The Tisas slide and frame are made of 4140 steel forgings and the barrel is cold hammer forged. This fact alone makes this gun superior to most of its competitors, as they tend to use milled parts or investment castings which lack the strength of forgings. If an airplane or a bridge is found to not use forgings in a part where a forged part is specified, the government will condemn that airplane or bridge. That’s how serious a matter this is. When lives depend on a part not failing then you need a forging.

The finish is WWII magnesium phosphate Parkerizing. There are no tool marks, and everything is properly polished before Parkerizing. The fit of the parts is as it should be. Not too tight where it needs room for dust, sand, and mud yet just tight enough where it’s important for accuracy without being too tight. These guns shoot 2-inch groups from a Ransom Rest at 35-40 yards, yet they are loose enough to handle sand and mud without malfunctioning. The trigger pull is a crisp, but heavy, 8 pounds. Thanks to this combination of American know-how and cheap foreign skilled labor, the MSRP is $480… and some dealers offer it for as low as $379. The Civilian Marksmanship Program has also bought these to sell at their outlets. These guns are marked CMP. That’s a hefty stamp of approval.

I had 100 rounds of Black Hills 230-grain FMJ, 100 rounds of Black Hills 230-grain JHP, and 40 rounds of Steinel Ammunition 230-grain SCHP (solid copper hollow point) for a total of 240 rounds to test fire in this pistol. They all ran through the pistol perfectly.

ORIGINAL G.I. VERSION

The M1911A1 I tested is the old faithful G.I. version of the gun. The M1911A1 is a combat gun designed to work in the sand and mud of the battlefield. Attempts to improve it with so-called “combat accuracy jobs” and every bell and whistle a conniving marketer can think of just take it that much further from what it was meant to be. A gun that you can stake your life on in the worst battlefield conditions. A good example of how far a match gun is from the original was a top pistol match shooter who told me that he regarded his National Match .45 as a precision target tool and not as a practical gun for the real world. So-called “combat” matches are very far removed from the realities of brutally intense combat where you and your pistol may end up crawling in the sand and muck while having the same stuff blown onto you at high velocity by exploding shells. This is no place for a gun tricked out for combat matches. This is the real world of combat, and it’s down and dirty. Yet, the G.I. M1911A1 takes it in stride and excels when lesser pistols quit functioning. For 113 years, the M1911 has forged a reputation as the most reliable military pistol there is.

WHY THE M1911A1 IS THE MOST RELIABLE PISTOL IN THE WORLD

A gun made from robust parts it is easily rebuilt when it ages and normally lasts 250,000 rounds. This is in sharp contrast to many of the most famous newer pistols which often are reduced to junk after a tenth of that round count. Plastic and sheet metal guns do not lend themselves to rebuilding easily, as well. It’s often cheaper to buy a new gun than rebuild one of the newer models. If your modern, short-lived gun comes to its end in battle and decides to quit on you, then you are screwed. Normal service testing in WWII was to choose a random 1911 from a new production lot and fire 10,000 to 15,000 rounds through it and expect no malfunctions with all the parts still in good serviceable condition at the conclusion of the firing schedule. It was then cleaned and shipped off for issue with the rest of the lot.

Key to the M1911A1’s reliability is the fact that it’s one of few guns that’s really good at throwing sand and dirt out of the mechanism as it fires. There are also places where dirt can be shoved aside within the gun without causing malfunctions, such as the Browning toggle (where the swinging link accommodates more dirt than the sliding cam of later pistols.) The swinging link toggle also serves as a bridge, keying the separate ramps of the barrel and receiver together and positioning the barrel at the best angle for cartridge feeding during the cycling of the gun.

The 1911A1’s extractor is similar to the famed Mauser 98 extractor, where the cartridge comes up under the extractor instead of having the extractor snap over the rim.

There is only the recoil spring guide and plug with the recoil spring on a M1911A1 instead of the modern guide rod which can bend and jam the gun if dropped.

The receiver is solid on the M1911A1, and broken grips do not disable, it as they do with some guns where the grips form part of the structure.

