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View Full Version : Marines Pick Colt for New Pistol



irpat54
07-21-12, 02:40 PM
22619

Jul 20, 2012

Military.com| by Matthew Cox


The Marine Corps has tapped Colt Defense LLC to make more than 10,000 new Close Quarter Battle Pistols for the service's elite special operations troops.

The July 19 contract, which has a total value of $22.5 million, brings an end to the Corps' exhaustive search for the top .45 caliber, 1911-style pistol to replace the fleet of worn-out Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command, or MARSOC, M45 pistols.

Colt Defense, based in Hartford, Conn., was the original maker of John Browning's revered 1911 design – a potent handgun that served all branches of the U.S. Military for more than 70 years until it was replaced by the M9 9mm pistol in 1985.

Marine officials, however, say they didn't play favorites.

"It was performance based. . . . We picked the best-performing pistol," said Charles Clark III, who oversees infantry weapons requirements at the Corps' Combat Development and Integration office in Quantico, Va. "There were three candidates that made the final round of consideration," but Clark would not discuss the competitors.

In addition to Colt, Springfield Armory's Full Size MC Operator and Smith & Wesson's 1911 design were also contenders, sources tell Military.com.

Marine testers placed a high priority on accuracy. The winner had to be capable of putting five-shot groups on target that "didn't exceed four inches by four inches at 25 yards" from an unsupported firing position, Clark said. Reliability and magazine life were other important factors in the decision.

The new Close Quarter Battle Pistols will be very similar to the M45s they are replacing this fall. They will have a rail for mounting lights, a custom trigger, a manual safety, improved ergonomics and glowing Tritium sights for low-light conditions.

The most visual difference is the Colt models will come in Coyote tan instead of gunmetal, Clark said.

The Corps began issuing custom 1911 .45 pistols to its elite Force Reconnaissance units in the 1990s. Gunsmiths at the Quantico Weapons Training Battalion Precision Weapons Section hand built them from old 1911s that had been replaced by the M9 in the mid 1980s.

The creation of the first MARSOC units in 2006 caused the requirement to grow from 400 pistols to 4,000 pistols. Finding enough surplus 1911s for the Precision Weapons Section's custom rebuilds became impractical.

"We realized that hand building 4,000 guns was not sustainable," Clark said.

Marine officials would not discuss the individual price for each new pistol. But the $22.5 million contract to Colt will allow the Corps to buy replacements for the new pistols as they wear out, Clark said. The contract also includes some money for spare parts.

"The contract is built so we can re-buy the approved acquisitions objective three times, so we can buy 4,000 guns three times," Clark said. "These pistols will be getting used a lot; deployed a lot so the guns are going to get shot out."

MARSOC operators stay on a rigorous deployment cycle, "so they fire a lot of rounds. It's a 15,000-round plus [training] work-up to a deployment," Clark said.
"It's more efficient to replace the guns over time instead of attempting to completely rebuild them."
© Copyright 2012 Military.com.

Rocky C
07-21-12, 03:07 PM
Nice :thumbup:.

DWG
07-21-12, 03:53 PM
I've never understood why Baretta never came out with a .45 in the 92 model. I have the .40 and the 9mm, love both, but prefer .45s now that I've gotten old and my eyesight is not what it was; .45s and shotguns for me nowadays; need to put up what the army calls "a cubic wall of lead!" Love the Colt Gov. Model too, just can't afford Colt prices.

irpat54
07-21-12, 04:29 PM
i got the auto ordnance anniversary 1911,, i didn't know tho until recently that Auto Ordnance made some of the colts like the 1911 and tommy gun for colt during the 2nd world war,, because colt couldn't keep up with the manufacturing,

USMCmailman
07-22-12, 09:36 AM
I have a new Stainless steel 1911 Government 1991A1 series 80. It's great!
Colt makes the BEST 1911 there is!

irpat54
07-22-12, 10:20 AM
hard to believe the the original design was by, i believe Leonardo Devinchi,(not sure of the spelling there) way back before the Chapel painting,

advanced
07-22-12, 10:21 AM
It's about time the MC went back to the Colt 45. I tried to buy one last year, almost impossible. High demand item.

