In the late 1980s, USMC Colonel Robert Young laid out a series of specifications and improvements to make Browning's design ready for 21st century combat, many of which have been included in MEU(SOC) pistol designs.[7][8]
A Marine fires the MEU(SOC) pistol
In 2002, an article in American Handgunner stated that "Marine armorers from the Precision Weapons Section, MCBQ" are making 789 MEU (SOC) 1911's. Corporal Gravenese demonstrates the power of the pistol as shown as above. The revised parts list included barrels, bushings, link pins, sear springs, ejectors, firing pin stops, mainspring housings and mainsprings, all from Nowlin Manufacturing.[9] Slides were ordered from Springfield Armory, with front sight pins, beavertail safeties and recoil spring guides from Ed Brown. Novak was contracted for rear sights, Wilson Combat provided extractors and mag release buttons, while King's Gun Works supplied ambidextrous thumb safeties.[9]
A Marine operator may shoot as many as 80,000 rounds from this pistol during a training-cycle and subsequent deployment.[10] However, it is more common for a Marine to return the pistol to the PWS at Quantico for a rebuild after 10,000 rounds have been fired.[11] A rebuild entails discarding almost all of the gun's parts except for the frame, which prior to 2003 was a U.S. Government frame last manufactured in 1945.[10] The frame is inspected and reused if it is still within military specifications.[10][11] There are frames in the USMC inventory that have had as many as 500,000 rounds fired through them.[10]
The Officer In Command of the Precision Weapons Shop in 2001, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Ken Davis, stated that the M1911 is "the only pistol that can stand up to this use".[10]
However, as the U.S. Marine Corps began its process of hand selecting members from its Force Recon to be submitted to USSOCOM as Marine Corps Special Operations Command, Detachment One (MCSOCOM Det-1), the selection of a .45 ACP M1911A1-based pistol meant roughly 150 units would be needed, more quickly than the PWS could produce them, as PWS were already backlogged with producing DMRs, USMC SAM-Rs, and updating M40A1s to M40A3s, so DET-1 began the search for COTS (commercial off-the-shelf) surrogates to use.[12]
ICQB Pistol
Discovering that the Los Angeles Police Department was pleased with their special Kimber-made M1911 pistols, a single source request was issued to Kimber Manufacturing for a similarly built pistol, despite the imminent release of their TLE/RLII models.[12] Kimber shortly began producing a limited number of what would be later termed the Interim Close Quarters Battle pistol (ICQB). Maintaining the simple recoil assembly, 5-inch barrel (though using a stainless steel match grade barrel), and internal extractor, the ICQB is not much different from Browning's original design.[11]
The final units as issued to MCSOCOM Det-1 are the Kimber ICQBs with SureFire Integrated Military Pistol Light (IMPL), Dawson Precision rail, Gemtech TRL Tactical Retention Lanyards based upon the jury-rigged telephone cord versions, modified Safariland 6004 holsters, Simonich G-10 Gunner Grips manufactured by Simonich Knives (Strider Knives had previously replaced the original Pachmayr rubber grips), and Wilson Combat's '47D' 8-round magazines.[10][12]Tritium Novak LoMount sights replaced the originals which were made in-house by the Marines.[10][12]
Replacement
Marine using a MEU(SOC) pistol in Iraq
A source request was sent out to Springfield Armory, and the Springfield Operator, based on the FBI's TRP pistol, was built.[13] Due to wear and tear of the MEU(SOC) pistols and increasing numbers of Marine personnel in Force Recon and MARSOC, the U.S. Marines began looking commercially for replacements. Marine Corps Systems Command announced February 17, 2005, that it was going to purchase 150 Springfield Armory Professional Model pistols for use as MEU(SOC) pistols.[14] This is the same pistol used by the Federal Bureau of Investigation SWAT and Hostage Rescue Teams; however, it had previously been rejected for adoption as the ICQB. Despite the planned purchase of the commercial pistols, Marine Corps Systems Command has continued to solicit parts to build additional MEU(SOC) pistols.[15] In 2010, requirements were once more issued for an off-the-shelf system to replace the custom-built pistols. Three pistols were offered to the USMC as a replacement for current M45 Pistols. Colt offered a modified version of their O1980RG (Rail Gun) pistol, which is derived from their existing XSE line of 1911-style pistols with a desert sand-colored surface treatment and Novak night sights. Springfield Armory entered a variant of the full-sized Loaded MC Operator M1911A1 pistol with a military-standard 1913 rail, tritium night sights and finished with a two-tone black slide with an olive-drab green frame. The third entry from Karl Lippard Designs, a Colorado Springs-based arms maker, was called the Close Quarter Battle Pistol: an M1911A1-style pistol, built using S7 tool steel and a large number of proprietary components including accessory rail, grip safety, and sights.
