History

 The M1911 is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, and recoil-operated handgun chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge.[1] It was designed by John M. Browning, and was the standard-issue side arm for the United States armed forces from 1911 to 1985, and is still carried by some U.S. forces. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. Its formal designation as of 1940 was Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911 for the original Model of 1911 or Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the M1911A1, adopted in 1924. The designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, M1911A1 in the Vietnam era.[1] In total, the United States procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during its service life.

The M1911 is the most well-known of John Browning's designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design. Besides the pistol being widely copied itself, this operating system rose to become the pre-eminent type of the 20th century and of nearly all modern centerfire pistols. It is popular with civilian shooters in competitive events such as IDPA, International Practical Shooting Confederation, and Bullseye shooting. It is also a popular civilian concealed carry option due to its slim width.

The M1911 pistol originated in the late 1890s, as a search for a suitable self-loading (or semi-automatic) handgun, to replace the variety of revolvers then in service.[2] The United States of America was adopting new firearms at a phenomenal rate; several new handguns and two all-new service rifles (the M1892/96/98 Krag and M1895 Navy Lee), as well as a series of revolvers by Colt and Smith & Wesson for the Army and Navy were adopted just in that decade. The next decade would see a similar pace, including the adoption of several more revolvers and an intensive search for a self-loading pistol that would culminate in official adoption of the M1911 after the turn of the decade.

Hiram S. Maxim had designed a self-loading pistol in the 1880s, but was preoccupied with machine guns. Nevertheless, the application of his principle of using bullet energy to reload led to several self-loading pistols in the 1890s. The designs caught the attention of various militaries, each of which began programs to find a suitable one for their forces. In the U.S., such a program would lead to a formal test at the turn of the 19th to the 20th century.

During the end of 1899 and start of 1900, a test of self-loading pistols was conducted, which included entries from Mauser (the C96 "Broomhandle"), Mannlicher (the Steyr Mannlicher M1894), and Colt (the Colt M1900).

This led to a purchase of 1,000 DWM Luger pistols, chambered in 7.65 mm Luger, a bottlenecked cartridge. These would go on field trials but ran into some issues, especially in regard to stopping power. Other governments had also made similar complaints, which resulted in DWM producing an enlarged version of the round, the 9mm Parabellum (known in current military parlance as the 9x19mm NATO), a necked-up version of the 7.65 mm round. Fifty of these were tested as well by the U.S. Army in 1903.

 
General William Crozier became Chief of Ordnance of the Army in 1901.In response to problems encountered by American units fighting Moro guerrillas during the Philippine-American War, the then-standard Colt M1892 revolver, in .38 Long Colt, was found to be unsuitable for the rigors of jungle warfare, particularly in terms of stopping power, as the Moros had very high battle morale and frequently used drugs to inhibit the sensation of pain. The U.S. Army briefly reverted to using the M1873 single-action revolver in .45 Colt caliber, which had been standard during the last decades of the 19th century; the heavier bullet was found to be more effective against charging tribesmen. The problems with the .38 Long Colt led to the Army shipping new single action .45 Colt revolvers to the Philippines in 1902. It also prompted the then-Chief of Ordnance, General William Crozier, to authorize further testing for a new service pistol.

Following the 1904 Thompson-LaGarde pistol round effectiveness tests, Colonel John T. Thompson stated that the new pistol "should not be of less than .45 caliber" and would preferably be semi-automatic in operation. This led to the 1906 trials of pistols from six firearms manufacturing companies (namely, Colt, Bergmann, Deutsche Waffen und Munitionsfabriken (DWM), Savage Arms Company, Knoble, Webley, and White-Merril).

Of the six designs submitted, three were eliminated early on, leaving only the Savage, Colt, and DWM designs chambered in the new .45 ACP (Automatic Colt Pistol) cartridge. These three still had issues that needed correction, but only Colt and Savage resubmitted their designs. There is some debate over the reasons for DWM's withdrawal—some say they felt there was bias and that the DWM design was being used primarily as a "whipping boy" for the Savage and Colt pistols, though this does not fit well with the earlier 1900 purchase of the DWM design over the Colt and Steyr entries. In any case, a series of field tests from 1907 to 1911 were held to decide between the Savage and Colt designs. Both designs were improved between each testing over their initial entries, leading up to the final test before adoption.

Among the areas of success for the Colt was a test at the end of 1910 attended by its designer, John Browning. 6,000 rounds were fired from a single pistol over the course of two days. When the gun began to grow hot, it was simply immersed in water to cool it. The Colt gun passed with no reported malfunctions, while the Savage designs had 37.

Singleplayer/Co-Op

It is the standard sidearm of the USMC and CIA in the campaign. It can be seen first in "S.O.G." used by a Marine who is struck by an artillery shell as Hudson is transported to the bunker. This is when it is first available.

In Victor Charlie, the player uses the M1911 found on the floor of the Huey the mission starts out in to kill the Viet Cong who killed the pilots of said Huey. It remains with the player throughout the initial, stealthy part of the mission until Mason detonates the C4, where it is replaced by a Commando and a WA2000.

It later appears in the mission WMD. It is given to the player in the first building, and can be swapped out for a Soviet weapon for use in the breaching of the next building. After the SR-71 sequence, it is replaced by a Crossbow.

The M1911 is the starting weapon in all Zombie levels. It functions the same as in World at War. It is one of the weakest weapons, and is only good for the first few rounds. It is recommended to go for headshots, as it is easier on early rounds and it takes fewer shots. When upgraded via the Pack-a-Punch Machine it is renamed the Mustang & Sally (as seen on the Black Ops front cover.) The upgrade gives it the Dual Wield attachment, firing grenades instead of regular bullets at the cost of individual magazine size decreased to 6.

Multiplayer

Damage 40-20 (MP)
 
Magazine Size 7 rounds (14 with Extended Mags)(MP), 8 (Zombies)
 
Cost (Black Ops) 1500
 
Cost (Nazi Zombies) Default weapon
 
Maximum Ammunition 70 (SP), 56 (MP), 80 (Zombies)
 
Reload Time 1.63s normal, 1.80s empty
 
Rate of Fire 625 RPM max
937.5 (with Dual Wield attachment)
 
Recoil Low
 
Penetration Low
 
Fire Mode Semi-Automatic
 
Used by SOG, USMC

The M1911 is a selectable secondary weapon in Black Ops. It is an unlocked pistol at level 1 along with the Makarov and ASP in the default classes. All three sidearms have the same damage and multipliers. What sets them apart is that the ASP has a higher max firecap and lower recoil while the Makarov has an extra bullet in the magazine. It takes 3 shots to kill an enemy at close range and 5 shots to kill an enemy at medium to long range. It also has moderate idle sway. In a way, the M1911 without any attachments is inferior to all other handguns. The ASP has the same amount of ammo, but a faster firing rate, reload, and draw time. The Makarov and CZ75 have a higher capacity, and the Python has higher damage. However, the M1911 with Extended Magazines gives it more ammunition than all other starting pistols.

This weapon is used in the One in the Chamber Wager Match game mode.

Challenges