DWG
07-22-12, 11:47 AM
It's about time the MC went back to the Colt 45. I tried to buy one last year, almost impossible. High demand item.

Usually plenty of them at the gun shows. High cost keeps me from owning one; do have the 70 series, Gov. Model in .38 Super. Very sweet, unfortunately I carried it in a leather holster and got a ring wear in the bluing on the reciever. Never used leather since.

advanced
07-22-12, 11:54 AM
That's the problem for me, the high cost, way out of proportion. I learned in the Nam, and later as a cop, to only carry stainless; far less problems. In the Nam we had a guy that cleaned our weapons for us for a buck, till he got hit.

DWG
07-22-12, 12:12 PM
Got a S&W 5906 I like a lot; just getting away from 9mm these days.

DanBO
07-23-12, 07:26 AM
It's about time that the Corps finally got their Head out of their Azz when it come to the 1911. Best damn weapon there ever was for close quarters combat! Period!

irpat54
07-23-12, 08:09 AM
It's about time that the Corps finally got their Head out of their Azz when it come to the 1911. Best damn weapon there ever was for close quarters combat! Period!

Amen,,22636

DWG
07-23-12, 08:16 AM
It's about time that the Corps finally got their Head out of their Azz when it come to the 1911. Best damn weapon there ever was for close quarters combat! Period!

Excellent knock down power when loaded; fair club when empty!

Captain Kirk
07-23-12, 12:52 PM
Sweet! I love it!!!

DWG
07-23-12, 01:05 PM
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/xml/news/2012/07/marine-corps-marsoc-new-colt-45-caliber-pistols-071912/073012mc_Colt_pistol_800.JPG (http://www.leatherneck.com/forums/#)

7point62
07-23-12, 01:14 PM
Nice lookin .45. Looks sweet with that rail & desert coating

Once you get the Zen and rock with it there's nothing better. I could shoot the eyeballs out of a snake with the old 1911.

Captain Kirk
07-24-12, 05:35 PM
​Kewl! Looks sweet! Picattiny rail and all.

DWG
07-24-12, 06:23 PM
Guess I'm just a traditionalist; I like the old, nasty, blue mud eater. Just a personal thing. But if someone offered me one of the new ones, I'd take it in a heartbeat!

FistFu68
07-25-12, 10:21 AM
:beer: Kinda partial too My Ed Brown Special Forces Bobtail,Officers Model,with my Crimson Trace Lazer on Her;But for the USMC,That Colt is pretty Tight,hope it's Powder Coated(DURA COAT) instead if that Chit Wilson puts on theirs it peels off Like Teflon...Hope they have other options on Ammo 'sides the Military Ball Ammo,Like Federal Hydro Shoc,or Hornady Critical Defense Ammo! S/F :iwo:

DWG
07-25-12, 10:30 AM
Thinking FMJ is still international (Geneva Con.) law.

Tickled me when they were selling Russian "paratrooper" ammo in 7.63x39, hollow points! ??? Also saw some shorty SKSs that were allegedly Chinese paratrooper models. Don't think the chinks got paratroopers, not according to a guy I knew in NSA at least. Got one anyway, sweet little cheap carbine. The hollow points are still sealed (could be Polish hams in there for all I know) LOL!

FistFu68
07-25-12, 11:07 AM
:beer: Guess I'd be filing some deep X's into that FMJ Rnd,Man some of this new Varmit or Match ammo 4 these M-16's turns Chit into a Pink Mist...F**king Russki's use Hollow Tips on their Draganov's...Isrealies use sum Dumb Dumb rnd's a friend of Mine He was a Sniper,for The IDF showed Me a Pic of a Syrian He shot in tha Head with some Hollow Points they were Issued for their Galil's,Blew that Symrian's Head almost Clean Off from the Hose Up!!! :scared: :iwo: