There was a post in the section on motivational poster thread that is just to great to miss. If you go back from the 1911 pistol to what the army was issuing you find this. The Springfield model 03 While this is an earlier musket, it was still in general use in 1828 and was being issued. The Wright Brothers 1903 airplane. USAF in 1978. Now don't tell me that we don't live in interesting times. And from the Wright Bros. first flight in 1903 to man on the moon in 1969. Every time I look at that salute I almost die of envy..It gives me goosebumps and why in the He** couldn't I have the chance to salute the flag on the moon. Once in a man's lifetime experience and I thank him for doing it. It is to me very inspiring and a symbol of our glorious past and I hope great future when we can salute again on the moon.
Beating a dead horse in this forum, but how many firearms can you name that as far I know have been in production for over a hundred years. Yes I would take a new one as a gift and smile! 1911 Classics Family - Colt's Manufacturing LLC A Short History of the Beloved Colt 1911 Pistol | Small Wars Journal by Arizona State University
It is strange how some things near perfection and just stay there. The Remington single action Army is about 175 years old and still a weapon I would take on a hunt. The Colt is even older, but I like the top strap, my bias as it really can be done without and Colt did not use it as the Walker Colts came with spare cylinders and could be "reloaded" in seconds. As I remember it Cap. Walker was killed in the Mexican American war by a lance. When the Colt came out in Texas, the mounted were still making charges with lances and still killing people doing so.
How bout this, All of these ( shown in order) American fighting rifles were built within a 50 year span, talk about innovation and fire power, from single shot muzzle loading muskets to a Semi Auto Battle Rifle with out equal! Each was a quantem leap forward in both fire power and precision rapid fire, from the M-1855 MK-IV Colt .54 cal black Powder, to the .30/06 Springfield 1903 and M-1 Garand, and everything in between! Ironically, that M-1855 held a distinct advantage over it's early Repeaters in both hitting power and range, my MK-IV Colt in .50 cal. shooting s "Standard" Colt #19 moulded Conical 455 grain over top a 88 grain charge of FFg will shoot accurately to 600 Meters with a Muzzle velocity of just a fuzz over 2200 FPS! Compare that to both .44/40 and the later .45/70!!! It wasn't until the Krag-Jorgenson with it's .30/40 bottle nose cartridge did things improve, and even more so when the 1895 Winchester came along, offering calibers from .38/55 on up, including after 1906, the U.S. Cal .30 1906, ( for you metric guys, that's 7.62X63) or more commonly known the world over ( In Freedom Units ) as .30/06! Hard to imagine such drastic changes in such a short span of time, things are so much slower today then they were 125 years ago, we sort of hit a Zenith around 1930 when things really tapered off, it wasn't until the mid 80's that we saw any real significance in cartridge performance, and even then, outside a hand full of serious performers, most have been fine tunings of existing loads! M-1855 Colt MK-IV Frontier Carbine in .50 cal Black Power! The legendary Spencer Carbine, .44/40 The World renowned Henry Repeater, also .44/40 The Legendary John Browning designed Winchester M-1873, the REAL rifle that won the west, .44/40 The Last of the Winchester Lever Actions, and greatest of John Browning designs, the M-1895 Winchester in calibers from .30 U.S. to .405 Winchester, but the ultimate being .30/06! The Much beloved and True fighting rifle designed from the ground up specifically as a Battle Rifle, the Krag Jorgenson in Cal.30/40, few rifles could match these, note below! The Final answer to Bolt action fighting rifles, the legendary Springfield 1903 A-3 in the gold standard .30/06, the last true bolt action Battle rifle, None could match it for precision, range, or stopping power! And lastly, the Greatest Battle Implement of all time ( according to no less than Gen. George S Patton hisself) the M-1 Garand self loading battle rifle, THE rifle that won THE BIG ONE WW-II, and the last military rifle to be chambered in .30/06 for the United States!
I tend to forget how much of a change the Krag Jorgenson rifle was to the US army. It replaced the trapdoor Springfield singe shot as the official rifle. An Official Journal Of The NRA | 150 Years Of The ''Trapdoor Springfield'' An Official Journal Of The NRA | The Krag-Jorgensen: America's First Bolt-Action Service Rifle And a very good article on the problems that the first 03 rifles had and how the one we all love is the 03 with the bugs cured. An Official Journal Of The NRA | From 'Poor Invention' To America’s Best: The M1903 Service Rifle Then on to the M1 and its brothers. An Official Journal Of The NRA | Garand's Military Rifles: M1 To M14 Although I have several AR 15, I leave their introduction to someone else as I have never been a big fan of the M 16 or the rifles that the Army has tried since. Good for a fire fight in a whore house but lacking in many senses at a war with shot distances of 100 yards or ballistic protection. Sorry, that my biases and I am sticking to them.
