I’m not sure why, but I always liked the Colt 1911, even though I have never owned one. Yet.
I have a theory though.
In martial arts, generally, someone starts it for some reason like wanting to be able to defend themselves, or not be bullied, or be tough, something like that. Over time, if you do it long enough, you either remain one of these anxious guys, or you develop into someone that no longer has those hang-ups.
A certain level of proficiency means that you don’t worry about physical confrontations anymore. Which is not to say you are or even feel invincible, it just means you have taken enough hits that you know if it happens you’re going to respond to the best of your ability, and that in itself is both all you can do, as well as often enough, all you need to really come out on top. When you reach that level, you don’t worry about “form” or technique or this or that special strike. You will have natural things you are good at that work for you, but in an unprepared for situation anything is a weapon, including the environment itself and it will happen as it happens.
Even when I worked in close protection, my choices in weapons were not dictated by the latest fashion trends, but rather my own ability and real world understanding of things.
I did not care for the “spray and pray” mentality of the glock-loving 17 shot plastic guns. I carried a 4” Ruger GP 100 revolver in .357 magnum with one or sometimes two spare speed loaders in my suit jacket pocket. And a razor sharp tanto. I used to practice regularly with that gun and I had got to the point that I could draw it from concealed, aim and fire at a target 50 metres out and so a headshot on it, all under 2 seconds.
And I saw absolutely no reason that 6 shots would not be enough for anything we might encounter in our work, which was close protection for VIPs. Even a concerted attack would not have included more than 5 or six attackers and as the core team was 3 people, at least one or two would be engaged by the other guys. At worst. As I was the undercover guy, the idea is I would get the jump on the bad guys and on those occasions where people attempted an attack it was me who spotted them ahead of time and warned the team, which reconfigured in ways that made the potential attackers retreat. If a shootout were to take place I’d almost certainly get the drop on the bad guys, which I estimated even if they were trained pros would mean at least two of them would be dead before the others reacted.
In reality, handgun fights happen at about three meters or under. Most people in a gunfight panic, can’t hold their adrenaline rush in check and get disturbed motor functions. Trained people can panic too. Some trained people and some naturals, be it due to brain wiring (Aspergers for the win!) or whatever else, actually get more precise, they get time dilation and precise movement with what is sometimes referred to as “flow”. Myamoto Mushashi describes this in the fifth book of his book of five rings: The Void. The translation from Victor Harris is the best.
In such instances, if I have used up six shots, to my mind that would mean at least three dead bodies if not more. If I had cover to reload great. If not, the knife was faster than that at that range and frankly, scarier than being shot given what a single slash of it can do.
If you have experienced The Void, you will recognise precisely what that one page of text describes. If you have not, it will look like mystic woo-woo for the most part.
If you have experienced it enough that to a certain extent you have learnt to, or can, put yourself in a psychological state that approaches it, then, generally speaking, your level of paranoia will be minimal. At this point, you will begin to observe reality as it is, relatively free of subjective bias.
And here is where appreciation for beauty really enters into it.
Coming from a family of hunters and familiar with pretty much all aspects of shooting, meant that in general I would subjugate my personal preferences to functionality. That said, I always had an eye for the beauty of a weapon. The colt navy 1851 for example was one I always liked the look of.
And not just the fancy version above. Even the original one below.
Of course, being a blackpowder weapon, it’s hardly practical, but that octagonal barrel, the way it fits in the hand, the perfect balance of it, and even the single action only function of it just blends into a perfect combination of classic, dignified, gentlemanly, if you like, aspect of weapon use. Call me an old fashioned romantic, if you like, but there is a level of dignified beauty in the idea of drawing and firing a weapon of that sort at your enemy. One that hardly exists at all in the banging away with eyes half-closed, flinching as you run and spray and pray with a plastic obscenity like a glock at some equally retarded counterpart that is also filling the entire area with innocent bystander cases of “suddenly”.
The Colt 1911, for me, has a similar sort of dignified look that also takes into account the modern version of events. It is a semi-automatic, not a revolver, yet only holds 7+1 in the original format and 8+1 in faithful modern replicas.
As it happens, the aesthetic is important to me, and despite my definitely not being American, I find the original version, that is the pre-1924 or so version of the 1911 to be the handsomest of the many, many variations.
That is, the one with the straight backstrap, with lanyard loop, and the unbevelled approach to the trigger mechanism.
In short, I like the earliest version best, the pre-WWI, original 1911, as its name implies, now well over 100 years old in design.
The A1 version, which was introduced sometimes before WWII and looks very similar except for the differences I already mentioned, see below.
Somehow, I have learned long ago, I appear to have an instinctual appreciation for the older or original of a thing. It’s not limited to guns. I have the same approach to many things. Desks, libraries, work tools, even cars, which I care little about, and writing.
And yes, yes, I know all the criticisms of the original Colt 1911, that the sights are too small, that it’s basically a point and shoot firearm, that the .45 ACP is a slow round, that Colt 1911 might jam if not fed simple ball ammo.
All those things may be “true”, if you are just a straight out of the box, plug and play type, but less so if you take the time to get to know, and use, your guns regularly.
At any rate, they are hard to come by and expensive and not really an expense I can justify at the moment… although, no man ever has to justify the wish, nay, genetically induced need for yet another firearm or weapon, or work tool, or —being an educated warrior— anything related to stationary, writing, painting or sculpting.
And if the kids go hungry for a while, well, it all builds character and will get them to appreciate the art of hunting, right?
Besides… maybe I can start a gofund me. I mean, it’s like a necessity, right? Preservation of history sort of thing? C’mon, whatcha say? Isn’t there a wealthy philanthropist lover of the arts out there that wants to gift me a pre-1924 version of the Colt 1911 in .45 ACP? I’m not fussy, it doesn’t even have to have been built before 1924. I’ll take one of the newer ones built the same by Colt. Think of me like the old Catholic monks of Ireland that hid various Bibles and other patristic works from the depredations of Vikings and Danes by sequestering them and themselves, in remote and inhospitable islands.
The way America is going lately, you’d really be best served by letting a remote, rural Venetian, hold on to a piece of your legendary history for safekeeping and benefit of future generations. Maybe, one fine day, a beautiful, blonde, blue eyed, Southern Belle will marry my son, and maybe they will have half-Venetian, half-Southern children, and one day, his first born son may inherit his grandfather’s old Colt 1911.
You know it can happen.
I’ll accept cash, money transfer, silver coins, gold, or, best of all, just the Colt 1911 itself directly. C’mon I can get one for under 2k in some cases! You know you want to help…
You’re basically a boomer at this point. Colt is pretty, but both a 1911 and revolver is pretty retarded in the era of a Glock 17 – a fraction of the weight and 17 rounds.
Seals, etc. don’t go around carrying revolvers and not typically 1911s anymore. Usually use Glocks.
AAAAND we have found the retard that can’t read, ladies and gentlemen.
Was it really hard to understand that my appreciation of the 1851 Navy or the 1911 Colt has very little to do with practicalities in a gunfight? Was it really Thomas Ramsey of “I’m an idiot” USA? Apparently so. Tell me, was it your sub-standard education, bad diet, or just generally genetically low IQ that prevented you from understanding even just the broad strokes of what I wrote?
Tell us, people want to know.
In fact, you have just made yourself a teaching moment.
[…] since in 99.99% of cases, as I explained in the original post I would have got the drop on them, since I was “part of the scenery” and not in any way […]