Iconic 1911 Pistols Have Finally Been Retired From Marine Corps Service

The M1911A1 will be missed.............

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I doubt it. Young Americans do not have the fondness for the M1911 that pervades the Baby Boomers, their parents, and perhaps the Gen-Xers. Millennials, Gen-Z, and all that follow won't care a whit about the 1911.

I could write an essay on the subject but suffice it to say that younger folks like high capacity and polymer and TDA or striker fired pistols far better than 7 round, single action 1911s.

There are exceptions, of course, but not many.

Besides, there are exceptions in the ranks of the Baby Boomers with respect to the M1911 and I'm one of them. No fondness for them at all, although I admit in my misspent youth and even more recent past I did like them but I've grown since then.

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Come and take it!!

I am fine with people not liking the 1911's if it makes them cost less. That way I can buy more of them for less money.

double stack 1911a2 are selling pretty well. You should see RIA's product line. not every 1911 is a 7 rd 45ACP.

I have a full sized double stack 10mm, and a 3"double stack 45ACP that's ported.

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NRA RSO

Even though I'm southpaw my love of the 1911 is the manual of arms required in it's use. If you don't know the MOA you'll quickly have an AD or can't get the pistol to even fire.

If you're giving up on your 1911s feel free to PM me so I can see about taking them off your hands.

You mean they hadn’t already

I have had several striker fired pistols, Glocks, a gen1 Shield, a P-10C and presently a Sig 365X Macro but I love 1911'a and BHP's. I have two of each and carried a 1911 for probably 25 of my more than 35yrs in LE. They do require more training and maintenance.

Frankly, I'm surprised that they held onto it this long, I could have sworn that they retired it back in 2016, but perhaps that was specifically the Colt M45 CQB.

Regardless, the 1911 had a long and successful military career that won't be forgotten, and clearly remains popular with shooters of all ages due to its iconic appearance, reputation, and unrivaled potential for an excellent trigger.

Personally, I was always more enamored by the Walther PPK and Beretta 92 than I was the 1911, but that was most likely due to them being featured so prominently in the movies that I grew up watching in the 1990s. Nevertheless, I still think that it's an absolutely gorgeous pistol that everyone should own.

To this day I wonder what ever became of the USSOCOM MK23 Mod 0... Now that was one heck of an impressive-looking military pistol.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

“ There are exceptions, of course, but not many.”

Count my 23 year old son as one. He was in the Marines and daily carries a Remington 1911R1 IWB appendix. He is very fit so doesn’t have a stomach like I do😁. He also has large hands so the grip of the 1911 fits him better than any other gun. And he is ridiculously accurate with it as I have lost many a shooting range bet.

They will be retired until they’re not. The conditions that caused them to come back into use haven’t changed. We transitioned away from regular combat and the decision makers have mostly moved on. They get replaced by people who have gotten their combat experience from video games. Once, or if, those decision makers get into combat, they will come to the same conclusions as those before them and start looking for a more effective handgun and out of retirement they will come. I wouldn’t count the 1911 out until the Spec Ops people dump them altogether. They continue to be in harms way on a regular basis so they get actual experience. If they’re using a piece of equipment, it’s because it actually works and not because of a bureaucratic decision. It’s a merry-go-round. Stand still and it will come back again. The same thing happens in law enforcement.

I bet it will be a while before they actually all gone.

IMHO, the 1911 is the most "shootable" pistol ever made. It points perfectly and the trigger is exceptional compared to the junk in all the polymer pistols.

They have been mostly withdrawn from active service but are being kept in inactive status. Probably similar to the M14s that were kept that were never going to be needed again, until they were.

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Alan
SWCA LM 2023, SWHF 220

Well I guess I am just a dinosaur. I do not think that the 1911 should be officially retired, but I am sure it will always be used by special ops forces that have latitude to select their own weapons.

I know the Springfield, P17, M1 carbine, and Garand had to go, but the 30-06 should still be around doing something but it was kind of swapped off for the 308.

I also think that the Missouri should have sailed the seas forever. The last of its' class, the official end of WW2 with Japan, and the biggest of the battleships. A testament to conventional American might. The baloney from the government is just that. They say too much cost to keep her afloat. This coming from a government that wastes that tab by 8:30 am every Monday morning.

To me it is a sense of historical pride

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Pete
I ain't no fortunate son

Amazing. It took 13 posts for somebody to trot out the old lie that all polymer pistols have rubbish triggers. Must be a new record.

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Release the Kraken

1. Reliable

2. Powerful

3. No tools necessary to completely disassemble or reassemble

4. Best trigger pull of any combat pistol

5. John Browning didn't mess around

6. 1911 pistols will live forever


John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

Back in the ‘70s when Vietnam was still fresh in our minds I heard a vet say he was in favor of sending foreign aid to North Vietnam. He wanted to recommission all four Iowa class battleships so they could sail up and down the Vietnamese coast and send them “16” care packages all day long.”

