US Army) wanted changes, he made changes. Another aspect of his genius was that his designs were adaptable TO those changes.
I agree, current "history" doesn't give those people who helped Browning turn his prototypes into the M1911 don't get the credit they deserve. They are "faceless" Army officers, unknown to history as individuals...
The service history of the M1911 /1911A1 speaks for itself. No other combat pistol can match it. There is, however a Browning design that will surpass it, in military use, the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. In another half dozen years or so, it will pass the century mark in active service.
In my opinion, if you were to choose one weapon that "won" WWII, its not the M1 Garand (though the Garand did have huge impact), and its not even the 1911A1 (which did a lot of keep individual troops alive) or the Atomic Bomb, it is the Browning .50 cal machine gun.
And, by that I mean he gave the customer what they wanted. Browning wasn't a gunfighter, or a combat soldier, and based on what he did, he knew it.
He wasn't the kind of man who claimed his designs were "perfection". If the customer (US Army) wanted changes, he made changes. Another aspect of his genius was that his designs were adaptable TO those changes.
I agree, current "history" doesn't give those people who helped Browning turn his prototypes into the M1911 don't get the credit they deserve. They are "faceless" Army officers, unknown to history as individuals...
The service history of the M1911 /1911A1 speaks for itself. No other combat pistol can match it. There is, however a Browning design that will surpass it, in military use, the M2 .50 caliber machine gun. In another half dozen years or so, it will pass the century mark in active service.
In my opinion, if you were to choose one weapon that "won" WWII, its not the M1 Garand (though the Garand did have huge impact), and its not even the 1911A1 (which did a lot of keep individual troops alive) or the Atomic Bomb, it is the Browning .50 cal machine gun.
The 1911 was designed for the bottom edge of a magazine to be used as a bushing wrench. Need more ? Replace or stone the bushing !
The nicest take apart gun I can think of is a REVOLVER !!
The French military 1873 . One screw. The end of the center pin is a screw driver .The ONE screw holds the handles together . There are cams to hold things like the mainspring . Without instruction the whole thing came apart extremely fast . For a black powder handgun this means that a thorough cleaning of corrosive powder residue is very easy !
The nicest take apart gun I can think of is a REVOLVER !!
The French military 1873 . One screw. The end of the center pin is a screw driver .The ONE screw holds the handles together . There are cams to hold things like the mainspring . Without instruction the whole thing came apart extremely fast . For a black powder handgun this means that a thorough cleaning of corrosive powder residue is very easy !
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1911_Hardball
New member
I cannot take credit for this.
It's been many years since I came across it and have no idea to whom credit should go.
Another interesting utility feature of the venerable 1911 as originally designed is that you can use a fired .45 ACP case for a lost recoil spring plug...and while I've never completely lost that high velocity cap when it escaped my greasy fingers during field stripping, I've come darn close. Rod
44 AMP wrote, "any man who can remove the safety BEFORE removing the mainspring housing is a better man that I."
It is pretty easy; I had no idea anyone would find it difficult.
On JMB, "He wasn't the kind of man who claimed his designs were 'perfection' ". From some things I have read, that is exactly the kind of man he was. He fought every proposed change and idea that didn't come from him. Of course, he was good and darned well knew it, and like many people of genius, he was a proud man who did not suffer fools gladly. The military won their arguments by the power of the purse, even when their ideas resulted in a better product.
As for firearms designers, many are quite rightly lauded for major contributions, but basically worked on one design. They include Garand, Kalashnikov, Stoner, Luger, Mauser, Colt*, etc. Others literally worked on dozens of designs; among them, in addition to Browning, include Mason, T.C. Johnson, Pedersen, Borchardt, Bergmann, Mannlicher, etc.
*Colt really designed one gun, the basic Paterson; later percussion revolvers were improvements. Colt, of course, never played any role in the SAA and later guns.
Jim
It is pretty easy; I had no idea anyone would find it difficult.
On JMB, "He wasn't the kind of man who claimed his designs were 'perfection' ". From some things I have read, that is exactly the kind of man he was. He fought every proposed change and idea that didn't come from him. Of course, he was good and darned well knew it, and like many people of genius, he was a proud man who did not suffer fools gladly. The military won their arguments by the power of the purse, even when their ideas resulted in a better product.
As for firearms designers, many are quite rightly lauded for major contributions, but basically worked on one design. They include Garand, Kalashnikov, Stoner, Luger, Mauser, Colt*, etc. Others literally worked on dozens of designs; among them, in addition to Browning, include Mason, T.C. Johnson, Pedersen, Borchardt, Bergmann, Mannlicher, etc.
*Colt really designed one gun, the basic Paterson; later percussion revolvers were improvements. Colt, of course, never played any role in the SAA and later guns.
Jim