I came somewhat late to the 1911 platform and older Colts. When I turned 18 and had the right to buy guns, Hollywood action movies were all the rage (Lethal Weapon, Schwarzenegger, Die Hard etc..) so my early inclination was towards the pistols seen in those movies such as the Beretta 92 and the Desert Eagle.

My first 1911 was a Stainless Delta Elite on sale at the LGS, built 1991 but bought new in 2000, they were slow movers then, at least here in Switzerland. Only in 2013 did I develop a real interest and started buying more of them, reaching abt 15 today, mostly Colts.

But today I thought I’d post just 4 of them, all from a different generation :

1913 - 1911
1943 - 1911 A1
1970 - Government Model (commercial)
1977 - Government Model Mark IV / series’ 70





















That’s it, that’s the post.

I also came late, regretfully, to the 1911 party. Very nice pistols.

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" I don't recall, senator."

Beautiful pistols.

All these 1911 threads is really making me want to get another one (or 20).

Nice herd of ponies.

Thanks for sharing them.

Thank you for sharing your pictures. They are very nice. The 1911 occupies a soft spot in my heart. The first handgun I fired was a 1911A1 that my father brought back from his U.S. Army service in WWII. My brother still has that one. I have several USGI and one Argentine, as well as several other newer knock-offs. I will have to get them out for a photo shoot.

Nice collection of Colt 1911's.

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Classic, I wonder if you could bring us up-to-date on your rights/obligations w/firearms there in Switzerland. For example, I understand that the citizen-soldier is no longer permitted to keep their automatic rifle at home. Do you folks have any right to carry, concealed or open? Any onerous 'safe-storage' requirements? Perhaps a topic-specific post in the Lounge? Thanks!

Beautiful collection of Pony's! I also have a 1911, 1911A1, Gov't model from 1917/18 (I forget right now) and then a series 70 from the 90's and one from about 2 years ago. Pretty awesome run for that platform, when you consider it's still going strong with updates, well past 100 years after the same basic gun.

Colt's are my favorite 1911 pistols! Yea - there are really high priced, fancy, super duper accouterments on many other brands and versions but at the end of the day the Colt's are accurate, well made and they work right out of the box! Sort of Plain Janes that work!

Todays Colt 1911's (especially their Gold Cups) are incredibly great guns! Actually surprisingly so. I have 6 friends and shooting bud's that at my recommendation purchased new Series 70 Gold Cups and they could not be happier! They are accurate, incredibly reliable right out of the box, well made and reasonably priced as compared to some other high end brands.

I've got a bunch of Colt 1911's and they are my most fired hand guns! Used my iron sighted 1970's Series 70 GCNM for Bullseye competition for a long time.

The Gov't models are excellent as well and there's nothing better than the WWII USGI models with history!

Beautiful guns and photos

Now please tell us how handguns are purchased in Switzerland

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Switzerland has the reputation to be a very gun friendly country, especially compared to neighbouring countries in Europe.

However new gun laws are being introduced under the pressure of the European Union with whom Switzerland has bilateral commercial trade accords.

You need to apply for a gun permit at the bureau of arms for each gun. Cost is $ 50 per permit. For that you obviously need a virgin criminal record. You may put up to three guns on the same permit but those have to be bought the same day from the same seller. That leads to some regrouping amongst sellers at gun shows, and also to some compulsive buying, to fill the second and third line and amortise the permit.

We used to be allowed to carry, concealed only, but that now requires another permit which is nearly impossible to get unless your profession requires it. Private transaction used to be allowed without permit but that’s no longer the case.

We are still allowed to acquire and possess full auto weapons for collection purposes, or professional needs. Those require an exceptional permit, which has a few more conditions required, such as already having a small collection, a bolted safe, bolts have to be stored separately and another permit is required to shoot them.

This limits interest in them and they are therefore fairly cheap here, say $ 2-2500 for an M16, $ 1500 for a Glock 18, HK MP5 start at $ 2000, a Thompson starts at $ 1800 etc..

The Swiss army is a militia / conscripts army. The particularity was that service was spread over years, you started with basic training for four months (plus another three if you go to under officer school), then you’d have a repeating or training three weeks course every year until a certain age, depending on your grade. I think it used to be close to 40 yrs for private, and up for officers.

At the end of you service you have the possibility to keep your service rifle (for private) or pistol (for officers). Therefore attics and gunshows are littered with old straight pull rifles, Stgw 57 and 90 (full auto bits are removed), Swiss revolvers, Lugers, P210 and 220.

Nowadays and with the end of the Cold War 30 years ago, the Swiss army has been drastically reduced and professionalised, went from 600’000 potential soldiers including reservists to abt 150’000 today. It’s still conscripts but shorter and a lot more kids get away without having to do it. Which in a way is a shame, as it’s good life introduction for the 18 yr old knuckleheads (my son in law was sadly exempted, it would have done him a world of good).

At the end of your service you have to possibility to keep your service rifle or pistol for a $ 100 fee. You must have participated in three qualifying shoots in the last three years of your service. This is a fairly recent requirement, a friend found out the hard way when the army told him he missed one and couldn’t keep his rifle. He bought a civilian Sig 550 for $ 2800.