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.
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 .45 ACP, also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After successful military trials, it was adopted as the standard chambering for Colt's M1911 pistol. The round was developed due to a lack of stopping power experienced in the Moro Rebellion in places like Sulu. The issued ammunition, .38 Long Colt, had proved inadequate, motivating the search for a better cartridge. This experience and the Thompson–LaGarde Tests of 1904 led the Army and the Cavalry to decide that a minimum of .45 caliber was required in a new handgun cartridge.
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.
The Walther P38 is a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol that was developed by Carl Walther GmbH as the service pistol of the Wehrmacht at the beginning of World War II. It was intended to replace the comparatively complex and expensive to produce Luger P08. Moving the production lines to the more easily mass producible P38 once World War II started took longer than expected, leading to the P08 remaining in production until September 1942 and copies remained in service until the end of the war.
Hi-Point Firearms, also known as Strassell's Machine, Inc, is an American firearms manufacturer based in Mansfield, Ohio. All of their firearms are manufactured in several different locations in Ohio.
The Star Model BM is a single-action semi-automatic pistol that fires the 9 mm Parabellum pistol cartridge. It was produced by Star Bonifacio Echeverria, S.A. in Spain and is a compact version of the full size Star Model B. Although its external appearance resembles the classic M1911, its design is different in several respects. For example, the Star does not have the 1911's grip safety. In addition, the thumb safety on the Star BM blocks the hammer, whereas it blocks the motion of the sear on a 1911 and the Star's trigger pivots on a roll pin rather than moving straight back like a 1911A1's trigger to trip the sear. The pistol is fed by an 8-round detachable box magazine.
The Steyr M is a series of semi-automatic pistols developed by Steyr Mannlicher GmbH & Co KG of Austria for police services and the civilian shooting market. Design work on the new pistol began in the early 1990s and the final product known as the M9 was officially unveiled in the spring of 1999. The M40 version chambered in .40 S&W was developed before the M9, followed later by the M357 and two smaller variants of the M9 and M40 designated the S9 and S40 respectively. These pistols were developed primarily for concealed carry and have a shortened barrel, slide, smaller frame and a reduced magazine capacity. In 2013, the Steyr M (Medium) and S (Small) form factors were complemented by the L (Large) sized series and the C (Compact) sized series both available in 9×19mm Parabellum and .40 S&W chamberings as the L9-A1, L40-A1, C9-A1 and C40-A1.
Star Bonifacio Echeverria, S.A. was a manufacturer of small arms in the Basque region of Spain from about 1905 until 1997.
The Model 1200 is a pump-action shotgun that was manufactured by the Winchester-Western Division of Olin Corporation, starting 1964. It was redesignated the Model 1300 in 1978 with minimal changes. Production ceased in 2006 when the U.S. Repeating Arms Company, the subsequent manufacturer, went bankrupt. A militarized version of the Model 1200 was acquired by the U.S. Army for use during the Vietnam War. It is still in active service within various conflicts throughout the 21st century.
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 Smith & Wesson SW series, most commonly referred to as the Smith & Wesson Sigma, was Smith & Wesson's first venture into using synthetic materials in pistol construction, with high-strength polymer material for the frame.
Astra Unceta y Cía was a Spanish weapons manufacturer founded on 17 July 1908, under the name Esperanza y Unceta by Juan Esperanza and Pedro Unceta. Initially based in Eibar, the centre of the Basque arms industry, the company moved in 1913 to Guernica.
Glock is a brand of polymer-framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H.
The Smith & Wesson M76 submachine gun (SMG) was produced by Smith & Wesson from 1967 to 1974.
Llama Firearms, officially known as Llama-Gabilondo y Cia SA, was a Spanish arms company founded in 1904 under the name Gabilondo and Urresti. Its headquarters were in Eibar in the Basque Country, Spain, but they also had workshops during different times in Elgoibar and Vitoria. The company manufactured moderate-priced revolvers and self-chambering pistols in a wide variety of models. These were popular mainly in the European and Latin American export market, as well as domestically in Spain.
The Ruger Security-Six and its variants, the Service-Six and Speed-Six are a product line of double-action revolvers introduced in 1972 and manufactured until 1988 by Sturm, Ruger & Co. These revolvers were marketed to law enforcement duty issue, military, and civilian self-defense markets.
The Astra modelo 400 was a Spanish service pistol produced by weapons manufacturer Astra-Unceta y Cia SA as a replacement for the Campo-Giro 1913/1916, which had also been chambered in 9mm Largo. It was the standard issue sidearm in the Spanish Army during the Spanish Civil War and also saw service in Germany during World War II.
The Beretta Model 1923 pistol was a service pistol used by the Italian Army from 1923 until 1945. The M1923 was designed to consolidate the improvements of the 1915/19 model and to use the 9mm Glisenti round. However, due to the vast amount of handguns available after the end of World War I only 3000 samples, of about 10.000 produced, were purchased by the Italian Army.
The Beretta Model 1915 or Beretta M1915 is a semi-automatic pistol manufactured by Beretta, designed by Tullio Marengoni who was the chief engineer in the company, to replace the Glisenti Model 1910 which had a complex and weak firing mechanism. It is the first semi-automatic pistol, manufactured by the company, and issued as a service pistol in Royal Italian Army during World War I. The total production of the Beretta M1915 is estimated about 15,600 during 1915-1918, and about 56,000 of Beretta M1915/1917. Some of the pistols were also used in World War II until 1945. Its open slide design later became the characteristic for other Beretta pistols such as Beretta M1923, Beretta M1934, Beretta M1935, Beretta M1951, Beretta 70, Beretta 92, Beretta Cheetah, and Beretta M9.