The cycling energy of the 45 ACP is much higher than the 9mm round so popular today and it does this with a mere 12,000 PSI chamber pressure instead of the 32,000 PSI of the 9mm. If a 9mm bullet gets forced back in its case, that pressure can skyrocket to 40,000 PSI or more. Some guns can’t take that. The 45 ACP’s straight-walled case pushes dirt ahead of it instead of giving it a chance to jam in the chamber like the tapered case of the 9mm. The 9mm cannot function reliably with a rough or dirty chamber but the .45 ACP can. That straight case also delivers a consistent recoil impulse where, in the tapered case of the 9mm, the bullet is smaller than the base and results in a tendency to push the gun forward which can produce an uneven recoil impulse instead of the steady push of the 45 ACP. This can cause problems with reliable functioning.

The locking system of the M1911A1 is far stronger than most would make one. When some of the hot 9mm SMG ammo was used in pistols in South America, the only ones that stood up to this were the M1911A1’s that had been made in 9mm.

The single stack magazine works reliably, even in sand. The double-stack single-position feed magazines so popular today have inherent flaws that can get you killed in a gunfight. When a partially empty magazine is dropped, the cartridges can be jarred out of position and jam in the tube, resulting in a failure to feed. The magazine spring needs to be stronger for the double-column magazines, but that makes them hard to load so they are generally left weaker than is desirable for reliable functioning in all conditions. While the magazines for the M1911A1 can be left loaded indefinitely, you cannot leave the double-column magazines loaded like that without risking problems.

The M1911A1 has few parts, and those are heavy duty. When it comes to maintenance, the 1911A1 is very easy to field strip or even to detail strip.

ERGONOMICS

Unlike many of the current pistols, which look like an obese hippopotamus, the M1911A1 is the optimum size for the round fired. Any bigger or heavier and it would be hard to carry open or concealed. Any smaller and recoil would start to be a problem, eliminating the possibility of true rapid fire.

The safety is in the best possible position for quick use. It’s worth noting that while the gun was intended to be carried cocked-and-locked, the designer, John Browning, thought the grip safety was all that was needed — only adding the manual safety at Army Ordnance’s insistence. His belief was proven true by the Shanghai Police Department before WWII when they pinned the safety in the off position on their hammerless Colt pocket automatics.

The grip angle suits most people and the gun points accurately and easily. Recoil is more of the gun bouncing in your hand than kick. The gun’s size and weight are more than sufficient to tame any recoil forces that might be objectionable.

HOLSTERS

A pistol needs its holster and the M1916 holster issued with the M1911A1 is as perfect as an open carry holster can get. It’s comfortable, protects the gun, and nothing is faster to draw from. There is a leather-covered wood block spacer to position the grip of the gun out where the hand can grab it quickly. To draw quickly, take your thumb and flip the cover flap up then start wrapping your fingers around the grip as you draw, starting with the little finger. When the gun is at the halfway point between the holster and the target, wipe the safety off. It is important to have the tie down thongs fastened before doing this.

For drawing while driving a vehicle or from a seated position, the military M1942 Tanker holster works well, holding the gun securely while still permitting a fast draw.

For civilian open or concealed carry, the pancake holster can’t be beat. It carries the gun tightly against the body with a quick release thumb-break snap for security. This holster is so comfortable that you can sleep with a M1911A1 in it and even roll over on it without waking. There are times when this is vital.

All of the above holsters can be had from El Paso Saddlery in El Paso, Texas.

POWER AND UTILITY

The 45 ACP cartridge has been a proven threat-stopper on the most fanatical foes on the planet for 113 years. It worked on the Moros in the Philippines and when the mercenaries in the Congo discovered that they could not reliably stop a panga-wielding native with a whole magazine from their 9mm Browning Hi Power pistols, they found that one 45 ACP round would do the job. I have a WWII army training manual that states flatly that the 45 ACP has more power than the 30-06. As for game shooting the old 44-40 killed more game of all types in North America than any other cartridge thanks to the timing of its appearance. The 45ACP is a better killer than the 44-40. Just remember to use FMJ ammo on big bear and moose. You already have a big enough hole, and you need the penetration of a FMJ bullet. The M1911A1 will do any normal job required of a handgun.