What are the trigger pulls on your polymer guns? My Colt Gold Cup is at 2lbs 7 ounces and so is my Colt Government Model. Only my S&W 52 is better at 2 lbs. 3 ounces.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Every polymer pistol I've ever shot has had a trigger that's a spongy mess. And I've shot a lot of them.

The young Americans in my family, children and grandchildren, believe that there are no "magic bullets," accuracy is what gets the job done, and lethal is easier with calibers starting with .4 inches.

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Kind regards, Heinz

The younger generation tend to lean towards black guns, be they rifles or pistols. It is what they see the most of on the little and big screens.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

Long gone or they'd be yours!!!!

I never said they weren't great guns. I said I don't like them.

Definitely a great career.

But 40 years from now, when a lot of us won't be around to know, they will no longer be "popular". Still around? Sure, but popular, no.

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Come and take it!!

Always had a love/hate relationship with the platform. I own five at last count. I think I've owned a total of nine at one time or another. I like them well enough but honestly shoot other things more often. Not an easy gun to master.

Just for the record, I still like Browning Hi-Powers!

But I do prefer TDA pistols, especially S&W 3rd gens and Berettas.
And some others..........

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Come and take it!!

It has nothing to do with them being polymer and everything to do with them being striker-fire. A single action hammer fire trigger will almost always beat a striker-fire trigger.

My H&K USP45 Elite has a 4lb SA Trigger which feels excellent. It's not the best trigger ever, but far better than any other polymer framed pistol I own.

Now I'm curious what the trigger pull is like on a Tanfoglio Witness 1911 with a polymer frame.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

Say what you will about whether or not the 1911 will be around in years to come, one fact can't be disputed. There are more gun companies making a 1911 model now than there ever has been in the history of the 1911. That doesn't sound like a platform that'll be on the wane any time soon.

Go try a Grand Power K100, you might be surprised. The Q100 variant has a remarkable trigger for a striker fired gun, as does the Walther PPQ.

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Release the Kraken

Boy is that ever true. My two thirty-ish sons look at my Garand, M1A and Mini-14 and it’s clear they think wood should have last been seen on a firearm at Appomattox.

Remember that sidearm is a tertiary weapon for most military personnel. As such, service pistols are not a big deal for most. The reality is that a good 1911 is a heck of a fine platform, but requires a lot of hand fitting to be really right. I had and carried as a duty pistol a Yam 10-8 1911. It was tuned for specific ammo, and was just a joy to shoot. Most of the time for most people, the nuances of a good 1911 are simply not worth the money. A good duty 1911 will be most of $3K. A typical G19 with RDS and light (which in the real world are needed for hard use) is maybe $1K. At a certain point, I could not justify the cash tied up in a quality 1911.
I would love to carry my Wilson KZ9, which I shoot real well, but my stupid state has gone with the 10 round magazine crud.

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NHI, 10-8.

90% of the work to make a M1911 a good shooter can be accomplished on your work bench at home. I should qualify that with "if you are competent" with tools and have a good brain housing group. An acceptable trigger job can be accomplished in less than 10 minutes. Throating and ramping are about the same amount of time. Tightening the slide to the frame takes a bit longer. Fitting a barrel takes a fair assortment of bushings and barrel links to do the job. Been doing this for quite a while, do all of the work for free and have never had a complaint.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

I suspect that 1911s will continue to have a large, appreciative fan base. Though not likely in military use for all the reasons stated above.

However, no doubt there will be yet a long life for the 1911 and its iconic .45 ACP. I note the utility of lever actions, the continuing popularity of single action Colt six(five)-shooter clones. The 1911 will endure no less well.

It felt good to have a 1911A1 in a chest holster. However, I was hoping to never use it due to the fact that I would be dismounted and the 105mm, .50, and 7.62 guns, along with the M3 in .45 ACP, would no longer be in service.

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Only a cold warrior

The 1911 IS battle-proven. It is combat ready and will be ready for the next conflict. This has been proven over and over again.

My Chip McCormick will never leave my nest....

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The new Marine issue is the SIG M18, a carry version of the full-sized M17. It is 10 oz lighter then the 1911, and has over twice the magazine capacity. The lockup system is stronger and tighter than that of the 1911. While I like the feel and tradition of a 1911, I can shoot the M18 as accurately as a revolver in single-action.

Say what you will, but I think it'll be a l-o-n-n-g-g-g time before the Model 1911 goes the way of the dodo bird and button shoes. Sure, there are a lot of folks who prefer the new polymer pistols...and that's okay. I've always said, "If it works for you...use it!"

