A U.S. soldier holds an M1911 handgun
The semi-automatic handgun came into existence at a time when the U.S. military, back in the early 1900s only beginning to reach its full might, lacked smaller firearms for soldiers.
Before World War I, it made appearances in skirmishes in Mexico and Haiti.
But the Great War is what made the gun a staple of the U.S. military until 1986, when it was replaced with the Beretta M9 as the army’s official sidearm.
From 1914 to 1918 (WWI) production of the firearm increased from 75,000 to 643,000.
A description of the gun in a 1918 manual reads in part: ‘In any military pistol there are certain essential qualities: Accuracy. Power to stop the enemy at once. Rapidity of fire. Reliability.
‘The automatic pistol, caliber .45, Model 1911, satisfies all of the above conditions, and as a military pistol is superior to any other made.
‘As a target pistol, it lacks many qualities. The refinements for target work, however, would prove a detriment in hard field service.’
Source: American Rifleman