These are semi automatic pistols which support single while making use of magazines. These pistols have a chamber supporting .45 ACP cartridge and are recoil operated. The armed forces of the United States used it as a standard issue side arm between 1911 up to 1986. These pistols served in a variety of wars and it was used for the very first time during the end of the Philippine-American War. After this it was extensively used in both the World Wars. This pistol also played its role during the Korean War and the War of Vietnam. Originally this pistol was designated as the Automatic Pistol having Caliber .45, M1911. This designation was assigned in 1940 to its original 1911model. It was also referred to as the Automatic Pistol, having Caliber .45, M1911A1 for the model M1911A1, which was taken up in 1924. During the time of the Vietnam War the pistol’s designation changed to Pistol, Caliber .45, Automatic, and M1911A1.

As long as they continued to serve, the United States acquired as many as 2.7 million pistols falling in the M1911 and M1911A1 category, through various military contracts. However, later the 9mm Beretta M9 pistol replaced the M1911 pistols as the customary sidearm. This change took place during October 1986 and these pistols were replaced altogether. Despite this, it has never been entirely phased out because it is still very popular among its users. There are many modern versions of M1911 that are still functional and used by the U.S. Navy, U.S. Marine Corps, and the U.S. Army Special Forces.

Essentially the M1911 was designed by John Browning and is still considered to be one of his best designs mainly due to the short recoil feature of the basic design. The popularity of this pistol led to the creation of many copies and the system of operation used by this pistol has become the basis for almost all center fire pistols that are being created up till now. The popularity of this pistol is still considerably high among civilian shooters, who are fond of using it in competitive events such as International Practical Shooting Confederation, USPSA, Bullseye shooting, and IDPA. These pistols have compact variants which are popular amongst civilians due to their easily concealed nature which makes it easy for people to carry these pistols around. Some of the most dominant features of these pistols include slim width design along with the power of a .45 ACP cartridge