It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The pistol served as the standard-issue sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985. military procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols during its service life.

It is popular with civilian shooters in competitive events such as the International Defensive Pistol Association and International Practical Shooting Confederation. The pistol was widely copied, and this operating system rose to become the preeminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols. ĭesigned by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. 45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam War era. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber. 45, M1911A1 for the improved M1911A1 model which entered service in 1926. 45, M1911 for the original model adopted in March 1911, and Automatic Pistol, Caliber. military designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber. The M1911, also known as Colt 1911 or Colt Government, is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the. 7-round or 8-round (.45 ACP) box magazine

Model of 1911 us army serial numbers