Читать книгу Gun Digest 2011 онлайн

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While Norway sat out World War I as a neutral nation, Great Britain had been one of the principal participants. The British were poorly prepared for war, and had shortages of most small arms. In 1912, the British had adopted a large-bore autoloading pistol, the Mark I Webley self-loader. The pistol was chambered for the .455 Webley Self Loading cartridge (also called .455 Eley). Independently designed, the round was similar in dimensions and power to the .45 ACP cartridge.

The precisely-fitted Webley autoloader proved unreliable in conditions of sand or grit. The 1912 Webleys were restricted to sea duty, and the British looked for another type of .455 pistol. The one they acquired was the 1911 Colt. The first of the 455-caliber Colts was reportedly shipped in mid-1915. It is believed that about 13,500 were shipped to Great Britain for military use.

The next country to adopt the Colt 1911 was Argentina, in 1916. The Colt was adopted as the Pistola Automatica Sistema Colt, Calibre 11,25mm Modelo 1916. Essentially, the Argentine 1916 was identical to the commercially-made US Colt except for markings.