Calico Model 100P

     Notes: A highly innovative design using an unusual helical-feed magazine, the Calico M-100P and its cousin pistols and carbines quickly became casualties of the Brady Gun Bill in the early 1990s due to their very-large-capacity magazines, and after that, most of these weapons had to be sold on the export market.  (I’m not sure if they are once again being sold in the US, after the demise of the Assault Weapon Ban.)  The Model 100P pistol is derived from the original Model 100 rimfire carbine, and is basically a much smaller version of that weapon.  Despite the use of a lot of polymer in its construction, the Calico M-100P is still a large and heavy pistol, with a long barrel.  It has unusual features (other than its magazines), such as a muzzle brake similar in appearance to the old Cutts Compensator.

Calico Model 950-A

     Notes: This is a machine pistol version of the classic Calico.  It has a foregrip and can use both the 50-round and 100-round helical magazines (though it is somewhat clumsy with the 100-round magazine; add 1 to the Bulk when using the 100-round magazine).  The Model 950-A is molded from high-impact plastic.  The Model 950-A can be fitted with a bag that catches the spent rounds. 

Charles Daly EFS-1911

     Notes: This is a highly modified M-1911-style pistol; the result ends looking very much like a Kimber Custom.  It is a pistol designed for people with tight budgets, constructed mostly out of ordinary blued steel.  It does have a few frills, however; the EFS-1911 comes with a snag-free, dovetailed Novak-style rear sight, and a dovetailed front sight.    The trigger is a bit creepy, but it performs well with virtually any sort of ammunition.  Note that while the EFS-1911 is sold almost entirely in the US by Charles Daly, they are actually manufactured by the Arms Corporation of the Philippines. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Charles Daly 1911A1

     Notes: These are a series of 1911-type pistols which improve upon the original model.  There are several types available for all sorts of users of .45 ACP pistols.

     The Field FS (Full-Size) was introduced in 1998 and is basically a highly-improved M-1911A1.  The pistol is finished in dark matte, and the slide has cocking grooves in the back and front.  The safety catch is ambidextrous.  The slide catch is extended.  The grip safety is also extended into a beavertail, and the magazine well is beveled. The Field MS (Medium-Size) is compact version of the Field FS, with a shorter barrel. The Field PC is a “wide-body” 1911, with a double-stack magazine.  The Superior MS is the same size as the Field MS, but has a combination matte stainless steel/carbon finish, grip plates of black plastic, a special combat trigger, and an enlarged ejection port.  The Superior PC has a stainless steel slide and carbon frame (the opposite of the Superior MS); it is otherwise the same as the Superior MS, except for the barrel length. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: These weapons do not exist.

Charles Daly 1911A1 Empire CS

     Notes: This pistol, introduced in 2000, is a highly-accurized, compact model of the M-1911A1.  It has a matte stainless steel finish, sights dovetailed into the slide (including an adjustable rear sight), a lengthened grip safety, and a beveled magazine well.  The grips plates are of hardwood.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Charles Daly DDA

     Notes: These are polymer-frame, heavy-caliber pistols with matte-finished carbon steel slides.  The DDA is designed to be ergonomically correct and easy to hold, with natural pointing qualities.  The magazine catch is normally on the left side of the frame behind the trigger guard, but may be moved to the right side.  The magazine catch is enlarged, and the magazine well is beveled.  The 10-round magazines were designed with the Brady Gun Bill in mind; high-capacity magazines are quite possible for the future.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Charles Daly Hi-Power

     Notes: This is basically a Browning HP-35 Hi-Power given the Charles Daly treatment.  The primary visible differences are the fit and finish, which are much cleaner and crisper than the standard Hi-Power; however, Charles Daly has made a number of improvements and alterations to the basic design.  The safety has a larger contact surface; this corrects the tendency of the HP-35 to difficult to thumb off safety, as well as correcting the flaw that will sometimes allow the HP-35 to fire when dropped or bumped.  The Charles Daly Hi-Power is also more compact than the HP-35.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist.

