Chapter 3.
AUTOMATIC PISTOLS.
Towards the end of the Nineteenth Century inventors began to take advantage of the recoil power of the explosion of the cartridge. The result of their efforts were a number of automatic and autoloading arms.
Automatic firearms are those in which the force of the recoil of the first shot is utilized to continue the operation of unlocking, extraction, ejection, feeding, loading, locking and firing continuously as long as the ammunition lasts in the magazine, belt or strip, or the sear is kept free of the operating mechanism by pressure on the trigger. Because of necessity of a fixed rest or support, automatic arms are principally machine guns and machine rifles, and the majority of these arms are gas as well as recoil operated.
In pistols the recoil of the cartridge is used to make the arm autoloading, that is, the force of the explosion of each shot is used to unlock the mechanism, extract and eject the empty shell, and reload, by stripping and feeding another cartridge from the magazine into the chamber. The trigger must be pressed for each successive shot. Automatic fire in an unsupported hand arm would result in a wild, uncontrolled burst of fire, the pistol climbing up and away after the first shot.
Autoloading pistols gained rapid and well deserved popularity at the beginning of the Nineteenth Century. As compared with the revolver, the autoloading pistol is less cumbersome, harder shooting, for there is no possibility of gas escape between the cylinder and the barrel, the arm can be fired more rapidly and more accurately than a double action revolver, and has the advantage of greater magazine capacity.
Though the name “automatic” as applied to autoloading pistols is a misnomer, these pistols are so called in this chapter because of the accepted use of the name by the public and by the War Department.
COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, MILITARY MODEL 1902.
Caliber .38, recoil operated, magazine fed, autoloading. The pistol has capacity for eight shots, rimless automatic type cartridges. The barrel is six inches long and is rifled with six grooves. The slide is eight-and-three-eighths inches long. Total length of the pistol is eight-and-seven-eighths inches. Weight 2 pounds, 5 ounces. A steel blade front sight and a U-notch rear sight are mounted on the slide, which is grooved at the forward end. The hammer is of the striker, or stub type, without a spur. There are no safety devices. The hard rubber, checked grips are marked “COLT”, and with the Colt trademark, a rampant colt in a circle. Blued finish.
The functioning of the pistol is similar to that of the Model 1911, fully described in the following pages. In brief, when the cartridge is fired, the barrel and slide move rearward for a short distance, when the barrel stops and drops, unlocking the slide, which continues to the rear, extracting and ejecting the empty shell. When the limit of rearward travel has been reached, the slide returns, strips a new cartridge from the magazine and drives it into the chamber. The forward movement of the slide forces the barrel forward and upward, locking it to the slide, ready for firing upon pressure on the trigger.
The pistol is marked on the right side of the slide “AUTOMATIC COLT CALIBRE 38 RIMLESS SMOKELESS”. On the left side of the slide is marked “BROWNING’S PATENT PAT’D APRIL 20, 1897, SEPT. 9, 1902 COLT’S PATENT FIRE ARMS MFG. CO., HARTFORD, CONN., U.S.A.” and is stamped with a rampant colt in a circle. Number 6,173 is stamped on the left side of the frame above the trigger guard.
The pistol is the invention of John M. Browning of Ogden, Utah, a famous firearms inventor.
COLT AUTOMATIC PISTOL, MODEL 1911.
Caliber .45, recoil operated, magazine fed, self loading. The magazine has capacity for seven rounds of rimless, alloy jacketed ammunition, Model 1911. The barrel is five inches long, and is rifled with six grooves making one left turn in sixteen inches. The total length of the pistol is about eight-and-one-half inches. Weight of the pistol with empty magazine is 2 pounds, 7 ounces. A blade front sight and a U-notch rear sight are mounted on the slide. Checked walnut stocks. Blued finish.
