The Gun Digest Book of the 1911, Volume 1; A complete look at the use, care & repair of the 1911 pistol

Iola, WI: Gun Digest Books, and imprint of F & W Media, Inc., Krause Publications, 2001. Presumed First Edition, First printing. Trade paperback. Very good. Volume 1 of a two volume set. Format is approximately 8.5 inches by 11 inches. 334, [2] pages. Illustrations. Tabular Data. Patrick Sweeney is an American gunsmith (retired), originally from Detroit, Michigan. According to an interview with Shotgun World magazine, he is a well-known author in the field of gunsmithing. Retired from gunsmithing, he writes full-time. He teaches law enforcement classes on the patrol rifle, and gunsmithing the AR-15. In addition to writing books, he was the Handguns Editor of Guns & Ammo magazine from 2007 through 2017. He was co-host of Handguns in its inaugural season, and has been a contributor to Guns & Ammo TV since 2007. When John Browning designed the Model 1911 pistol for Colt's Manufacturing Co. he created the standard by which pistols have been judged for more than 90 years. Now Patrick Sweeney provides the first in-depth look at the Model 1911 in all its forms, complete with information on ammunition, after-market parts and performance testing of semi-custom guns. This book shows you what the 1911 is and what it can become. If you own a 1911 now or have ever considered buying one, this book is for you. This work includes complete evaluation of more than two dozen semi-custom guns. It has data for popular ammo including 460 Roland and 40 Super. The M1911, also known as Colt 1911 or Colt Government, 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. Designed by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. 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. It is popular with civilian shooters in competitive events such as USPSA, IDPA, International Practical Shooting Confederation, and bullseye shooting. Compact variants are popular civilian concealed carry weapons in the U.S. because of the design's relatively slim width and the stopping power of the .45 ACP cartridge. The U.S. military procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols during its service life. The pistol served as the standard-issue sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1985. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The M1911A1 was replaced by the adoption of the 9 mm Beretta M9 pistol as the standard U.S. military sidearm in 1985. However, the U.S. Army did not replace the M1911A1 with the Beretta M9 until October 1986, and due to the M1911's popularity among users, it has not been completely phased out. Modernized derivative variants of the M1911 are still in use by some units of the U.S. Army Special Forces, U.S. Marine Corps and the U.S. Navy.