Marine Corps adopts the Colt 45 again.

[henryclay]

Take your Glocks, your Barettas, your S&W's and all the rest. The Marine Corps is returning to the tried and trusted 45 caliber side arm that it has used for over a hundred years. They just contracted Colt to build it in a new bullet launcher package, and except for the weapon's tan finish , , , , maybe inspired by everything else being tan today, the new pistol looks remarkedly like it's older brother. One place I saw said a deciding factor was the gun's ability to put 5 rounds in a 4 inch target at 25 yards.

If it was good enough top stop the muslims in th Philippines a hundred years ago when nothing else would, it should be good enough to do it today in the Middle East.

militarytimes.com/blogs/gearscout/2012/07/19/m45-marsoc-pistol-contract-is-done-deal/

[billisonboard]

Jul 20, 2012 16:07:42 GMT -5 henryclay said:

...

If it was good enough top stop the muslims in th Philippines a hundred years ago when nothing else would, it should be good enough to do it today in the Middle East.

Comments on the Moro Massacre by Mark Twain (March 12, 1906)
www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/moro.htm

[swamp]

Warfare has changed just a little bit since 1906.....................

I'm wondering whose district the manufacturer is in......

[Deleted]

Woo-hoo! Colts are manufactured in my town!

[kent]

Jul 25, 2012 12:23:45 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Jul 20, 2012 16:07:42 GMT -5 henryclay said:

...

If it was good enough top stop the muslims in th Philippines a hundred years ago when nothing else would, it should be good enough to do it today in the Middle East.

Comments on the Moro Massacre by Mark Twain (March 12, 1906)
www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/moro.htm

Bill, thanks for the link - very informative

[henryclay]

Jul 25, 2012 12:58:48 GMT -5 kent said:

Jul 25, 2012 12:23:45 GMT -5 billisonboard said:

Comments on the Moro Massacre by Mark Twain (March 12, 1906)
www.is.wayne.edu/mnissani/cr/moro.htm

Bill, thanks for the link - very informative

Yep, a good story, but the poster that presented it seems to know about as much about events in the Philippines as the rest of us know about the back side of the moon. The "very informative" story has nothing to do with the Colt 45 round that has been re-adopted by the Marine Corps. It wasn't even on the drawing boards in 1906.

On the other hand, this story is closer to the facts presented in the OP, and since self loading pistols were a new invention it is not remarkable that the article refers to them as "Colt automatic revolvers that were invented to ward off the [suicidal] Moro (Muslim) warriors,"

brainerddispatch.com/stories/021802/wne_0218020032.shtml

[billisonboard]

The United States fought a war to end Spain's 377-year colonial grip on the Philippines. Spain ceded the spice-rich colony to America under the Treaty of Paris in 1898. But the Americans didn't let go of the Philippines right away, provoking unrest among Filipinos, including Muslims in the south. (from henry's link)

I like that; "didn't let go ... right away, ...", as in almost 50 years.

[henryclay]

Seemingly always ready to paint his country in the dark light that his leader, Obama, has described it, bills can find no bottom to things that can be made to look worse than the events that surround them.. Yes the United States did take rule of the Philippines from Spain. . . . for 20 million dollars. It ended 377 years of brutality under Spanish conquistadors in several holdings of the Spanish Empire.

The United States “ruled” the Philippines as a “protectorate” for decades, by providing military assistance, economic and industrial aid while at the same time recognizing the role of self rule by the Filipinos themselves, and in 1924 treated with the Philippines to cede all US involvement in 1946.

In 1946 the United States kept its promise. It is something I challenge the spinmaster to find anything that parallels it.

And none of it whatsoever has anything to do with the centerpiece of this thread, , , Colt 45 pistol..

[billisonboard]

Jul 26, 2012 11:12:04 GMT -5 henryclay said:

Seemingly always ready to paint his country in the dark light that his leader, Obama, has described it, bills can find no bottom to things that can be made to look worse than the events that surround them.. Yes the United States did take rule of the Philippines from Spain. . . . for 20 million dollars. ...

