US Special Ops: Colt 1911 Pistol

Perhaps most interesting thing about the U.S. military are the technologies used throughout history. If you’re one of the many fascinated by the weapons of elite military forces you’ll be delighted by excerpts like this one from US Special Ops which focus on individual models and their roles in combat. This one in particular takes a look at the Colt 1911 Pistol. Check it out!

Colt 1911 Pistol

When the US military transitioned to the 9-millimeter handgun in the 1980s, there were two organizations who maintained the 1911: the Force Recon Marines and Delta Force. Long-time Recon

Marine and commander of USMC Detachment 1 Col. Robert Coates summed up the hard-hitting semiautomatic pistol with the following comment: “The 1911 was the design given by God to us through John M. Browning that represents the epitome of what a killing tool needs to be. It was true in 1911 and is true now.”

The Marines had the Rifle Team Equipment (RTE) shop in Quantico, Virginia, modify the M1911A1 .45-caliber pistol to make it more accurate and mission suitable in the M45 Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable), or MEU(SOC), platform.

Meanwhile, the operators at Delta would let their armorer tweak them, or use high-performance gun makers, such as Wilson Combat and Les Baer, to make the weapon match the skill of the shooter.

Today, MARSOC marines are issued the M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistol from Colt. The M45 is updated with tritium night sights, dual-recoil springs, Picatinny rail, and lanyard loop; the color is desert tan.

Whether it’s the new marine M45, or the Delta custom semiautomatic, the 1911 may well be in the hands of our nation’s warrior elite for another hundred years.

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It’s the inside scoop on US military special operations. From weapons, gear, missions, and commandos, learn every military secret from the eighteenth century to today.

Few aspects of the US military pique people’s interest more than special ops. Due to the clandestine nature of their missions, weapons, and gear, these elite fighting forces are cloaked in an aura of intrigue that has only ratcheted upward with the expanded roles they have assumed in today’s world, not to mention their recent and frequent appearances in film, books, and other mass media.

In US Special Ops, longtime military author and special-ops expert Fred Pushies takes on the entire scope of America’s elite fighting forces, beginning with their earliest days. Pushies profiles hundreds of weapons, gear, vehicles, missions, and commandos, from eighteenth-century fighters like Francis Marion right up through the most advanced capabilities of today’s Green Berets, Rangers, SEALs, Marine Force Recon, US Air Force combat controllers, CIA Special Activities Division, and more – well over 350 entries in all.

From the tomahawks used by Rogers’s Rangers to special-ops legends like Col. Aaron Bank to Operation Neptune Spear and beyond, US Special Ops is a comprehensive, informative, and unique survey of all aspects of US special operations, past and present.