CONCLUSION

The Tisas M1911 A1 “ASF” U.S. Army 45 is a fine current production M1911A1 that delivers an impressive amount of quality for a very low price. It’s the best post-war .45 I’ve seen since the Norinco 1911A1 (which the government banned when they forbade Norinco guns being imported so many years ago due to import law violations.) I highly recommend the Tisas, and I prefer it to its higher priced competitors. Not only is it made of forgings that are properly fitted and finished, but it’s also patterned more truly to the original WWII guns which established the G.I. 45’s reputation. This is a contrast to the many modern variations of that design that often look increasingly bizarre. Many of the current crop are also too tightly fitted to be trusted in the gritty world of combat. The M1911A1 is the ultimate handgun, and if I could only have one gun it would be the M1911A1 because unlike a rifle or shotgun, I can always have the pistol on me.

SPECIFICATIONS

The .30 caliber M1 Carbine, introduced into the US Army in the first year of U.S. engagement in WWII, quickly gained favor of the officers and men who carried this handy new weapon in training for combat in Europe and the Pacific. Intended as a replacement for the old .45 caliber M1911 automatic pistol and the .45 caliber Thompson submachine gun, it was compact, lightweight, accurate, simple to operate and maintain. But, combat experience soon showed that theory and reality are not always compatible.

In June 1940, on the eve of America’s reluctant entry into the ongoing war with Germany and Japan, the US Army Ordnance Department began a crash development program toward fielding a “Light Weight Semiautomatic Rifle.” After rejecting several entries for various reasons, six prototype designs were extensively tested at Aberdeen Proving Ground in May and June of 1941. Only two test weapons survived; one from the government-owned Springfield Armory and another from Bendix Aviation, although neither could be considered ideal.

Luckily, representatives from Winchester Repeating Arms company — busily making the new ammunition specified by the Army for its Light Rifle — had been on hand for the testing. Soon convinced that their firm should give it a try, Winchester presented a hastily thrown-together weapon on August 8th, 1941.

Subsequent engineering tests and field trails showed the prototype Winchester Light Rifle to be superior in all details. Its basic operating principle was a gas tappet designed by David M. Williams, where a quantity of propellant gas is bled from the barrel and enters an expansion chamber where it causes a short piston to sharply move outward. Not surprisingly, since Winchester was at the same time deeply involved in a crash program to mass produce the M1 rifle, their bolt and locking system was essentially a scaled-down version of John Garand’s excellent weapon.

Carbine

Winchester’s Light Rifle significantly outperformed its rivals and was formally accepted by the Army on October 22, 1941. In order to avoid likely confusion in ammunition and parts supply as well as tactical employment, a distinctive name was called for to separate it from the M1 “Garand” rifle. Since horse cavalrymen had long been armed with short versions of standard rifles called “carbines”, it was decided to officially designate this new weapon as CARBINE, CALIBER .30, M1.

Ammunition

Drawing on experimentation with such familiar rounds as the 9mm Luger, .45 cal. ACP and .32 cal. Winchester Self Loading, the Army Ordnance Corps decided on a straight-sided case for ease of manufacture, feeding and extracting. The “rimless” brass case was necessarily elongated to accommodate a larger powder charge than most pistol rounds. Because this intermediate cartridge was to be used exclusively in a short rifle, its greater power and recoil were readily acceptable.

A relatively light full metal jacket round nosed 110 grain bullet was pushed out by 14.5 grains of IMR 4227 ball powder producing a chamber pressure of some 31,000 pounds per square inch. This had a muzzle velocity of 1860 feet per second and would remain stable in flight well beyond 300 yards. Test experience and manufacturing considerations dictated some changes, and the CARTRIDGE, CARBINE, CALIBER .30 M1 was standardized on September 30, 1941.

War Baby!

With Europe and Asia already embroiled in war, it was obvious to all but the most naive that America would soon be pulled into the conflict. The Army ordered 350,000 from Winchester on November 24, 1941 — just a couple of weeks before the Pearl Harbor attack. As demand for the little rifle exploded, eight other firms — including Winchester — began production. Inland was the major contributor with over 2,640,000 out of a grand total of 6,117,827 carbines of all types by the end of the war in 1945.