But for some of us old fossils, you "go home with the one that brought you to the dance." As a result, the 1911 will always retain popularity with some of us.

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Pack light and cinch tight.

You know, it really is a wonder how the US Military managed to stick with otherwise ordinary mass-produced 1911s, including ones which were produced by non-firearms manufacturers such as Remington-Rand, Singer, and Union Switch & Signal when apparently it takes a hand-fitted, fine-tuned, artisan-crafted 1911 to serve as an adequate duty sidearm...

Perhaps even more puzzling is how the military manages to get by with firearms with triggers which cannot even match one of the aforementioned mass-produced 1911s, let alone whatever tuned triggers folks are referring to in this thread.

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Shooting Comfort is bilateral.

The April 2023 issue of Leatherneck magazine had a great article of the current USMC pistol and the background history of the previous issue pistols.

Basically the 1911 in service was old and worn. The M9 had an aluminum frame for weight reduction and the next generation has lighter weight (polymer) and easier to replace parts.
The big take way - the officers making the decisions are younger and did not start careers with a 1911.

1911's are going the way of revolvers.

There just won't be many available 100 years from now.

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That's just somebody talkin.

It is amazing to me that the average soldier in WW11 was 5ft 8in tall
and weighed 144lbs. Those guys were able to carry and use the heavy
1911 45's, M1's and BAR's with all that heavy ammo. Vs today's
soldier that is 2in taller and 40+ lbs heavier but needs the light weight
gear.

I think you will find that the standard load of gear is now a lot heavier. My understanding from a discussion on another forum was 80-100 pounds of stuff. Some of the was the need for a lot of water in the desert. Whether that impedes performance I leave to the infantry folks.

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NHI, 10-8.

All the 1911's I handled in the service had great triggers, once I had been able to clean the pistol. Slide/frame tolerances were loose as a goose, but they just worked. Would I have liked better sights? Sure, but I never had trouble qualifying Expert with it with my much younger eyes.

I would have trusted any of them with my life, but as I said above, that would only be if all the other weapons on my M60 were out of commission.

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Only a cold warrior

Not surprised or particularly saddened that this has happened. It had a long and distinguished service life over the last century plus. I still have three 1911's myself and at least one of them will be passed down to one of my nieces or their kids. Getting the chance to buy a decommissioned 2nd Marine Raiders M45A1 was a once in a lifetime moment for me. Even more so as my BIL is a retired Marine Colonel.

For the rank and file service members the M1911A1 stopped being their primary sidearm in the late 1980's. I last qualified with a M1911A1 while assigned to the Marine Corps Security Force Battalion (PAC) in 1989. I qualified with the M9 in 1990 when assigned to the 2nd Marine Aircraft Wing. Only the SOCOM and and a few other special folks had M1911A1's. So 99% of the present Marines have never fired one. Only a few units ever trained with the M1911A1 as an offensive weapon, almost all used it as a defensive weapon.

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.

"A remarkable trigger for a striker fired gun"


If I had a dollar for every time I heard a striker fired fan boy say that, I could probably buy me a Nighthawk! If not a Nighthawk, for sure a Springer. And there is a simple reason why people that cling to their plastic guns have to qualify their statements like that. They know the truth.

Average carry weight has gone up, not down, significantly since WW2. Taking weight savings where you can isn't a bad thing.

USN didn't require a qualification with a 1911 even for a defensive weapon in 1967. I never touched one in basic. I did however have one on watch and I knew how it functioned. Go figure. We spent one day on the range with a Garand. That really wasn't a qualification, just a familiarization with the rifle.

I attribute this to the Vietnam war and the training short cuts that were present at that time.

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That's just somebody talkin.

Let's be honest, there's not a lot, if any, difference in reliability between 1911's and any of the plastic guns that are being adopted by different agencies. Any difference in handling is subject to the person using it. In the end, it's about cost. Plastic guns can be manufactured much more cheaply and it's all about low bidder. It was that way in 1911 and one of the factors in adoption of the Colt was that it could be made more cheaply than the other submissions. The 1911 isn't going anywhere. The government will keep them in storage until some unit thinks they fill a need and out they'll come, just like the M14's did in the desert.

The USMC/USN M1911A1's have been in "War Stores" since the late 1980's. All were sent to NWS Crane, Ind. Once there the pistol's were disassembled, parts checked for wear, reparked, reassembled and put in storage. NWS Crane had hired 50 gunsmiths to help with all this. I know it happened as I ordered and received 50 pistols for an Navy Auxiliary Security Force at NS Long Beach in late '88..

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USMC 69-93 Combat Pistol Inst.