On July 20, 2012, the Colt 1911 Rail Gun was selected and won a contract to initially deliver 4,000 pistols for MARSOC and Force Recon.[16] The pistol was redesignated the M45A1 Close Quarter Battle Pistol (CQBP) and up to 12,000 will be delivered.[17] The Colt design is considered an upgrade of the previous pistol, not an entirely new design.[18]
Specifications
The original pistols were hand-selected standard government issued Colt M1911A1s that were gutted, deburred, and prepared for additional use by the USMC Precision Weapon Section (PWS) in Quantico, Virginia.[8] They were then assembled with after-market grip safeties, a rounded hammer, ambidextrous thumb safeties, lighter triggers made by Videcki, improved high-visibility sights, accurized match-grade barrels made by Bar-Sto, Pachmayr rubber grips, front cocking-serrations, and improved stainless steel magazines made by Wilson Combat.[2][3][8][12]
The trigger-pull weight is specified at between 4.5 and 5.0 pounds-force (20 and 22 newtons).[3]
The pistol's components are hand-fitted and are not interchangeable.[3] The last four digits of the weapon's serial number are stamped on the top of the barrel, on the right-side of slide assembly, inside of the beavertail grip safety, on each side of the ambidextrous thumb safety, and on the inside face of the mainspring housing group.[3]
M45A1 CQBP
Colt M45A1 pistol, decommissioned
In 2012, the Marine Corps awarded Colt a contract for up to 12,000 M45A1 pistols with an initial order of 4036 pistols.[17] The Marine Corps issued the M45A1 to Force Reconnaissance companies, MARSOC and Special Reaction Teams from the Provost Marshal’s Office.[19] The improved M45A1 CQBP features several changes to the original M1911A1 design. One feature is the dual recoil spring system that spreads out the recoil force of the .45 ACP round by lowering the peak force of the recoil pulse. It also has 3-dot tritium night sights, a 5-inch national match barrel, ambidextrous safety, picatinny rail, and a desert tan Cerakote finish.[20]
In 2016, USMC command stated that MARSOC had replaced the M45A1 with the Glock 19, largely from a logistic standpoint, not from a performance and reliability standpoint, as a result of other SOCOM branches using the Glock 19. As of March 2019, Force Recon, and other units still use the M45A1 and some units have the Glock 19 or Beretta M9A1 as an alternative.
The current M45A1 does not have a “USMC” rollmark on the slide for either Military or Civilian sales. Marine HQ requested Colt to stop marking the pistols as such. All M45A1s are currently marked “COLT***M45A1” and have a darker, flat dark earth Ion Bond type finish referred to by Colt as “Decobond”. While not as corrosion resistant, it is far more durable of a finish.
The M45A1 ships with Wilson Combat 47 7 round magazines, and is a production grade weapon, rolling off the same line as the commercial M45A1 with identical markings and parts. Colt also offers a custom shop civilian model to achieve higher accuracy, but the Marine issue model is the production grade pistol.
The Browning Hi-Power is a single-action, semi-automatic pistol available in the 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W calibers. It was based on a design by American firearms inventor John Browning, and completed by Dieudonné Saive at FN Herstal. Browning died in 1926, several years before the design was finalized. FN Herstal named it the "High Power" in allusion to the 13-round magazine capacity, almost twice that of other designs at the time, such as the Walther P38 or Colt M1911.
The Colt M1911 is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. The pistol's formal U.S. military designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original model adopted in March 1911, and Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the improved M1911A1 model which entered service in 1926. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam War era.
