Per Wikipedia, the Colt automatic pistol caliber-45, was adopted by the U.S. Army, Navy, and National Guard in 1911. It was the standard-issue side arm of the U.S. armed forces from 1911 to 1985, and it is still carried by some U.S. forces. The drawing above is from the April 1, 1912 publication: Description Of The Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, Model Of 1911.

In my opinion, the 1911 has a design flaw. The flaw excludes the use of AIMED Point Shooting or P&S with the 1911. And the following explains why that may prove to be fatal for a user.

In most all Close Quarters life threat situations, Sight Shooting is not used due to lack of time, bad lighting, or the loss of near vision caused by the automatic activation of our Fight or Flight response. And if you are going to be shot and/or killed, there is a 90% chance that it will happen at less than 15 feet.

So knowing of, and using an alternative, practical, and effective shooting method, could be critical to your survival.

AIMED Point Shooting or P&S is such a method. If you use it, you will get automatic and correct sight alignment, plus correct sight placement.

P&S utilizes our natural ability to point at things fast and accurately, to fast and accurately aim at Close Quarters.

It is very simple. And it can be learned with little or no training and maintained with minimal practice. It also can be used to enhance other shooting methods.

P&S calls for placing the index finger along the side of the gun and pointing it at a target, and pulling the trigger with the middle finger. It works because the barrel will be in line with the index finger, and accurately aimed at anything pointed at.

And therein lies the rub, as the design flaw of the 1911 excludes the placement of the index finger along the side of the gun for natural, fast and accurate aiming.

The DESIGN flaw is in the slide stop. Specifically, the slide stop pin projects out from the right side of the gun, and if it is pressed when the slide recoils, the gun can jam. The slide stop was added by Browning to his pistol in 1902, and incorporated into the 1911.

Specific cautionary language against using P&S (my term), with the 1911 is found the 1912 military publication mentioned above - Description Of The Automatic Pistol, Caliber .45, Model Of 1911.

Here is the language as it appears in the manual (the highlighting was added by me):

Similar cautionary language is in several military manuals of that time and later manuals as well. Those that I have found are listed, along with snippets of their text, links, and URL's, in Part 2 of this article. They are dated: 1912, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, 1941. (See below for Part 2.)

I believe the result was to effectively squelch the use of P&S from 1911 to 1985 when the 1911 was the Standard Issue Sidearm of the US Military.

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That P&S, was known of and used at the time of the adoption of the 1911 and later, is verified by the caution against its use in the military publications listed above. I am sure that many other manuals contained the caution, but are now out of print and lost in the dark recesses of history. Hopefully the digitizing of old books will bring more of them to light.

Mention of P&S as I call it, also can be found in publications as far back as 1804.

Click here for the wording in publications that verify that it was a known shooting method either by describing it and/or cautioning against its use. The publications I know of are dated: 1804, 1810, 1816, 1829, 1835, 1870, 1885, 1898, 1900, 1903, 1912, 1915, 1917, 1918, 1920, 1921, 1922, 1925, 1926, 1927, 1929, and 1941.

Considerable detail on it and rationales for its use, can be found in the 1835 book: Helps And Hints - How To - Protect Life And Property, by: Lt. Col. Baron De Berenger. (The book also was recently digitalized as part Google's book project.) Here is a link to it.

The author states that the method is best used with dueling pistols, and in self defense situations against highway robbers, housebreakers, and etc., who will not allow you to take the time to deliberately aim with the sights.

Another reason for its use in those situations, is that: "can you be certain of your usual steadiness of nerve, when you look into the muzzle of a pistol presented at you, and menacing a fatal blaze."

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The following quote is from Joseph Renaud's self defense book: "la Defense Dans La Rue" 1912, as translated by James Farthing and Herve Dautry. Joseph Renaud was a professor of La Canne, Savate, Knife, English boxing and Jiu-Jitsu. The quote is from the chapter: "The Revolver." The full text can be found at http://defensedanslarue.wordpress.com/history/the-revolver/

Special handling

Some people will find it useful to press the trigger with the middle finger while keeping the index finger against the cylinder, parallel to the barrel. This technique relies on the habit of using the index finger to point at things.

I heard the General de Chabot tell that such a method of shooting had saved his life in several occasions. For example, the day before the battle of Sarrebruck in 1870, he found himself face to face with a Prussian captain while seating in a small canteen. They both shot at each other straight away. Mr de Chabot had a single action weapon while his foe had a double action one. Nevertheless, the German missed five times while the French lieutenant mortally wounded him with his second shot. It must be noticed that both had fired hastily but this technique for handling the revolver makes instinctive shooting more accurate. Always used this technique with a good quality revolver, as it will prevent any spit of lead from between the cylinder and the barillet that would burn your fingers.

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The following is from a review of the Mauser C-96 "Broomhandle" Machine Pistol by David M. Fortier. In it, he said that the C-96 was extremely popular in china. It was used by the military and police from the early 1900's up through the 1940's and beyond.

"....Special commando units were armed entirely with the C-96, and later the selective fire variants, as well as a large beheading sword carried in a leather scabbard on their back. Recognizing the Mauser's weak and strong points, the Chinese developed the following technique for using the C-96 and later the 712. They would hold it sideways (what we would today refer to as "Gangbanger style"), with the index finger lying on the magazine well pointing at the target, and pull the trigger with the middle finger.