The pistol functions as follows: When the first cartridge is fired, the force of the recoil is utilized to drive the slide and the barrel to the rear. The action of the barrel link stops the barrel and swings it downward, unlocking it from the slide. The slide continues to move to the rear, extracting and ejecting the empty cartridge case, and simultaneously compressing the recoil spring, until the slide reaches its rearmost position. It is then driven forward by the action of the compressed recoil spring. In its forward movement the slide strips from the magazine a cartridge which has been raised to protrude slightly in front of the slide by the action of the magazine spring. The slide then forces the cartridge into the chamber, and at the same time drives the barrel, which is pivoted on the link, forward and upward, locking the barrel to the slide by means of two transverse ribs on the barrel fitting into corresponding slots on the slide. The pistol is then ready to fire again, upon pressing the trigger.
The pistol fires but once on each squeeze of the trigger. When the last cartridge has been fired, the slide remains open. If the magazine catch is depressed, the empty magazine will fall out, and a loaded magazine can be inserted, making seven more shots available. The slide is returned forward, and the chamber loaded by downward pressure on the slide stop, the hammer remaining cocked and ready for firing.
The pistol is equipped with three safety devices as follows:—
(1) A safety lock on the left side of the frame, in front of the hammer. When the safety is raised while the hammer is cocked, the latter is locked in that position.
(2) A grip safety which must be compressed into the grip by the yoke of the hand while the trigger is being squeezed.
(3) A disconnector mounted inside the receiver in rear of the magazine seat. The disconnector is depressed by the slide in all positions except when the slide is fully forward and locked to the barrel. In the depressed position of the disconnector the trigger is disconnected from the sear, permitting the sear to re-engage the hammer. This arrangement automatically and positively prevents the firing of the pistol except when all its parts are closed and locked in firing position; it also prevents more than one shot being fired following each squeeze of the trigger.
About 1926 the Colt Company introduced certain improvements in the pistol, such as a longer grip safety tang to protect the hand from hammer pinching, a shorter knurled trigger-face, a raised knurled trigger-housing to fit the hand better and prevent slippage, a clearance cut made on the receiver for the trigger-finger, and lastly a widened front sight and a corresponding rear sight. Of these improvements, the first three parts are interchangeable with the old. As improved the pistol is called Model 1911 Al.
The pistol as made by Colt is marked on the left side of the slide “COLT’S PAT. F. A. MFG. CO., HARTFORD CT., U.S. A.”, a rampant colt, and “PATENTED APRIL 20, 1897, SEPT. 9, 1902, DEC. 19, 1905, FEB. 14, 1911, AUG. 19, 1913”, and on the left side of the frame “UNITED STATES PROPERTY”. On the right side the slide is marked “MODEL OF 1911 U. S. ARMY”, and on the frame the specimen described bears the number 159598.
The pistol is the invention of Mr. John M. Browning, a noted firearms inventor, famed for the machine guns and automatic rifles and shotguns made from his designs. The pistol rendered a splendid account of itself during the World War, for in the hands of pistol shooting American troops it was a deadly weapon as compared to the smaller calibers relied on by officers of foreign armies, who regarded the pistol as more of an ornamental side-arm than a military weapon.
Though at first but few men of an infantry regiment carried pistols, the effectiveness of the arm in trench and close fighting proved the desirability of more extensive issue, and created an enormous demand that exceeded the capacity of the Colt Company facilities, as well as the facilities of the Springfield Armory, where these pistols had also been manufactured, but which were now strained to meet the demand for rifles.
Through the cooperation of the Colt Company, drawings and plans were made available to the Remington-UMC Company, whose production augmented the Colt output, all parts of the pistol of both companies being interchangeable.
In 1918, in order to fill the constantly growing pistol requirements of the American Expeditionary Forces, contracts for these pistols were given to the National Cash Register Company of Dayton, Ohio; The North American Arms Co. of Quebec, and Caron Bros, of Montreal, Canada; The Savage Arms Company, Utica, N. Y.; Burroughs Adding Machine Company, Detroit, Mich.; The Winchester Repeating Arms Company of New Haven, Conn.; The Lanston Monotype Co. of Philadelphia, Pa., and the Savage Munitions Co. of San Diego, California.
