page_title: M1911 pistol
section_title: Interwar changes
hierarchical_section_title: M1911 pistol / History / Service history / Interwar changes
caption_attribution_description: English: Colt 1911 World War I Re-issue. One hand slow fire from 25 yards.
context_page_description: The M1911, also known as the Colt 1911, the Colt Government, or Government, is a single-action, semi-automatic, magazine-fed, recoil-operated pistol chambered for the .45 ACP cartridge. It served as the standard-issue sidearm for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986. It was widely used in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War. The pistol's 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 War era.
  The U.S. procured around 2.7 million M1911 and M1911A1 pistols in military contracts during its service life. The M1911 was replaced by the 9 mm Beretta M9 pistol as the standard U.S. sidearm in October 1986, but due to its popularity among users, it has not been completely phased out. Modernized derivative variants of the M1911 are still in use by some units of the U.S. Army Special Forces and the U.S. Navy.
  Designed by John Browning, the M1911 is the best-known of his designs to use the short recoil principle in its basic design.
context_section_description: Battlefield experience in World War I led to some more small external changes, completed in 1924. The new version received a modified type classification, M1911A1, in 1926 with a stipulation that M1911A1s should have serial numbers higher than 700,000 with lower serial numbers designated M1911. The M1911A1 changes to the original design consisted of a shorter trigger, cutouts in the frame behind the trigger, an arched mainspring housing, a longer grip safety spur (to prevent hammer bite), a wider front sight, a shortened hammer spur, and simplified grip checkering (eliminating the "Double Diamond" reliefs). These changes were subtle and largely intended to make the pistol easier to shoot for those with smaller hands. Many persons unfamiliar with the design are often unable to tell the difference between the two versions at a glance. No significant internal changes were made, and parts remained interchangeable between the M1911 and the M1911A1.
  Working for the U.S. Ordnance Office, David Marshall Williams developed a .22 training version of the M1911 using a floating chamber to give the .22 long rifle rimfire recoil similar to the .45 version. As the Colt Service Ace, this was available both as a pistol and as a conversion kit for .45 M1911 pistols.
  Before World War II, 500 M1911s were produced under license by the Norwegian arms factory Kongsberg Vaapenfabrikk, as Automatisk Pistol Model 1912. Then, production moved to a modified version designated Pistol Model 1914 and unofficially known as "Kongsberg Colt". The Pistol M/1914 is noted for its unusual extended slide stop which was specified by Norwegian ordnance authorities. 22,000 were produced between 1914 and 1940 but production continued after the German occupation of Norway in 1940 and 10,000 were produced for the German armed forces as Pistole 657 (n). 
  Between 1927 and 1966, 102,000 M1911 pistols were produced as Sistema Colt Modelo 1927 in Argentina, first by the Dirección General de Fabricaciones Militares. A similar gun, the Ballester–Molina, was also designed and produced.
  The M1911 and M1911A1 pistols were also ordered from Colt or produced domestically in modified form by several other nations, including Brazil (M1937 contract pistol), Mexico (M1911 Mexican contract pistol and the Obregón pistol), and Spain (private manufacturers Star and Llama).
caption: Colt 1911 01
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