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Old March 25, 2013, 01:42 PM   #2
RickB
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Join Date: March 1, 2000
Location: Boise, ID
Posts: 8,511
I'm usually somewhat irritated by the idea that the M1911 pistol sprang, complete and in final form, from John Browning's head in 1911. The pistol evolved over a period of five years, with Browning constantly redesigning the gun for his customer, the U.S. government.
The pistol's final form is as much a tribute to some uncharacteristic progressive thinking by the military, as it was to Browning's genius.
Luger did, of course, submit a .45 ACP gun to the military trials that resulted in adoption of the M1911, but IIRC, the Luger would run reliably only when fed the German-made ammo supplied with it; the Luger didn't like the U.S.-made ammo.
I have a book with a couple of pics of Colt prototype pistols in 9.8mm. They look very much like the Browning .22 pistol that came out a couple of years ago, downsized in every dimension from a standard 1911 for the smaller cartridge.
I seem to remember that Colt had some sort of deal with Browning, or with FN, that Colt wouldn't pursue the European market, and FN wouldn't come to the U.S., but by the 1930s, and Browning's passing, that deal may no longer have been in effect, so Colt could peddle their 9.8mm design in Europe.
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