Early Production Model

After the usual fits and starts, fixes and modifications, the first real production model Inland guns began rolling off the line in June 1942. This gas operated, magazine fed, air cooled, semiautomatic shoulder weapon was characterized by its walnut “sporter” stock, machined steel receiver, detachable 15 round magazine, and rudimentary “L” type rear sight. Its overall length was 36 inches weighing 5.8 pounds with canvas sling and loaded magazine in place.

Paratroopers

Although originally intended for issue to soldiers manning crew-served weapons such as mortars, heavy machine guns and artillery pieces, the newly formed parachute regiments got most of the first guns off the assembly lines. This was a logical development given the tactical employment of airborne troops as fast moving light infantry. Training exercises had shown the effectiveness of the heavy and sometimes dirt-sensitive M1928A1 Thompson Submachine Gun to be particularly limited by its short range pistol cartridge, and the more powerful M1 Rifle to be too long and heavy. It seemed, at first glance, that the carbine would be ideal….

The M1A1 is the first major modification of the basic carbine. Standardized in May of 1942, it replaced the sporty traditional wooden stock with a metal folding version specifically designed with airdrop in mind. Inland engineer, Paul Hamish, is credited with the winning design, a skeleton frame of heavy wire attached to a modified wooden pistol grip. Folded up, the M1A1 was a compact 25.4 inches, and could be fired almost like a pistol without extending the stock.

Stopping Power?

Although light, compact, accurate and reliable, the M1 and M1A1 carbines were not so successful in battle. Many soldiers and Marines who had eagerly carried these “Baby Garands” in training soon even more eagerly cast them aside for the real thing after their first combat. Simply put, the 110 grain carbine slug had pathetically little stopping power compared to the pointed and fast 150 grain .30-06 bullet fired by the M1 rifle. Enemy soldiers hit even multiple times would often keep coming, causing real life nightmares.

The laws of physics are not to be circumvented, and with Geneva Convention prohibitions against soft point ammunition, there was nothing that could be done to increase the wounding and lethality of the full metal jacket carbine round. About the only avenue for exploration was in ways to increase multiple hits —more holes in an enemy make him more likely to be put out of action.

Selective Fire

It is interesting to note that, while the original concept for the carbine included provision for automatic fire, this was not a feature of the Winchester design. But, the American GI being quite ingenious, field modifications for automatic fire soon came to the attention of Ordnance personnel. According to contemporary reports, these relatively crude attempts tended toward extremely high rate of fire with inevitable controllability problems.

Although a mixed success in combat due mostly to its marginally adequate ammunition, the short rifle was a largely successful compromise between the pistol and the rifle, suitable armament for those whose duties did not require full powered performance. It was not until the advent of the German STURMGEWEHR with its “intermediate” cartridge that the carbine concept was fully validated.

Primary Reference Source: WAR BABY! by Larry L. Ruth, Collector Grade Publications, Toronto, Canada, 1992.

MK 23 SUPPRESSOR DEVELOPMENT: THE TRANSITION FROM THE COLT TO THE H&K PISTOL

Your faithful correspondent recently had the opportunity to view the genesis of the Offensive Handgun Suppressor by Knight’s Armament Company (KAC). While there is much talk about the newly adopted suppressor and its amazing performance, little is ever shown of exactly “What” makes it function so well. The new system adopted by USSOCOM was an engineering challenge of the first order, and KAC spent over $250,000 and 18 months in the development process. SAR contributor Doug Olson was Chief Engineer on the project, and I managed to talk him into telling the story himself. We hope you enjoy this SAR exclusive look not only into this amazing suppressor, but the intense process that goes into filling a U.S. government firearm procurement.

