Advent of the Reliable Auto Pistol Part 1

Nowadays, auto pistols are expected to be reliable, durable, accurate, and ergonomic. It's more the standard than the exception. And as such the semi-automatic pistol has gained widespread acceptance in military, law enforcement, and armed civilian (I'm all for it) communities. But this wasn't always the case. In fact gaining that trust and acceptance, pried from the purview of the revolver, was hard won and slow to arrive. For most, revolvers were THE firearm of choice for decades both in war and in peace. Sure there were some remarkable auto pistol designs that had successful military careers: the Colt 1911A1, the Browning High Power, the Walther P38, the Soviet Makarov, and a several other semi-automatic pistols. But each had its issues and none ever gained the momentum to overcome the entrenched resistance against auto designs. Most would only function with 100% reliability with FMJ loadings, some had complicated controls, all were heavy, some weren't accurate enough, and some had sights that were just plain awful. Bottom line is they just weren't widely trusted because they had been found to fail with expanding ammunition. And as such, the reliable and usually accurate revolver continued to dominate the US law enforcement scene on through the 1980s.

The advent of the reliable H&K P7 started the revolution in thinking and it served well and began to wind advocates. But then things really changed with the US Army's adoption of the Beretta Model 92, one of the first truly accurate, easy to fire, truly reliable and durable auto pistol designs. It opened the door of change and many law enforcement agencies followed the military in the switch to auto pistols. But there was still resistance from many quarters and it would take true revolver-like reliability to change their thinking. And then it happened: the outstanding Sig and Glock designs. Since the 1980s that are have an amazing track record in standards of auto pistol reliability and accuracy. And they flung the door of auto resistance wide open. Only on the grounds of personal preference could anyone opt to shoot a revolver over a semi-auto pistol...now critics had lost their long standing argument of reliability against the semi-auto. Simply put, the Glock and Sig designs ushered in the widespread acceptance auto pistols that we see today. They changed the world.
-Nutnfancy

Book Reference: In the FIREPOWER series by Chris Bishop, entitled "Infantry Weapons." Outstanding series with lots of excellent info...thank you Chris!

Category:

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[jakkd07]

1911 .45- Still in use by some US Military to this day (Marine Force Recon). Also other elite units such as LAPD SWAT and FBI Hostage Rescue Team. This gun changed everything.

Browning Hi-Power- The Hi cap 9mm that changed everything.

CZ 75-Hailed by the likes of Jeff Cooper, and was a good bit ahead of the 92 and the 226. CZ claims this gun is in use by more agencies (civ and military) than any handgun on the planet.

[Crim15]

Actually: Heckler and "coke"..

[Morepullups]

Many of those issues with the 1911, was due to the care the military took care of there arms. Back then, people didn't clean and take care of there arms like they do now. You have a 1911 from ww2 through vietnam, there is going to be issues specially seeing hard combat use.

[Strelnikov10]

Robin Olds is a genius. My close friend's dad flew with him on Operation Bolo. Great story in history, absolute genius.

[MrStan1911]

The only exception I can think of was England, who stuck to their Webley revolvers until the end of WW2. Therefore, although the revolvers were more reliable and simple than semi-auto pistols, the European police and military began to trust semi-autos before the Americans.

[MrStan1911]

Just wanted to say that the story was a little different in Europe. In fact, very early, the police and armed forces fo Europe began to trust semi-automatic weapons, the first being the Belgian, who benefited from the work of J.M.Browning since 1903, then Germany, with the Luger and Walther firearms; Italy, with the Beretta firearms, and France, with weapons manufactured by the MAS and Manurhin. At the time, the ideal police calibers were the 7.65, or .32 ACP, and the 9mm short, or .380 ACP.

[MrStan1911]

Just wanted to say that the story was a little different in Europe. In fact, very early, the police and armed forces fo Europe began to trust semi-automatic weapons, the first being the Belgian, who benefited from the work of J.M.Browning since 1903, then Germany, with the Luger and Walther firearms; Italy, with the Beretta firearms, and France, with weapons manufactured by the MAS and Manurhin. At the time, the ideal police calibers were the 7.65, or .32 ACP, and the 9mm short, or .380 ACP.

[ImWatchinTheTube]

I'll sum up this video series, saving you a half hour of your time: Everthing made before the HK P7 sucks. Browning Hi-power doesn't exist beyond the military. LOL

[Grubbernaut]

I don't think the training for a SAO gun is any harder than a DA/SA gun. In fact, I'd say it's easier. All you ever have to do is work the safety; with a DA/SA gun, you need to work two different trigger pulls, and whenever you holster it you have to decock and then move the lever back into its normal position, pending which gun it is.

[tiffyj85]

I want your book.

[tiffyj85]

That's dumb, how come I don't hear about that dude in the PDG?

[dominicprimo]

oh yes! I love finding vintage nutnfancy vids that I somehow missed!!!!!! SWEET