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Can Browning's Masterpiece Be Surpassed?

Love the 1911 but just too heavy for EDC. Once carried one in a Jackass rig with two spare mags for off duty. My shoulders and back were really hurting by the end of the day. Much easier to carry my Glock 30 and with Glock 21 mag gives me 13 rounds instead of 7, 8 or 10. Glock 29 with 15 round mag might be something to look at. Just my 2 cents. :D
Weight is a problem while carrying a handgun. Weight is a blessing when it comes to recoil. I'm striving for the best of both worlds.
 
To each his own. I live in a rural area , lots of farmland and critters that are not particularly friendly. Firearms evolve as do threats.
I like a 45 but if I have both I am taking the 10 mm all day long. Flatter shooting, more powerful and typically higher capacity in most modern firearms.
Just Own one of each. Win/win
Being a former US Army Military Intelligence Officer, I'll be looking into the 10mm's application as a personal defense weapon cartridge for both carbines and handguns. Current PDW cartridges do well against body armor. But not so well when the threat isn't wearing body armor. They have a tendency to zip right though without transferring much energy to the threat. So my new handgun in 10mm should handle both situations. On the civilian side, those higher pressure cartridges, like the 10mm, do offer much better ballistic performance, externally and terminally.
 
Sounds interesting!

I'm always open to innovation and without ever having someone with an idea to create something better we would still be carrying around rocks and clubs for protection.

I wish you luck in your endeavors to create a better firearm and I would like to see and hear more about your project as you near completion.
Thanks! One observation - we're still throwing rocks, just a bit faster. Ha! Ha!
 
A lightweight polymer/scandium handgun will be easier to carry than a 1911. A new operating system will better manage recoil from higher pressure cartridges than a 1911. So if you want an easier to carry, more powerful handgun, you may have to leave the 1911 behind when my new handgun hits the market.
IF, it hits the market, I will look at it, like every other contender I have seen in the past 50 years. IF, I find it an improvement, at a reasonable price I will buy it.

Right now, you are trying to sell a dream. Time will tell if you can pull a final product off with production capabilities to make it economically viable.

I wish you luck, I truly do. But you need to understand, you are not the first wide eyed inventor aiming at the 1911s throne that has come along. And there is a reason so few make it, and that the 1911 is still a popular choice.
 
This one has been in the family since 1930. If I had to sell every firearm I own (over 100), this would be the last. I’ve asked to be buried with it, actually.I don’t know if it was Brownings best (that really has to go to the M2), but it’s pretty darned close.
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Being a former US Army Military Intelligence Officer, I'll be looking into the 10mm's application as a personal defense weapon cartridge for both carbines and handguns. Current PDW cartridges do well against body armor. But not so well when the threat isn't wearing body armor. They have a tendency to zip right though without transferring much energy to the threat. So my new handgun in 10mm should handle both situations. On the civilian side, those higher pressure cartridges, like the 10mm, do offer much better ballistic performance, externally and terminally.
Your opening sentence threw all cred out the window.
Go pal around with a Marine or Coastie so we can take everything else said seriously.

😉
😆😆😆😆😆🤪🤪
 
A lightweight polymer/scandium handgun will be easier to carry than a 1911. A new operating system will better manage recoil from higher pressure cartridges than a 1911. So if you want an easier to carry, more powerful handgun, you may have to leave the 1911 behind when my new handgun hits the market.
Having said all that, you will not be surpassing a 1911 per se, you will be developing a whole new firearm.
 
Browning's recoil operating system, an undeniable masterpiece, can be and should be surpassed. It has served us all very well for over a 100 years. But I believe Browning is disappointed that nobody has yet moved the state of the art beyond his work.
The major thing that keeps me coming back to the 1911 as my primary carry gun is the ergonomics of it. It fits my hand better than any other pistol I've used. The thumb safety is perfectly under my thumb, I can reach the magazine release with a slight twist, slide in a fresh magazine and my thumb naturally comes to rest on the slide stop to release it. I can lower the hammer with one hand with no issues. When I look at a distant object and close my eyes and bring the gun up and open my eyes again the sights are where I expect them to be.

I can reliably shoot a 2"-3" group with it at 25 yards. Hell I once even kept a magazine worth under 3" at 50 yards.

I know that I can rely on my 1911 to function when I need it.

I think John Browning would be very pleased to see that his gun has stood the test of time and outlasted so many others.

As for polymer frames and scandium slides, no thank you, not for me. I like the feel of an all steel gun on my hip. I like the weight of it in my hands.

The 1911 has been the most popular handgun design around for over 110 years because a lot of thought, effort, trial and error went into making it one of the most reliable, accurate and ergonomic pistols around.
 
Weight is a problem while carrying a handgun. Weight is a blessing when it comes to recoil. I'm striving for the best of both worlds.
For me, the "sweet spot" is in the 24-28 ounce range. This is where the Colt LW Commander lives, as well as their new 3" King Cobra (which might be the most perfect carry revolver ever produced--the modern incarnation of Chic Gaylord's "Metropolitan Special").
 
A lightweight polymer/scandium handgun will be easier to carry than a 1911. A new operating system will better manage recoil from higher pressure cartridges than a 1911. So if you want an easier to carry, more powerful handgun, you may have to leave the 1911 behind when my new handgun hits the market.
Meh. Talk is cheap, and there's a huge pile of vaporware out there already.
 
The Seven Basic Machines upon which Western Civilization Is Based:

The wheel.
The wedge.
The lever.
The inclined plane.
The pulley.
The small-block Chevy.
The Colt Government Model M1911.

Here endeth the lesson. ;)

Browning got the ergonomics, power, and shootability perfectly into one package. It is why so many firearms used the 1911 as a model. Classic SIGs are patterned after the 1911. While absolutely dependable, the shortcoming of the Glock for example has always been ergonomics. The fight always comes down to speed, power, and accuracy, and that formula will not change. With proper training and practice, the 1911 will give you all three. I think the 1911 will endure until human physiology fundamentally changes.
When Browning created his masterpiece, blowback operating systems ruled the roost in the semi-auto world. The blowback handguns could handle the weaker cartridges of the day. But more powerful cartridges were being developed, especially for military use. Browning's 1911 was designed to handle a powerful cartridge the US military wanted. The .45acp. A blowback couldn't handle such a cartridge so the recoil operating system was born. Of course, other systems were trying to tame those powerful cartridges too. The German Luger comes to mind with the 9mm Parabellum. Cartridge development was driving the firearms industry to move beyond blowback operating systems. I believe we are seeing a similar thing today. Today's higher pressure cartridges I've mentioned, will need a new operating system to realize their benefit completely.
You are absolutely correct about Browning's ergonomics. The 1911 was an incredible advancement in that area.
 
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