For those who haven’t been paying attention, the centennial of the 1911 pistol’s adoption by the US Army is only about three years away; two if one counts the time the pistol was recommended for adoption. No other military small arm has ever served so long.

To John Browning’s credit, very little has changed since the classic was adopted in 1911. In 1922 the only significant changes to the pistol were implemented, resulting in the 1911A1, which continues in military service to this day. The 1922 modifications weren’t extensive.

The mainspring housing was modified, along with grip safety, the trigger, the sights and the ejection port, changes that many would call “happy’s to glads,” because the basic 1911 seemed to work just fine. In fact, we have fired original 1911s and find them just as satisfactory as their more recent siblings.