Mar 15, 2014 3 min read

What if automobile technology ended 100 years ago and the Ford Model-T was the ultimate in car design?

That would seem silly since it is human nature to see a product and try to improve it repeatedly. Such a thing has happened in the field of firearms.

Almost everyone who knows guns associates the number 1911 with a certain firearm.

A local gunsmith even uses that as his phone number – and it’s not an accident.

That number when spoken is enough to conjure thoughts of James Cagney shooting into a large tank of gas, which goes up in a blaze, in one of the great all-time gangster movies, White Heat.

The gun I am referring to is the 1911 Colt Autoloader chambered for the 45 ACP.

For those who don’t know, 1911 represents the year this handgun and cartridge were introduced. While this combo was born over 100 years ago, it is still going strong.

In fact, there seems to be an increase in the number of firearms chambered for the 45 and many copies of the old design.

When John Browning designed this firearm, he must have come up with a goodie. It is still popular.

It was the 1911 that Sargent York carried with him in World War I when he captured all of those Germans.

There were attempts over the years to replace the 1911 by the military. There was some success with the Beretta 9mm, but many branches have gone back to the older autoloader.

There were many ex-soldiers who claimed the Colt 45 wasn’t very accurate, but it won more standing NRA pistol matches than any other centerfire design. Records show the 45 is a very accurate design. The problem is often the shooter and the sloppy tolerances of the military model.

Any military firearm is deliberately made with the thought it will have to survive and function in extreme conditions. The No. 1 thing is reliability and the 45, with all of its looseness, is reliable.

It goes bang when it is supposed to.

Another thing that comes to mind is the fact attempts to replace this old design have been going on for years, only to be rejected with the .45 Auto being brought back.

There isn’t anyone among combat or target shooters who question the stopping power of this round when measured against ohers. It’s hard to question the pedigree of the Browning design.

Go into any local firearms shop and there will be a wide variety of 1911 clones. Prices will vary from $600 to well over $1,000.

The Model-T is history and refrigerators have replaced ice boxes, but this 100-year-old design seems to beat the modern improvements.

How many modern designs have stood the test of time like the 1911? Not many I would say.

Go to any sportsmen’s club and watch the pistol shoots. I would wager there are many times more 1911s than other handguns being used.

• I was talking to Bill Phillips of Canonsburg the other day when he brought up the subject of deer antlers. He said he was still seeing some bucks with their antlers as late as April in recent years.

It is not cold weather that causes the antlers to drop. The main cause is the length of daylight hours that controls the cycle of growing and dropping antlers.

It’s not unusual for a buck to retain his antlers until April when new growth has started. In most instances, from what I have seen, it is small bucks that carry their antlers into the spring.

George H. Block writes a Sunday Outdoors column for the Observer-Reporter.