M45 or variants may refer to:
A semi-automatic pistol is a handgun that automatically ejects and loads cartridges in its chamber after every shot fired. Only one round of ammunition is fired each time the trigger is pulled, as the pistol's fire control group disconnects the trigger mechanism from the firing pin/striker until the trigger has been released and reset.
The Vis or Vis 35 is a Polish 9×19mm caliber, single-action, semi-automatic pistol. Its design was inspired by the Colt 1911 pistol designed by American John Moses Browning.
Colt Defense LLC, together with its subsidiaries, is an American designer, developer and manufacturer of small arms weapons systems for individual soldiers and law enforcement personnel. It is headquartered in West Hartford, Connecticut. The company traces its portfolio of products and services back to Colt's Manufacturing Company and prior to that to Colt's Patent Firearms Manufacturing Company.
The Beretta M9, officially the Pistol, Semiautomatic, 9mm, M9, is the designation for the Beretta 92FS semi-automatic pistol used by the United States Armed Forces. The M9 was adopted by the United States military as their service pistol in 1985.
The M15 General Officers is a .45 ACP pistol developed by the U.S. Army's Rock Island Arsenal from stock M1911 pistols as a replacement for the aging Colt Model 1903 and Model 1908 Pocket Hammerless pistols. The pistol was issued to United States Army general officers as a personal weapon.
The Colt Delta Elite is a modified series 80 M1911 pistol chambered for the 10mm Auto cartridge. It was first introduced in 1987 by the Colt's Manufacturing Company.
The Kimber Eclipse is a model 1911 semi-automatic pistol chambered for the .45 ACP and 10mm Auto cartridges. It is made by Kimber Manufacturing in Yonkers, New York. There are several models of Kimber Eclipse, of different sizes and with different combinations of features.
The Colt Model 1900 is a short-recoil operated "self-loading", or semi-automatic .38 caliber handgun introduced by Colt's Manufacturing Company at the turn of the 20th century. It also marked the introduction of .38 ACP, the round for which it is chambered, and was the first handgun to utilize short-recoil operation.
The Kimber Custom is an M1911 style semi-automatic pistol. It is designed, manufactured, and distributed by Kimber Manufacturing, Inc. in Yonkers, New York.
The Rock Island Armory 1911 series is a product line of single-action recoil operated semi-automatic pistols. They are designed and manufactured by Armscor in Marikina, Philippines, and distributed in the United States by Armscor USA, located in Pahrump, Nevada. Armscor is an ISO 9001 certified-compliant company.
The FN FNX pistol is a series of semi-automatic, polymer-framed pistols manufactured in Columbia, South Carolina, by FN America, a division of Fabrique Nationale d'Herstal. The pistol is chambered for the 9×19mm Parabellum, .40 S&W, and .45 ACP cartridges. It was introduced in 2009 as the successor to the FN FNP.
The Colt Officer's Model or Colt Officer's ACP is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun based on the John M. Browning designed M1911. It was introduced in 1985 as a response from Colt to numerous aftermarket companies making smaller versions of the M1911 pistol.
The Ruger SR1911 is a semi-automatic pistol modeled after the classic Colt M1911 pistol.
The Arsenal Firearms AF2011-A1 is a double-barreled, semi-automatic pistol of Italian origin. The weapon is a derivative of the M1911 pistol and the majority of internal parts including the firing pins, firing pin plates, sear groups, springs, recoil rods, and mainspring housings are interchangeable with standard M1911 replacement parts. The purpose of the AF2011A1 pistol is to increase the ballistic capability of .45 ACP without the need to develop a more powerful round. The AF2011A1 has its roots in the Grieco pistol that also came with double barrels for the same purpose.
The Para-Ordnance P14-45 (14.45) is an improved derivative of the successful United States Armed Forces' M1911 pistol. Created by Para-Ordnance in the 1980s, it was the first ever M1911 derivative to feature a high-capacity double-stack magazine.
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 TM 00526A-24&P/2 U.S. MARINE CORPS TECHNICAL MANUAL ORGANIZATIONAL AND INTERMEDIATE MAINTENANCE MANUAL INCLUDING REPAIR PARTS LIST PISTOL, CALIBER .45, MEU(SOC). Washington, DC: Headquarters, U.S. Marine Corps. 31 August 1994. p.122.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
