Colt 1911 100th Anniversary – Designed by John Browning
The centennial celebration for the 1911 pistol’s 100th birthday recognizes one of the most important firearm designs of all time and the genius of it’s creator John Browning. The m1911 was granted US Patent 984519 on February 14th, 1911 “Valentine’s Day”. This link between Valentine’s Day and the 1911 is ironic since it’s responsible for possibly the greatest firearm love affair. A lot of people say that no gun collection is complete without at least one 1911.
When shopping for a 1911 there are countless companies making them, but it was Colt Manufacturing who purchased Browning’s design and first manufactured the 1911. This was not the first auto pistol that Colt purchased from Browning but it was by far the most popular and influential one.
If the 1911 was a person it would have one of the most amazing family trees. The original design had it chambered in .45 ACP, but it has been produced in multiple calibers since then. The tree would also have branches of both rich (expensive models) and poor (cheap models) manufactured by multiple companies and in multiple countries all around the world. The popularity, reliability, and stopping power are just a few reasons it has been the trusted sidearm in war time conflicts. The role it has played protecting freedom here in the US may not be quantitative, but it’s role is undeniable.
We originally published this article on February 14th, 2011. Since that time we moved a lot of data around on our site so we apologize that the new publish date doesn’t match up to the title.
