This past Saturday I took my new M1911 to the range for the first time, which I received as a Christmas gift from my father-in-law. Having never fired a .45 before, I wasn't sure what to expect, but I came away thoroughly impressed. I fired 50 rounds of remanufactured 200-grain Federal ammo and then finished off with 50 rounds of 230-grain Winchester. Other than some issues I had with some USGI mags I bought, it was a great time. This was my grouping with the 230-grain Winchester from 20 feet:



The Misses (aka, my new shooting partner) also had a fun time with her Ruger LC380 (she also has a 9mm M&P Shield):

Love that Weapon I was a radio operator in VN and it was my TO weapon

LukeFF is much more attractive than I would have guessed.

Nice grouping on the target though.

Soon you'll look back on that grouping at 20 feet and be thinking it's large. The 1911 pattern is a good shooter's pistol and the large frame lends itself to marksmanship. I have two Colts in .45, one an original Model of 1911 and the other a Series 70, and even though they were made 60 years apart, you can swap parts back and forth between them.

Someday I will get a 1911 sort of pistol. Just every time I am in the market for a pistol something else grabs my bucks. Thats keeps happening over and over again for the past 20 years.

When my uncle passed away in 2009 I came across his 1911 manual (probably US Army issue in the early 1940's). I wish I had kept it.

I am a bladed weapon person. I might not be able to stop someone at a distance but if they are in my house they can expect to require surgery if they survive the encounter.

Cool. I just noticed the cake next to my name.

Thanks, SimHQ

Happy Birthday to a fellow blade runnner...

v6,
boNes

Stay away from that range... thats the range in San Bernardino right? ive been there a few times and it was so ghetto.. also, people died there in a robbery some years back.

Thank you.

This is my varmint knife. If anything ends up in the back yard and threatens my dogs, this is what I bring out. Haven't needed it so far but it is hanging by the back door, just in case.



If it comes down to it, I have two swords (24" and 36") that can be brought into play. They were both built in Japan about 50 years ago, but the edge is still perfect.

I have never been a gun person, but I do have a thing for swords and knives.

EDIT: This and my Ka-bar are both all black...I have a couple of folding knives as well that are all black. If I need to employ them they are very hard for the other guy to see.

Yes indeed; Happy Birthday !

Thanks. After all the years I have been here, I never noticed that before. I must be getting old....LOL

Well then I have something for everybody in this thread.

1918 Colt Model of 1911 pistol, and 1919 Springfield Model of 1905 16" bayonet. The pig-sticker is sharp enough to shave with, and the pistol works like the day it was made.

I've always loved the feel of a good 1911. I'm jealous.

I too am a fan of the 1911. I have three.

Damn, that is a pretty blade. As for the gun, it never ceases to amaze me how little that weapon has changed over the years.

Though I am not a gun owner, it doesn't keep me from being fascinated by the engineering involved. Some of the books on my shelf.



For the bladed weapon people, I consider this to be one of my favorites and essential if you are interested in the specifics of the Samurai sword.



If I weren't so lazy I would unpack the swords and post a pic.

Many years ago not long after the Royal Armouries opened their museum in Leeds, I had some spare time between business meetings in the city and so went for a visit.

They had lots of edged weapons there and a lot of them were sitting on silk backdrops, but what caught my eye was that one of the katana swords had cut through the silk where the edge of the blade was resting on the support under the silk, it made me smile.

I am not surprised. I inherited the ones I have (my dad lived in Japan for quite a while) and the first time I took one out of the scabbard I accidentally let my thumb hit the blade. It cut my thumb open like scalpel had been used.

The process for producing a blade like that amazes me. Just the time, and the folding of the metal stuns me. Nothing else I own is that sharp, including my Ka-bars and my Henckels kitchen knives, and they are relatively new.

I honestly don't know how old my swords are. I have actually exposed the tang on one of them and the signature of the maker was visible and I was able to create a pencil etching from it. However life got busy and I never pursued it.

EDIT: You forced me to get off my ass and get them out.



They are far from perfect condition, in terms of the hilt and scabbard, but they travelled all over the world when I was growing up and the changes in the weather, and probably poor packing allowed for a lot of damage.

Nice blades, thanks for sharing.

I have held one wakazashi that belongs to a friend it is sitting shirasaya just a plain wooden scabbard to keep the blade when not mounted, he also had a very nice tanto from the 1600s.

The katana I held was very interesting, it was a captured blade from WW2 covered in plain brown leather with a hint of something special under the leather, it was in a yellow silk bag then a velvety bag over that then in a custom fitted wooden case, which was quite old, the blade had a fresh semi circular nick in it, I think someone in the shop had been playing with it and damaged it. I did take a rubbing of the signature on the tang and managed to translate part of it, the smith dated from the early 1800s. But I was suspicious as there are a lot of gunto blades dressed up to seem like they are old genuine blades, I never pursued it any further, they were looking for about £800 for it at the time, around 1998.

Impressive! Has anything been changed out on the 1911?