The development of the Suppressor for the Mk 23 USSOCOM Pistol was a huge challenge. The U.S. Government’s desires for the Suppressor’s performance far exceeded anything that had ever been accomplished commercially. The initial development contracts were released in 1991: one to Colt’s Firearms with Knight’s Armament developing the suppressor and one to H&K with their own suppressor design. The state of the art at that time was the Qual-A-Tec/AWC Technology produced Nexus 45 for the M1911 Colt. That 1991 suppressor only delivered approximately 18db reduction, wet. That was a long way from the 30db dry that the Government was seeking. KAC went through a 12-month development process that resulted in delivery of suppressors for the Colt OHG that in Government tests averaged 28.8db reduction with M1911 ball and 26.6db reduction with +P. The H&K suppressor averaged 22.2db reduction with M1911 ball and 15.2db with +P. That was only part of the story because the KAC suppressor yielded an incredible 36db reduction when water was added to the suppressor. It was obvious why the Government wanted to have the KAC suppressor attached to the superior H&K weapon. That was a very impressive advance in the state-of-the-art in a relatively short time frame.

The Government initially decided that surely KAC could easily convert the design from the Colt’s Pistol to the H&K Pistol with no additional development expenditure and thus decided it would not fund any additional development effort. That erroneous situation was finally corrected and late in 1994 KAC was issued a contract to change its suppressor design to fit the H&K weapon.

The task proved to be a more formidable challenge then even KAC had anticipated. The suppressor for the Colt pistol was attached directly to the frame of the weapon. That meant that the Suppressor for the Colt pistol did not need a booster to force the weapon to function with the additional weight of the suppressor. The job was now to adapt the suppressor to a gun that required a booster, while keeping the performance of the original suppressor.

One area of the suppressor that many still do not understand is how the recoil regulator (booster) works. This is sometimes referred to as a “Nielsen device”. Based on many years of experience with the system, the following will try to explain its function. If one were to mount a conventional suppressor to the barrel of a pistol that uses a short recoil mechanism (like the M1911 or H&K OHG) one would immediately find that the weapon would not cycle semi-automatically. That is because the suppressor mass was added to that of the barrel and slide putting the total mass beyond the design limits of the gun. One could of course reduce the mass of the barrel and slide and change the recoil spring to achieve proper functioning with the suppressed pistol. The problem would be shifted to cycling of the converted pistol without the suppressor. The low slide and barrel mass would result in increased velocities of the parts and the gun would have a greatly reduced service life and increase the risk to the shooter of the slide coming off the back of the gun after firing. Neither of these situations is acceptable.

What then is the solution? It is to allow the mass of the suppressor to move independently of the barrel and slide until after the slide is unlocked from the barrel. A piston is added to the back of the suppressor that attaches to the barrel. The suppressor is thus allowed to move forward along the axis of the piston against a spring load. The propellant gasses that enter the suppressor work to apply a force to the piston head tending to drive it along with the barrel and slide to the rear while driving the rest of the suppressor forward. This “equal and opposite reaction” against the barrel makes the weapon function more or less normally.

What must happen is that the suppressor must reach the end of its stroke AFTER the barrel becomes unlocked from the slide. It is easy to imagine the shock that the barrel sees when the suppressor reaches the end of its stroke. As they say “timing is everything”. Much work was done to make sure the suppressor matches the weapon to provide for equal weapon life with and without the suppressor. Hundreds of thousands of rounds were fired throughout the development and test cycles of the weapon and suppressor.

That also means that a recoil regulator for one type of weapon may not work on another type. That was exactly the situation KAC ran into with trying to adapt the OHG Suppressor onto the smaller H&K USP and Glock pistols. The relative slide and barrel mass of these weapons was, from a dynamics standpoint, very different from that of the OHG. The Tactical pistol’s slide only lived 300 rounds when the OHG suppressor was first tested on the gun. To prevent that from happening, H&K changed the barrel threads from right hand to left hand to prevent the OHG suppressor from inadvertently being fired on the Tactical gun. H&K ran an exhaustive test and developed a special modification to the piston, regulator spring and buffer that provided proper functioning with the Tactical. KAC has built its commercial Tactical suppressors with those modifications and even with springs provided by H&K. It is of note that very few rounds fired from the wrong regulator setup can ruin a gun. It is also interesting to note that the lighter slide and barrels reduces the efficiency of the suppressor and results in a sound pressure level reduction of 3db less.