Charter Arms Explorer II

     Notes: An American sporting pistol, the Explorer is unusual in that the magazine feed is in front of the trigger guard. An extra magazine is carried in the grip and the barrels are interchangeable. This weapon was designed primarily for the survival market. 

Charter Arms M-40

     Notes: The M-40 is essentially a German Erma EP-452 pistol with its parts shipped to the US and assembled by Charter Arms, and modified slightly to accommodate the tastes of US buyers and satisfy US civilian weapon laws.  It is a conventional single-action blowback pistol made to resemble the M-1911A1 in external appearance (though internally, the M-40 is very different and the M-40 is much smaller).  The M-40 is finished in stainless steel with black plastic grip plates.  The M-40 was sold until the late 1980s.  A variant of the M-40, the M-42T, is designed for plinking and target shooting; it has an extended 6-inch barrel and adjustable sights.  The finish of the M-42T was almost always blued, with grips of walnut.  The M-42T was built only from 1984-85.  The M-79K is a larger-caliber modification of the M-40, but shares the same general appearance, finish, and design features.

Ciener Platinum Cup Conversion

     Notes: This is a conversion which is applicable to various full-sized 1911-type pistols, and is actually more common in kit form rather than as a complete pistol.  It basically converts the 1911-type pistol into a .22 Long Rifle-firing target pistol.  The kit improves the fit of the pistol, with closer tolerances of the slide and many of the working parts.  The kit consists of a new aluminum-alloy slide, a new slide stop, a new barrel, new firing pin and associated parts, new extractor and associated parts, new ejector, new recoil spring, buffer and associated parts, and a new magazine.  Adjustable Eliason rear sights are an option.  The conversion requires no special skill; if you can disassemble and re-assemble your pistol, you can do this conversion.  Regardless of which 1911-type pistol you use, the results are largely the same; there may be some slight weight differences, but all are basically the same after the conversion.

Clark Custom .460 1911

     Notes: As the name suggests, Clark Custom Guns specializes in building and modifying existing weapons, often to individual requests and specifications.  One of their products is a drop-in kit that converts a 1911-type pistol to fire the hot .460 Rowland cartridge, a “wildcat round gone straight” designed by Johnny Rowland.  The kit consists of a barrel equipped with a muzzle brake, a replacement bushing and link, a heavier slide and firing pin springs, a two-piece guide rod, and a heavier recoil spring.  The kit fits right into most .45 ACP 1911-types without any sort of machining or other modifications, and the kit even includes an Allen wrench to tighten the new parts.  The result is a pistol with better punch than the .45 ACP, but heavier and larger (and reputedly very fun to shoot).

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This conversion does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

CMMG M-7

     Notes: The M-7 and M-7.3 differ primarily in the number of options available to each; both have cut fed ramps, a padded pistol buffer assembly to cut recoil and reduce wear and tear on parts, optional sling swivels, a modified gas system for use in with the shorter barrel, a forged instead of stamped upper and lower receiver, an extended feed ramp, and while the 7.3-inch barrel has no flash suppressor (and indeed barrel projects beyond the handguards), it does have a recessed target crown.

     The M-7.3 can have a full-auto fire group, an added muzzle brake, and an polished feed ramp.  A plethora of options is available for the M-7, including the full-auto fire group, muzzle brake, and polished feed ramp, but also an add-on fixed buttstock, a gas block with a very short MIL-STD-1913 rail and a removable front sight, a faster-acting hammer, ambidextrous controls, and an AccuWedge to tighten the smoothen the firing pin action (though by most shooters to be useless). The addition of a stock converts the M-7 to a short-barreled assault rifle, but it included here for completeness.

Cobra CA-32/380 and FS-32/380 Series

     Notes: These pocket pistols use essentially the same basic design, but different barrel lengths, different grip lengths, and in some cases different grip plate materials.  All are made virtually entirely of steel, finished in bright chrome, black powder coat or satin nickel.  Though the FS-32 and FS-380 have generally more rounded surfaces, the internal mechanisms are basically the same, and sights are fixed, low profile notch-and-blade sights.  Both use shrouded hammers.

