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Thus, with timeless continuity, the 1911 has outgrown the Colt brand with which it was once synonymous.

The P-35

“Porgy & Bess” opens in New York, and Steinbeck’s “Tortilla Flat” is published. The hot dance is the Rhumba. Milk is up to 23 cents for half a gallon (delivered, of course). Boulder Dam, Alcoholics Anonymous, and the Social Security Act all come into being. It is the birth year for Woody Allen, Elvis Presley, Sandy Coufax, and the Browning Hi-Power pistol. It is 1935.

Colt collectors will spot the WWII-vintage ejection port and sights on “retro” Colt 1911A1, reintroduced in 2001.

The P-35 was the last design of John Browning, who also created the Colt 1911. Many would also consider the Hi-Power his best. Known in some quarters as the GP or grand puissance, the pistol may owe more of its ingenuity to Didionne Souave than to Browning. In any case, it was the first successful high-capacity 9mm semiautomatic, and for more than a quarter of a century was the definitive one. It remains today the standard-issue service pistol of Great Britain and numerous other countries.