One of the problems the first generation H&K suppressor displayed was that it loosened from the barrel. When this happened bullet strikes were noted inside of the suppressor and accuracy was lost. The culprit was traced to the barrel to suppressor interface. The interface for the suppressor onto the barrel had to be changed to provide for additional stability. The first generation H&K OHG had threads at the end of the barrel with a single diameter behind the threads to support and align the suppressor. KAC had the interface changed to have two bearing surfaces, one behind the threads and one in front of the threads that provided support at both ends of the interface. Because the pistol itself was so long, H&K could not allow any more length of engagement between the suppressor and the barrel. That meant that the allowable tolerance with which the two diameters on the barrel and the two bores within the piston had to be reduced to keep the allowable misalignment at the end of the suppressor to acceptable limits. Both bores within the piston ended up with +/- .0005 tolerances. It also means that the threads no longer provided any alignment, they simply held the two parts together. An “O” ring was added within the piston that engages the front diameter on the barrel. It acts as a friction device to help keep the suppressor tight onto the barrel. The dual diameter support helps keep the alignment of the suppressor to the barrel even when the suppressor is not tight on the barrel.

When KAC first started to adapt its Suppressor for the Colt OHG to the H&K gun, one of the challenges was to make a piston for the recoil regulator to have geometry similar to the muzzle support for the Colt gun. Contrary to the initial looks, the muzzle device for the Colt gun was designed to be an effective component of the suppressor and not to be any thing special from a muzzle brake design. That muzzle device was responsible for bringing down the sound pressure level of the suppressor by a full 3 db over a straight interface.

The initial suppressor prototypes were fitted to first generation H&K guns and in order to keep the muzzle brake interface as close as possible KAC tried to move the recoil regulator springs to the outside of the can. At first it was thought that four small springs would work, then six, then ten. The small diameter and short springs just too severely limited the stroke of the piston and were finally abandoned. Moving the spring to the inside of the can exposed it to all of the contamination and heat from the propellant gas but there was no option since KAC had to keep within the size limits imposed. The piston, spring and buffer designs all went through a number of iterations before a final design was found that provided acceptable sound pressure level reduction and had proper service life.

Small changes such as increasing the length of the piston where it engages the bore of the suppressor were found to be necessary to allow easy removal and reinstallation of the piston. Since the overall length of the suppressor could not increase and the stroke of the piston could not decrease, the longer piston bearing resulted in a reduction in the total length of the baffle stack. The shorter baffle stack of course reduced the net efficiency of the can. In all the baffle stack had to be shortened by approximately 1/2 inch from that of the Colt pistol to keep the system overall length within the specification. Certainly a quieter suppressor could have been delivered if the length of the can could have been increased. On the commercial side of the suppressor business limits like this are seldom imposed. Designing a suppressor to meet a Government Specification can present a great challenge.

Another problem that KAC accidentally found was that the H&K Pistol would not tolerate any interference between the suppressor and the recoil spring guide rod. The problem is that static measurements do not show the true situation because the recoil spring assembly has a secondary buffer spring. Under dynamic loading, the guide rod can protrude further from the weapon in full recoil than was obvious when taking static measurements. What happened was the suppressor on its return to battery would just tap the end of the guide rod. That tap resulted in a broken slide. Hard to believe? We thought so too, but it happened. The dynamics of this system must be understood to achieve long weapon life.

The end result, the MK23 Suppressor, has set a new standard in suppressor technology. It has been tested with more rounds than probably any other suppressor ever built. At the 1997 Suppressor trials at Knob Creek it produced an unheard of 42db reduction with a little water in the tube (wet). That is quieter than many of the 22 caliber suppressors that were tested. The problem is we know it could have been even quieter had KAC been allowed a little more volume. But the user (USSOCOM) has an excellent piece of hardware that will see service for many years to come.

Knights Manufacturing Company

Dept. SAR
7750, 9th Street S.W.
Vero Beach, FL 32968
(561)778-3700 – Phone
(561)569-2955 – Fax