     The CA-32 and CA-380 use a 2.8-inch barrel.  Grip plates are made of black molded plastic on the CA-380, or laminated wood on the CA-32. The butt has a removable lanyard ring. Case ejection is almost straight up, and the ejection port is offset only slightly to the right side. 

     The FS-32 and FS-380 use a 3.5-inch barrel with ribbed, black molded plastic grip plates.  The ejection port is conventional, with an external extractor.  The magazines include a finger stop.

     Twilight 2000 Notes:  These pistols do not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Cobra Patriot

     Notes: Cobra Enterprises of Utah entered the firearms game in 2002, and is therefore a relative newcomer.  Nonetheless, they have established a good reputation for firearms, and particularly their line of compact pistols, including the Patriot.  (It should also be noted that when Davis Industries, Republic Arms, and Talon Industries went out of business in late 2002, Cobra bought those three companies and now makes most of their former products.) 

     The Patriot is typical for Cobra pistols: it has a polymer frame with rubber grips, a steel slide which may be finished in stainless steel or Black Melonite, a locked breech, and a chamber loaded indicator atop the slide with visual and tactile indication.  Most Cobra pistols also have several passive safeties as well as a manual safety and in many cases, a slide lock.

     The Patriot comes in three flavors, the Patriot-380, Patriot-9, and Patriot-45.  The Patriot-380 and Patriot-9 are essentially identical, having checkered rubber grip insets and overall compact dimensions, and both use a 3.3-inch barrel.  Sights on both consist of a non-adjustable low-profile rear notch and a front, low-profile blade.  Later, a .32 ACP chambering was added, as well as a smaller 2.8-inch-barrel version.

     The Patriot-45, on the other hand, is externally almost a different weapon.  In addition to being physically larger due to its chambering (though the barrel length is still 3.3 inches), the grip has a more ergonomic design, with a finger swell on the frontstrap, a larger grip with checkered sides that extend almost to the slide, and a ribbed backstrap.  The slide catch is also moved somewhat forward from its position on the Cobra-380 and Cobra-9.  Though it is in fact larger, it is not really that much larger than the Patriot-380 or Patriot-9, and is still a sub-compact pistol.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Cobra does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Colt 22 Target /Cadet

     Notes: This is a new plinking pistol introduced in 1994 as the SHOT show.  It is a stainless steel weapon with a sighting rib down the barrel in addition to regular sights.  This weapon was known as the Colt Cadet.  This pistol was later refined into the Colt 22 Target; the Target has a longer barrel, and a micrometer rear sight.  Production of both models stopped in 2000.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Cadet is a very rare weapon, and the Colt 22 Target virtually nonexistent.

Colt 2000 

     Notes: The Colt Model 2000 (also called the All American) was one of Colt’s first attempts to enter the market for high-capacity 9mm Parabellum pistols, which had seen a dramatic upswing since the late 1980s.  However, the Model 2000 was not actually a Colt design; it was bought from Knight Armament Company (KAC), and was actually designed by Reed Knight and Eugene Stoner.  The Model 2000 was introduced in 1991, but Colt, for some reason, ramped up production of the Model 2000 very slowly, and it was a limited-production pistol until the mid-1990s.

     The Model 2000 uses DAO operation; DAO was not unusual on European pistol designs at the time, but it was almost heard of in a US pistol design in the early 1990s.  Another unusual feature was its method of breech locking – a barrel that rotates using a cam that fits into a block in the frame.  Though not unheard of, this method of breech locking was quite unusual at the time, and had almost never been successfully employed in a pistol at that point. 

