The Colt 45 is arguably the best handgun ever created. Many people would find it very difficult to think of another handgun that has a better track record than the Colt 45. The Colt 45 was created by Colt’s Manufacturing Company. There have been two designs for this gun. In the 1800s Sam Colt created the revolver model of the gun. Then in the early 1900s, an automatic handgun was created for military use. Between these two designs for the handgun, Colt has created a history of excellence that cannot be denied.
In 1872, Sam Colt presented the Colt 45 single action revolver to the United States military as a replacement to the old cap-and-ball revolvers. Just one year later, the Army began issuing this revolver to all the troops. However, this was just the beginning of a long history for the gun that was commonly referred to the “Peacemaker”. The Colt 45 is commonly referred to as the gun that won the West. Before long, this revolver was carried by everyone from military to sheriffs to civilians. This handgun was so easy to shoot that the size, the strength, or the skill level of the shooter did not matter.
The Colt 45 revolver was the preferred gun for many of the most famous people of the Old West. People such as Billy the Kid, Jesse James, and Wyatt Earp all carried the Colt 45 revolver. This gun was prized because it was a very accurate shot and fired a powerful cartridge. This weapon was truly a deadly gun that could take a man down without a problem. For this reason, the 1st United States Volunteer Cavalry (also known as “the Rough Riders”) carried these guns in the Spanish-American War. As the leader of the Rough Riders, Theodore Roosevelt was one of the famous individuals to carry the Colt 45 revolver.
Although the Colt 45 revolver was an excellent gun, by the early 1900s it was no longer practical for military use. For this reason, Colt’s Manufacturing Company charged John Moses Browning with the task of creating an automatic handgun specifically for military use. When the 1911 Colt 45 was introduced, the United States military almost immediately began issuing the handgun to the troops. Since that time, the Colt 45 has remained the handgun to be issued to the United States military troops. It has certainly proven itself through numerous wars. The Colt 45 was carried by soldiers through both world wars, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and Operation Desert Storm.
Since the first gun was manufactured, millions of Colt 45s have been manufactured. There have been over three million 1911 Colt 45s manufactured. It is estimated that nearly 400,000 thousand revolvers were created before the automatic version of the weapon was introduced. It would be safe to say that if the Colt 45 were not one of the best handguns available, there would not be so many of them being purchased and issued. The military are not the only ones who currently use the Colt 45 as the issued handgun. The majority of police departments across the country issue this weapon to all officers.
If Sam Colt could see how successful the Colt 45 has been throughout American history he would certainly be proud. Both the initial design of the revolver and the later automatic version are by far the most recognizable handgun in the United States. Anyone who has seen Wild West movies, war movies, and police movies has seen the Colt 45. It is hard to dispute the importance of “the gun that won the West”. Just as a post Civil War slogan stated “Abe Lincoln may have freed all men, but Sam Colt made them all equal”.
|
|
|
last viewed articles
