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The best designs, are timeless. The Wheel, Lightbulb, Sliced bread. This weapon, ranks among them. The M1911 is an American Semi-Automatic Pistol, whose use spans over a Century. So what set this weapon apart, from early Semi-Automatic designs? How has it influenced later Pistols? And how on earth, does a War-time design, remain so popular? Around the turn of the 20th Century, the earliest Self-Loading Pistol designs appeared. Inspired by Maxim's Machinegun, weapons like the Borchardt C-93, and Mauser C96 attempted to scale down a Repeating Mechanism, into a hand-held package. The first American to do the same, was John Moses Browning. A legendary Arms designer, credited with many Firsts. Amongst them was the First production Handgun with a Slide, the FN M1900. His Semi-Automatic Pistol designs saw iterative improvements, over the next Decade. Culminating in one, manufactured by colt, and subject to Trial by the U.S. Army. 6 Designs were submitted, but only 2 were in major contention. a Savage Arms design, providing a Rival to Browning's. Over an Endurance Test of 6000 Rounds, the Savage had 37 Malfunctions. The Colt, had none. It's superlative led to it's official Adoption in 1911. As the M1911. One of the Weapon's defining traits, is it's Caliber. .45 Automatic Colt Pistol. The Rimless Straight-Walled Cartridge, is designed for 2 things. Reliable Self-Loading Operation, and Stopping Power. The U.S. Military's earlier experience, with .38 Long Colt Revolvers, had led to one Conclusion, for any future Sidearm. Nothing less than a .45 would do. Browning's design has been.. Particularly Influential. Many modern Pistols follow its' form, and mode of operation. It does lack some Modern Conveniences, it is Single Action only, meaning that the hammer MUST be cocked for the first shot. Either manually, or by racking the Slide. However, an Uncomplicated design, does have some Perks. A crisp Trigger, and reliable function. its' Short Recoil Operation, is equally elegant.