     The Model 2000 also used a polymer frame as standard (though a frame of light alloy was also available), another unusual feature in a US-designed pistol at that time.  Polymer-framed versions typically have an all-over matte blue finish, while the alloy-framed versions usually have a matte blue frame and a polished-blue slide.  Sights are of the 3-dot type.  There is no manual safety, but there are three passive safeties as well slide lock.  This leads to a very slim and ergonomically-sound design, even for those with small hands.  The side plates are of checkered polymer, and both the backstrap and frontstrap are checkered as well.  Trigger pull is a bit long (like most DAO pistols).  Early Model 2000s had strange problems with accuracy that were quickly corrected, and the Model 2000 also seems to have a big problem with one specific brand and type of ammunition: Cor-Bon +P jacked hollowpoints when loaded with a Sierra bullet.  (Many other pistols also have some feed problems with that specific type of ammunition, but it seems to have been particularly acute in the Model 2000.)  The Model 2000 was almost exclusively found with a 4.5-inch barrel, but for a short period Colt also tried to sell the Model 2000 in a special package which had an exchangeable 5-inch and 3.75-inch barrel as well.  (This kit is close to impossible to find today.)

     The Colt 2000, unfortunately, sold poorly and production stopped in 1993.  It is possible that the Model 2000 was literally “too innovative” for Americans at the time; in addition, the 9mm Parabellum round wasn’t anywhere as ubiquitous in the in the early 1990s in the United States as it is now.  Most firearms experts agree, however, that the failure was not the fault of the pistol design itself, but marketing forces instead.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: There are virtually no copies of the Colt 2000 in circulation in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

Colt Cadet 22

     Notes: This is basically a modern version of the old Colt Woodsman rimfire pistol.  This pistol has a stainless steel frame and barrel, with polymer grips and a ventilated rib above the barrel.  The barrel itself is a bull barrel.  There is also a Cadet 22 Target version; this has a longer barrel, hard rubber grips, and the barrel rib is elevated, carries the sights, and can also accept optical and telescopic sights.  The iron sights on the Target model are adjustable.  When these pistols were introduced, they were called the New Woodsman pistols. 

Colt CCO Gunsite Commander

     Notes: This modification of the Colt Commander comes in an all-black version and a version with a stainless steel slide (identical for game purposes).  The pistol has been smoothed as much as possible, including low-profile sights (adjustable in the rear), a smooth, short trigger, and dehorning.  The slide has grasping serrations on the front and rear.  The mechanism is simple, more reminiscent of early M-1911A1s than present-day 1911 clones.  The grip is short, but just enough to wrap one’s fingers around; however, reloading can be a problem because of that short grip and the grasping hand getting in the way of the magazine falling free and inserting a fresh one.  The frame of the Gunsite Commander is aluminum alloy, but it is stronger alloy than that of the Lightweight Commander (which often cracked).  Grip plates are of polymer, and the slide is of steel.  A major problem of the Gunsite Commander is the grip safety; the weapon can often actually fire without the grip safety being held down, by pulling hard on the trigger.  Though this will definitely throw off one’s aim, it is a safety problem.  

Colt Defender

     Notes: This compact pistol was introduced in 1997. It is basically a very small 1911-type pistol, about the same size as the Officers’ ACP, with a 3-inch barrel.  The slide is of brush-finished stainless steel, and the frame is of light aluminum alloy.  The trigger is skeletonized, as is the hammer, and the grips are of ergonomically-shaped rubber.  The safety is enlarged, and the grips are of wrap-around rubber.  The sights are of the 3-dot type and are also luminous.  In 2000, the .40 Smith & Wesson chambering was dropped, but the .45 ACP version gained a beveled magazine well and an extended beavertail grip safety.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This weapon does not exist in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: This weapon is slowly replacing the M-15 General Officers’ Pistol and the Officers’ ACP in the Merc 2000 timeline.

Colt Delta Elite

     A popular civilian pistol introduced in the late 1980s. It was introduced when the 10mm Colt Auto was a new and unproven round, and sales of the Delta Elite did not pick up for nearly 10 years.  It was later tested by the FBI and Secret Service, though both those agencies eventually had pistols built especially for them. 

