Lockup Pt 2

The modern pistols are genius in many ways.  They took the great ideas invented by John Moses Browning and improved upon them in important ways.

One of the important ways was making it easier to manufacture a gun with good lockup that requires less hand fitting. 

The 1911 is a great gun, as you all know.  But it is hard to get right cheaply.  If all gunnies were billionaires they'd never turn their nose up at a $5000 gun.  And five large buys a nice pistol.  And who cares if there are $500 guns then? 

But we aren't all rich.  What does that $500 gun have to offer?

Well, look at the barrel of your modern pistol and compare it to your 1911 barrel.  It doesn't have that link think on the underlug, and instead of lugs on top, that squarish hood does double duty and fits into the slide port.  Fewer things to keep track of, and easier to make with machine tools instead of getting close and hand fitting with files.  Less skilled needed in assembly means cheaper, and faster.  Fewer parts and fewer steps and fewer machine operations meands faster and cheaper.  Simpler means less maintenance later.  And less skilled maintenance. 

Which is why I love the 1911, but if I was a police commissioner I'd never equip my cops it.  Not unless my budget was unlimitted.  And budgets never are.

Same with equipping an army.

But to equip T-Bolt?  T-Bolt is willing to learn the upkeep and spend the money to make the sleection of a solid slim pistol like the 1911 more sensible.   I recommend everyone that own a 1911 and likes it to learn this maintenancy gunsmithy stuff.  In a few more years of gun classes I'll kinda know what I am doing enough justify carrying one in my holster... 

(Is it really that big a deal, T-Bolt?  Well... maybe not that extreme.  I still recommend the learning.  Don't got time for that?  You might want a more modern tool, then.  Might.)

In 1945 there was nothing better and cheaper than the M1911A.  It was the glock/m&p/hk/sig modern pistol of it's day.  

I've gone over all this before.  But what do I know?