The coming of the Armistice resulted in the cancellation of the contracts before production began, and the only pistols obtained during the World War were made by Colts and Remington Arms.
At the outbreak of the war the army had approximately 75,000 automatic pistols in storage and in hands of troops. At the signing of the Armistice this number had grown to 643,755. Between April 6, 1917, and December 1918, the Colt Company produced 425,000 automatic pistols, and the Remington-UMC, who did not begin production until September, 1918, made 13,152.
GRANT-HAMMOND AUTOMATIC PISTOL.
(NAVY EXPERIMENTAL.)
Caliber .45, recoil operated, magazine fed, self loading. The pistol has capacity for eight rounds of rimless caliber .45 automatic cartridges. The barrel is six-and-three-quarters inches long and is rifled with six grooves. Total length eleven-and-one-quarter inches. Weight of the pistol with empty magazine is 2 pounds, 10 ounces. Partridge type band front sight; the U-notch rear sight is mounted on the slide. Outside hammer. Safety lock on the left side of the frame. Smooth grips. Blue finish.
The barrel is screwed into the slide, inside of which is the breech block. Cocking handles similar to the Mauser automatic pistol type, extend across the end of the block. When the pistol is discharged, the recoil causes the locked slide and block to travel together for a short distance, when the block is unlocked from the slide, and continues to the rear, extracting and ejecting the empty shell. On return to forward position the block strips a live cartridge from the magazine feedway and drives it into the chamber, upon which, the block and slide lock together ready for firing upon pressure on the trigger. After the last shot the empty magazine is ejected. Insertion of a full magazine closes the open slide automatically, loading the piece.
The pistol is marked on the right side of the slide “GRANT HAMMOND MFG. CORP., NEW HAVEN, CONN., USA”. The top of the slide is marked “HAMMOND” in engraved letters. The left side is marked “PATENTED MAY 4, 1915, OTHER PATENTS PENDING”. Number 8 is marked on the front of the frame, under the barrel.
A small number of these pistols, (reputed to be less than a dozen), were made up and submitted to the Navy Department for tests in 1917. The arm gave excellent results in functioning and accuracy. However any points of superiority that may have developed were not of sufficient relative importance to warrant the adoption of a new weapon during the war, or to render obsolete the large stocks of the excellent and reliable Model 1911 pistols.
SAVAGE AUTOMATIC PISTOL, MODEL 1905.
Caliber .45, recoil operated, magazine fed, autoloading. The magazine has capacity for 8 rounds of rimless .45 caliber automatic cartridges. The barrel is five-and-one-quarter inches long and is rifled with six grooves. The total length of the pistol is nine inches. Weight with empty magazine is 2 pounds, 31/2 ounces. Steel blade front sight; a U-notch rear sight is mounted on the slide. Blued finish, case-hardened hammer, milled at the top. Heavy milled corrugations on the slide give a firm grip and facilitate the withdrawal of the slide to the rear for initial loading. The pistol is equipped with a grip safety and a safety latch on the left side. The firing pin is pivoted on the hammer.
The pistol functions through the utilization of the recoil power of the cartridge to unlock, extract, eject and reload. When the cartridge is fired the slide moves backwards, turning the barrel partially to the right to unlock, extracts and ejects the empty shell. On its return to the forward position, the slide strips a live cartridge from the magazine, and drives it into the chamber, ready for firing upon pressure on the trigger. After firing the last shot, the slide remains open, ready for closing on the insertion of a full magazine.
The pistol illustrated is marked on the barrel “MANUFACTURED BY SAVAGE ARMS CO. IN UTICA, N. Y., U.S.A., NOV. 21, 1905. CAL. 45”. Number 170 is stamped on the bottom of the slide under the hammer.
About two hundred of these pistols were made by the Savage Arms Company, but the arms not having been adopted by the government, the pistols never went into general production.