Here is a link to the article.

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Now, P&S can be learned with little or no training, and it can be maintained with very little if any practice.

However, it will not happen by magic. You have to know about it, and know how to use it.

The grip is strong as it utilizes our natural pincer of thumb, web of the hand, and index finger. The the ring and little fingers add tenacity to this strong grip.

One can try and squeeze the beejeebers out of the gun if they wish. If so, the strength and tenacity of the grip will be increased.

It does not rely on the use of a specific, stance, grip, point of aim, regulated breathing, keeping your thumb from pressing on the gun, keeping your index finger aloof from the gun, trigger squeezing or manipulation, aiming via the sight/s, or using an aim point.

With P&S, all you have to do is grab the gun and point-n-pull, point-n-pull. No more, no less.

The sights still can be used if there is time to use them and conditions allow for their use.

Here is what the U.S. Army of today, says about using the index finger for aiming a weapon. It is in Chap. 2, Sect. II of the Field Manual 3-23.35 Combat Training With Pistols M9 AND M11 of June,2003:

"Everyone has the ability to point at an object.

"When a soldier points, he instinctively points at the feature on the object on which his eyes are focused. An impulse from the brain causes the arm and hand to stop when the finger reaches the proper position."

"When the eyes are shifted to a new object or feature, the finger, hand, and arm also shift to this point.

"It is this inherent trait that can be used by a soldier to rapidly and accurately engage targets."

Now, dueling pistols of the 1800's usually had no sights, and they were closed at the back. So, using the index finger to aim one naturally, fast, and accurately, made sense.

But, that was not the case with the 1911 due to the design of the slide stop. And for those who rely on the 1911 for use in close quarters, the consequences could be fatal. As they would not be able to use the natural, fast, automatic, and accurate shooting method.

Also, based on the science and the studies of our day, we know that the sights are not used in close quarters encounters by most all shooters.

That is due to the triggering of our instinctive Body Alarm Response (BAR), AKA the Fight or Flight response.

With the triggering of the BAR, there will be an immediate increase in the heart rate. And with the increase in heart rate, fine motor skills, which are necessary for Sight Shooting, will be lost to use.

Also, your vision will change so your focus will be on far objects. That and bad light, and/or obscure targets, or movement, can make the use of the sights moot.

And just as in days of old, the housebreaker or highway-man of today, will not allow you the time needed to take a proper stance, get a proper grip, align the sights, breath properly, and squeeze off a shot.

Armed Forces members, Police, and others not versed in Point Shooting, will be "on their own" in a life threat situation.

And according to the literature and the stats, the shooting method they will employ, is instinctive shooting. Not a bad choice given no other, but most likely an ineffectual one,as the acknowledged hit rate in armed encounters is only around 20%.

There are those who say that you can accurately point a gun by just pointing it at a target, but that is not reality. You can easily prove that to yourself the next time you are at the range. I have tried that, and my results were very poor at best.

Point Shooting is easy to learn, but as said above, it does not happen like magic.

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In my opinion, prohibiting the use of a real and effective shooting method, to accommodate a weapon, rather than making a minor modification to a weapon to accommodate those who go in harms way, makes no sense.

Further, once established as dogma, institutionalized practices and behaviors can be almost insurmountable obstacles to change, and particularly in strict heirarchial organizations which deal with life and death matters.

Additionally, you can expect that those who were taught, and now teach those traditional methods can be expected to defend them. And they and their associates can be expected to slam any upstart who questions the established method (Sight Shooting), and even if it has been proven by scientific investigation and studies and environmental conditions, to be UNABLE TO BE USED in those situations where there is the greatest likelyhood of being shot and/or killed.

Are there exceptions? Sure, but they should be few and far between, and not something your average shooter and joe-home-defender should count on.

There is no doubt in my mind that over the past "100 years" of army and police combat, the 1911 design flaw has resulted in countless injuries to, and many deaths of our Armed Forces members and Police.

This criticism of the 1911, does not take away from its pure mechanical performance. It was the winner of the 1910 shoot off test.

This link is to the test info.

Here is language from it:

"...In November 1910, the second competitive range test was held on weapons improved as a result of field trials, but problems were still noted with both designs. Both firms went back to the drawing board preparing for the next round of testing. On 15 March 1911, an endurance test was held. The test involved having each gun fire 6000 rounds, with cleaning after every one hundred shots fired, then allowing them to cool for 5 minutes. After every 1000 rounds, the pistol would be cleaned and oiled. After firing those 6000 rounds, the pistols were then tested with deformed cartridges, rusted in acid or submerged in sand and mud.20

By the end of the test, the Savage design suffered over 37 incidents of malfunction or breakage; the Colt did not have one. On 23 March 1911, the evaluation committee's report stated,

"Of the two pistols, the board was of the opinion that the Colt is superior, because it is more reliable, more enduring, more easily disassembled when there are broken parts to be replaced, and more accurate..."

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One might think that in the past 200 years or so, since the early 1800's, the question of which shooting method to use in close quarters combat, would have been studied fairly and at great length and settled, since it deals with a life and death matter.

But as bizarre as it seems, that is not the case.

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Click here for Part 2 which presents snippets of text, URLs, and links: to publications that describe it and/or caution against its use and thereby verify over and over that it was/is a recognized and known shooting method.