Thompson LaGarde report

A

Aguila Blanca

Staff
At the start of the 20th century, the U.S. Army assigned Colonel John T. Thompson and Colonel Louis A. LaGarde to conduct “scientific” tests for the purpose of determining the optimum caliber for a new military sidearm.

Does anyone know where I could find a reprint of their official report? It was this report that led to the Army's specification of .45 caliber for the next handgun, and that was the specification for the competition which ultimately resulted in the M1911.
 
I don't know if its fair to say that report led to the requirement for a .45 cal round, but I'm sure it was used to justify the choice by some, at least.

The Army had several decades of seeing what the .45 caliber would do, and had very recently seen what the .38 cal did, and did not do in the Philippines, so I think the report was just "icing on the cake" when it came to choosing a caliber for the upcoming new pistol.
 
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