M1911 pistol
Colt's Manufacturing Company1911–presentSmokeless revolution
Also known as Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, M1911, Colt Government, 1911
Image credit
- Title
- File:COLT M1911A1 fieldstrip noBG 2.jpg
- Author
- Quelle: Jan Hrdonka en:User:Hrd10 / Freisteller, Erweiterung, Bildbearbeitung & Retusche von Auge=mit(attribution required)
- Licence
- CC BY-SA 4.0
- Source
- https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:COLT_M1911A1_fieldstrip_noBG_2.jpg
How Muzzle energy is calculated
E = ½ · m · v²
Inputs
- m14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- v271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 127.762 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Muzzle velocity is calculated
nearest sourced barrel length — no extrapolation (SPEC.md §8.2)
Inputs
- v at 127 mm271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedsource890 ft/s as published, converted at 1 ft/s = 0.3048 m/s.
Assumptions
- This figure belongs to a 127 mm barrel. It is shown because it is the closest measurement that exists, not because it applies here.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
How Loaded mass is calculated
m_loaded = m_empty + m_magazine + n · m_cartridge
Not calculated: m_magazine has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- One magazine, filled to the stated capacity. Spare magazines, optics, slings and lights are the owner’s, not the arm’s.
2 of 4 inputs link to their source.
How Free recoil is calculated
E_recoil = ½ · m_firearm · v_recoil²
Inputs
- m_firearm1.106 kg2.438 lbverifiedsourcePublished as 39 oz empty with magazine, so this figure includes an empty magazine; 1 oz = 28.349523125 g exactly.
- v_recoil3.655 m/s11.99 fpsestimated
Assumptions
- Propellant gas momentum is excluded: ARMAG does not record charge weights (SPEC.md §14). This is therefore a lower bound on the real free recoil, consistent between entries but smaller than a figure that includes the gas term.
- Free recoil: the arm is unrestrained. Stock design, muzzle devices, stance and shooter mass are not modelled, because none of them is a property of the arm.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Capacity is calculated
as published for the primary chambering
Inputs
- capacity7verifiedsourceMagazines of 7, 8, 9, 10 and 12 rounds are listed.
1 of 1 inputs link to their source.
Derived figures
Computed from the sourced values above. Open ƒ on any figure for the formula, its inputs, and the assumptions it makes.
How Momentum is calculated
p = m · v
Inputs
- m14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- v271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 127.762 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sectional density is calculated
SD = mass(gr) / (7000 · diameter(in)²)
Inputs
- mass14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- diameter11.48 mm0.4520 inverifiedsourceC.I.P. G1, maximum bullet diameter.
Assumptions
- Reported in the conventional lb/in² so it is directly comparable with published figures.
2 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Power factor is calculated
PF = mass(gr) · velocity(fps) / 1000
Inputs
- mass14.90 g230.0 grverifiedsource230 gr as published, converted at 1 gr = 0.06479891 g.
- velocity271.3 m/s890.0 fpsverifiedMeasured with a 127 mm barrel, not this arm's 127.762 mm. Velocity outside the sourced range is not projected.
Assumptions
- A competition classification defined by the IPSC and USPSA rulebooks, stated in their units. It describes a scoring category, not an effect.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Magazine dump is calculated
t = (n − 1) / (rpm / 60)
Not calculated: rpm has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Cyclic rate held for the whole magazine, no stoppages, trigger held down. A theoretical figure for comparing mechanisms, not a measured one.
1 of 2 inputs link to their source.
How Sight error at 1 mm is calculated
θ = atan(misalignment / sight radius)
Not calculated: sight radius has no sourced figure yet. Nothing is substituted for a missing input.
Assumptions
- Shows what a stated aiming error costs. The misalignment is the reader’s figure; the site does not claim how well anyone aims.
No input on this calculation carries a clickable source yet.
Specifications
Every row here is generated from the schema, so a figure recorded on this entry cannot be missing from the table — and the same rows, read the same way, are what the comparison shows.
Identity
- Type
- Pistol
- Action
- Self-loading
- Fire modes
- Semi-automatic
- Operating system
- Short recoil
- Designed in
- United States
- Produced in
- Introduced
- 1911
- Production
- 1911–present
Dimensions and mass
- Mass, empty
- 1.106 kg2.438 lbsource
Published as 39 oz empty with magazine, so this figure includes an empty magazine; 1 oz = 28.349523125 g exactly.
- Magazine, empty
- not recorded
- Length
- 215.9 mm8.500 insource
Published as 8.5 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly.
- Length, folded
- not recorded
- Width
- not recorded
- Height
- not recorded
- Barrel length
- 127.8 mm5.030 insource
Published as 5.03 in; 1 in = 25.4 mm exactly. Government model; the Commander is 4.25 in and the Officer 3.5 in.
Sights and rifling
- Sight radius
- not recorded
- Sight height over bore
- not recorded
- Rifling twist
- not recorded
- Twist direction
- not recorded
- Grooves
- not recorded
- Sight graduation
- not recorded
Operation
- Cyclic rate
- not recorded
- Trigger pull
- not recorded
- Effective range
- not recorded
- Units produced
- 4,294,345source
Total including licensed copies; Colt’s own production is given as 2,734,345.
- Launch price
- USD 26.38 · 1938 · US
Chamberings
- .45 ACPprimary7 rounds
Scale
A to-scale outline against family siblings. The dimensions are sourced; the shape is a representative outline for the type, and says so.
- M1911 pistol215.9 mm8.500 inheight not recorded
Representative outline — the dimensions are sourced, the shape is not. Overall length, and barrel length where recorded, are drawn from this entry's own figures; the profile is a generic one for the firearm type and says nothing about this arm's actual contours. M1911 pistol records no height, so its outline is drawn at the type's proportion — that height is part of the shape, not a measurement.
Detail
Browning’s short-recoil pistol solved the problem every locked-breech design has to solve — how to unlock the barrel from the slide after a few millimetres of travel — with a swinging link that pulls the barrel’s rear downwards out of engagement. Everything else about the pistol follows from wanting that mechanism to be serviceable in a field workshop: it comes apart without tools, and the parts are large.
It won the 1911 US trials by firing six thousand rounds without a malfunction, and the only significant revision in a century of service was the A1 of 1924, which changed the trigger, the grip safety spur and the mainspring housing after complaints from the previous war.
Its second life is competitive. A single-action trigger with a short, light break, a frame that indexes the same way every time, and an aftermarket that has had a hundred years to develop have kept it dominant in practical and bullseye shooting long after it stopped being a service weapon.
No width, height or sight radius is published in the cited article, and the price recorded here is a 1938 government contract figure rather than what the pistol cost when it was adopted.
References
This entry's own bibliography. Every citation key on this page resolves into this list.
- M1911 pistol · Wikipedia · 1371262262 · read 2026-08-31 · CC BY-SA 4.0
Last verified 2026-08-31 · review status: agent-populated