He added that for years, the front-line troops of the Army and Marine Corps used a rifle, machine gun, artillery piece or tank as their primary weapon, and there was no need to replace the pistol.
The criticism of the Beretta is they did shoot people and they did keep fighting,” Thompson said. For troops who used it, it put the enemy down and they didn’t get back up. “On the other hand, it’s a very durable weapon. He said there are many reasons that the Army may have used the M1911 for so long, but most likely it’s because they’d purchased so many and didn’t want to spend the money on something else. You can buy new 1911 pistols that the prices are competitive, but those are not ones that saw service.” “There are still a lot of veterans who that was the pistol they were issued, trained on, whatever, and it sort of has an association with their time in service,” said Thompson, author of “The Colt 1911 Pistol,” which outlines the history of the weapon. ‘It put the enemy down’ Military weapon historian Leroy Thompson said he understands the interest in owning a “Government Model,” as these specific M1911s are known. “It’s a variety of people: historians, collectors, family members of veterans who fought in wars dating back to World War I.” “It’s been off the hook - literally phones ringing off the hook,” Cooper said of the M1911 interest. Their young people’s competitions have become a feeder for Olympians.Ĭooper said the sale of the M1911s will support all these programs. Over this summer, Cooper said the CMP will host five weeks of matches. It also supports many youth and Junior ROTC programs. It maintains various types of gun ranges, provides directives for shooting clubs, hosts competitions and offers classes with the U.S. In 1996, the CMP separated from the government and became a private organization, but continues with the same mission, said Steve Cooper, marketing director. citizens in the responsible use of firearms and air guns through safety training, marksmanship training and competitions. Training future Olympians Established in 1903 by President Theodore Roosevelt to improve the rifleman marksmanship of the armed forces, the program’s goal is to train and educate U.S. Instead, it goes to the nonprofit national marksmanship program to support competitions, safety courses and more. The Army does not receive any money for the weapons, and taxpayers don’t pay for the sale.
The Army pays the Defense Logistics Agency about 61 cents per pistol per year for storage, so this year’s transfer of 8,000 saved the Army about $5,000 in storage fees, said Wayne Hall, an Army spokesman. Since they were decommissioned, the pistols have been in storage at Anniston Army Depot in Alabama. Starting June 4, people can apply to purchase one of the 8,000 made available this year. “That’s shocking,” Lamphere, a 44-year-old Austin, Texas resident, said when he learned people were lining up to pay nearly $1,000 for the weapon that he eventually traded in for a Ruger. In the 2018 National Defense Authorization Act, Congress directed the Army to transfer up to 10,000 of the sidearms to the Civilian Marksmanship Program for sale this year and next. The M1911 was so beloved by troops that many called for its return during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan claiming its replacement, the Beretta M9, was not as powerful.įor the first time, large quantities of this piece of military history will be available for civilian purchase. It was officially decommissioned in 1985, though young soldiers like Lamphere continued to shoot with them years after. 45-caliber pistols that it never had to buy another. Created in 1911 by John Moses Browning, the pistol was originally produced by Colt.ĭuring World War II, the Army purchased so many of the. A new sidearm was called for by the military following engagement in the Philippine Insurrection that ended in 1902.