The Browning Insult

I moved this entry from my other Blog about encoders because it was just way-too off topic...

The following has nothing to do with optical encoders, far from it, but it does deal with another of my interests. I might go as far as to call it a passion. Modern firearms.

Somehow I got pulled into an on-line discussion about semi-automatic pistol designs. Specifically, the .45 caliber 1911 Combat Pistol. The reason I was sucked in...well, the discussion got a bit ugly at one point with severe criticism of the 1911, its reliability, its "old" design, etc. Here is an excerpt of one of the comments:  

"The 1911 is, at its core, a dogshit design. I’d never trust my life to one of those crapfests, no matter how ‘tuned’."

Being an admirer of John Moses Browning, I had to jump in with both "guns a blazin'". My response was the following:

"100+ years ago, a genius named John Moses Browning gave the US Army what it was asking for. A reliable combat pistol with one shot knock down power. In order to “pass the test” the pistol needed to fire 6,000 rounds continuously, only stopping to eject and insert magazines. It did just that flawlessly.
As far as the design being less than good…I might suggest that when any other combat pistol gets 100+ years of experience under its belt, then the design comparisons can be drawn.
Mr. Browning does have a couple of designs that seem to be classics. Take the MA-2 .50 cal. Heavy Machine gun. Is that a piece of shit design too? Or, his .30 Cal Light Machine Gun, which I believe still holds the sustained fire record of around 48 minutes at 600 rounds a minute. Nearly 29,000 bullets sent downrange. The only reason it stopped then, was it ran out of bullets in the pre-made bandoleer.
Are there better semi-auto pistols available in the marketplace today? Undoubtedly. However, I would posit that their designs are more complex, require more machining, and contain more components than JMB’s “classic” 1911."

O.K., so I should not have gotten sucked in. It's too late now. Why did I come to the defense of a design that needs no defense? The man that designed it had a sixth grade education. Yet, he holds more firearm patents than any person living or dead.

In my slightly less than humble opinion, when the .45 ACP, 1911 pistol is manufactured as it was in John Moses Browning's day, by craftsmen, machinists, and armorers that are the "best of the best", and used with ammunition it was designed to fire, there is no better, more lethal, more ergonomic, more reliable hand held firearm on the planet. Again, that is just my opinion. Which, I have come to accept, carries very little weight...I'm jiggy with that.

Until next time, or not.

Gaff