So the Spanish conquered the Filipinos, and then we bought them from Spain for 20 million dollars. And how did the Filipinos feel about a new colonial master? Well:

As early 1899, U.S. and Filipino forces faced off as a tense situation became worse. American forces held the capitol of Manila, while Aguinaldo's army occupied a trench-line surrounding the city. On the evening of February 4, 1899, Private William Grayson of the Nebraska Volunteers fired the first shot in what would turn out to be a very bloody war. Grayson shot at a group of Filipinos approaching his position, provoking an armed response. Shooting soon spread up and down the ten-mile U.S.-Filipino lines, causing hundreds of casualties. Upon the outbreak of hostilities, U.S. troops, supported by shelling from Admiral Dewey's fleet, quickly overwhelmed the Filipino positions while inflicting thousands of casualties. Within days, American forces spread outward from Manila, using superior firepower, mobile artillery and command of the sea to full effect. www.historyguy.com/PhilipineAmericanwar.html

Reality is.

[deziloooooo]

Glad in a way to see that if weapon was going to be made ...Colt in West Hartford [ I'm a originally a Ct Yankee} was going to get the work , but that said..

The Close Quarter Battle Pistol is modeled after earlier versions of the semi-automatic 1911 pistol used since the 1980s by Force Reconnaissance units. The contract is for 400 to 12,000 pistols as part of a contract worth up to $22.5 million, according to Marine Corps Systems Command. That means the price per pistol is $1,875. Sources tell us the Marine Corps is ordering 4000 pistols.

22 and a half million ...for a new /old hand gun..why? A seven shot vs a 15 shot ..granted the .45 round very hot and powerful...has there been a problem with the 9 mm in actions..also I don't care that some old gunny can shoot lights out with the .45 for the average grunt..it is NOT a easy weapon to master.., I am sure . hope so..usually the Marines do not waste what little/fewdefense $ vs the other services they get in their procurments so am giving them the benefit of the doubt but then again..Why? A close quarters weapon ...for crew served weapons..drivers, guards..who ever...

I have seen many combat troops in action shots today carrying both their main arms plus so many also carrying a holstered hand weapon webbed on their leg..grunts not officer and non commisioned types....which was not done back in the day..is this something that is common now?

[Don Perignon]

I know someone who works at the Colt plant... he tells me that over a quarter of the employees speak English as a "second language".
A large number of the workers are Puerto Rican.

Guess how and when the USA "acquired" Puerto Rico... (if you guessed "HispanoAmerican War of 1898", you nailed it).

[deziloooooo]

Interesting new article about the plant...some very skilled craftsman work there and unlike many here..folks in NE are a bit more tolerant , over all..always exceptions..of those who speak different languages.

www.courant.com/business/hc-colt-45-marine-corp-20120817,0,1994830.story
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A Historic Return For U.S. Marines To Colt Sidearms

For the first time in several decades, a military-spec Colt 45-caliber pistol will be sold to the U.S. military as the sidearm for a select group of U.S. Marines.

(STEPHEN DUNN, Hartford Courant / July 23, 2012)



The Hartford Courant

9:51 a.m. EDT, August 18, 2012
WEST HARTFORD ——

"The newest Colt .45-caliber pistol is touted for its durability and design.

It is tested to make sure it can be dropped in water, covered in mud, immersed in sand or ice, or left in a dust storm — and still be able to blast off a round when you pull the trigger.

"Virtually, it's indestructible," said Casimir Pawlowski, who works in international sales and technical sevices for Colt Defense LLC. "You can drive over these things with a Humvee and they're still gonna work. It's like a brick that shoots bullets."
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Click on link to read rest of article

[TonyTiger]

Fascinating how some of these older weapons systems of the early-to-mid 20th are still on the top of the heap, a half-century to a century later...

The Colt 1911 .45 is one of those...

The B-52 is another that comes to mind...

And the A-10 is shaping-up to be yet another...