I grew up around other family members' 1911 guns. They were all either U.S. military contract models or commercial Colt Government Models. I can't recall the first time I ever fired one but it must have been around 1970 or 1971.
The first one, a World War I era Model 1911 reworked in World War II by Augusta Arsenal. Was purchased as a 21st birthday present to myself in 1978. There is also a Remington Rand 1911A1 kept around here but I don't seem to have a photo of it saved.
Purchased this Colt Series 70 Gold Cup brand new in 1981 or 1982 though it was manufactured in 1979.
More recently acquired this commercial Colt Government Model as sort of a "daily driver" for concealed carry purposes. It predates the Series 70 time period.
Just for fun. The first Colt .45 automatic wasn't the 1911 but rather the Model 1905. This shabby example is still in good shooting condition.
This one's just thrown in. I'm keeping my youngest son's Rock Island while he's deployed with the USMC. This pistol is quite impressive and a good value for the money. It seems to retain the spirit of the U.S military models. It came with a really nice trigger, is very accurate, and has proven to be dependable over the past 4 years. A friend of mine has had one just like it for 5 years. It also has all the same fine attributes with trigger, accuracy, and dependability.
