Joined
·
635 Posts
If placed on the stand, I would have to say that the most important handguns of this century were the P-38, the FN Browning HiPower and the 1911. Just about every pistol made today uses features that were first seen in these three pistols. Of greater interest (at least to me) is that two, the P-38 and the P-35, are contemporaries. Both were developed shortly before the beginning of WWII because their nation saw that the pistols used during WWI simply were no longer adequate. The US felt (rightly I believe) that the 1911 was still more than adequate.
But these three guns gave us just about all of the features found on any modern pistol. There have been advances in materials, milling, forging and assembly, but the basics are still with us. We got the basic magazine, feed, and safeties from the 1911; staggered dual stacks, barrrel action/lockup and slide from the HP and double action, firing pin block and hammer drop from the P-38.
Are there any other pistols that you would consider as important or that contributed something significantly new to the art of the pistol?
But these three guns gave us just about all of the features found on any modern pistol. There have been advances in materials, milling, forging and assembly, but the basics are still with us. We got the basic magazine, feed, and safeties from the 1911; staggered dual stacks, barrrel action/lockup and slide from the HP and double action, firing pin block and hammer drop from the P-38.
Are there any other pistols that you would consider as important or that contributed something significantly new to the art of the pistol?