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Traditional Bullseye shooting was not the only pistol sport to gain popularity. A new handgun sport was developing in California. Popularized by the writing of Col. Jeff Cooper, the two-handed action-style pistol shooting was called “practical” shooting. Shooters found it to be fun as well as practical, and the new sport grew. These informal matches grew into the alphabet soup of IPSC, USPSA, PPC and NRA Action shooting of today. Based on the concepts of Accuracy, Power and Speed, the pistol that fit Cooper’s ideas best? The 45-caliber Government Model.

THE 1960S

The 1960s started as a continuation of the 1950s, but by the end of that decade, things had changed dramatically in the United States firearms scene.

Military National Match pistols used at Camp Perry had the trigger weighed and a tape placed on the trigger guard to show it met specifications. This gun was fired at Camp Perry in 1967 by the author, and still has the 1967 tape on the trigger guard.

In the early years of the ‘60s, the popularity of the 1911 got a boost when the Ordnance Department, through the Director of Civilian Marksmanship (DCM) made surplus 1911 and 1911A1 pistols available to members of the National Rifle Association (NRA). The August 1960 issue of American Rifleman gave the details. Price was $17, including packing and shipping. Pistols were classed “unserviceable,” which meant they may have had minor defects, but were safe to fire. (The Ithaca 1911A1 I got had a cracked slide stop, which cost me a dollar to replace.) The influx of inexpensive .45s was a shot in the arm to the pistol-shooting sports.