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Soldiers often acquired the Delta Elite since its 10mm Colt Auto round was superior in performance to the 9mm Parabellum round of the M-9. 

     Merc 2000 Notes: Many US civilians have equipped themselves with this weapon or weapons of the same caliber; unfortunately, so have criminals, and police have done the same in response. 

Colt Double Eagle

     Notes:  By 1979, Colt had gotten a bit complacent about the success of its M-1911 series, and its success worldwide in virtually all areas of the market.  Then, the Pentagon began looking for a new service pistol – and they weren’t really looking at Colt.  Colt entered their experimental SSP in that competition, but the SSP wasn’t ready for prime time and never really stood a chance.  Colt’s lead in the pistol market slipped away during the 1980s, until they finally decided they had to do something.  This resulted in the introduction of the Double Eagle in 1989.

     When first introduced, the Double Eagle itself wasn’t really ready for prime time either.  The worst problem was the trigger unit; it had a nasty tendency to pinch fingers as well as not completely return forward after a shot (meaning a shooter would have to manually push the trigger the rest of the way forward).  Part of the trigger unit also consisted of a rather tiny spring, which tended to get lost by owners when it was being stripped and cleaned.  This led to the withdrawal of the Double Eagle from the market for several months.  When it returned, the new Double Eagle Mark II/Series 90 was a far better pistol.  Despite this, the Double Eagle never really caught on; production volume slowly drew down in response to the lack of demand, finally ending in 2000.

     The Double Eagle is based on the Series 80 version of the M-1911 series, with many parts actually being interchangeable.  However, the Double Eagle uses a double-action trigger mechanism, and a decocker instead of a manual safety.  Though the controls are not ambidextrous, the magazine release, slide lock and decocker can be reached with the trigger finger and ring finger of a lefty’s hand – though a lefty will find the controls difficult to move with his left hand. 

     Construction of the Double Eagle is almost entirely of stainless steel.  The checkered grip plates are of a polymer called Xenoy.  The trigger guard is shaped to allow the shooter to use the finger of his non-firing hand to stabilize the weapon during firing.  The trigger guard is also shaped to allow the Double Eagle to sit lower in the shooter’s hand, which makes the Double Eagle more comfortable to fire.  The hammer used is a Commander-type loop hammer.  Trigger pull is surprisingly smooth and light, even for that first double-action shot.  The stainless steel construction also makes the Double Eagle fairly heavy, further mitigating recoil.

     Double Eagle versions include the standard Double Eagle, with a 5-inch barrel, the Double Eagle Combat Commander with a 4.25-inch barrel, the Double Eagle Officer’s ACP with a 3.5-inch barrel, and the Double Eagle Officer’s Lightweight with the same 3.5-inch barrel, but built from lighter, stronger steel.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: This was a popular pistol among US military officers, and was for a time issued as a “substitute standard.”

Colt Gold Cup National Match

     Notes: This is a highly-accurized M-1911A1 designed for the annual national matches at Camp Perry.  It is assembled by hand, and the parts are fitted to the closest possible tolerances.  Introduced in 1932, the National Match was originally fitted with the Stevens micrometer rear sight, but after World War 2 (in 1957), the name was changed to the Gold Cup National Match, and fitted with a Colt-Elliason sports sight, adjustable match trigger, enlarged ejection port, and Commander-type hammer. 

     The National Match and National Match Gold Cup are referred to by “Marks.”  The Mark I is the old National Match produced from 1932-1942; the Mark II is the National Match Gold Cup produced from 1957-1960, the Mark III is a special National Match Gold Cup designed specifically for .38 Smith & Wesson Wadcutter from 1960-1974, and the Mark IV is the current model (also known as the Series 80), available in 1980. 

Colt Government

     Notes: This successor to the Gold Cup National Match was introduced in 1991.  It fixed several deficiencies of the Gold Cup National Match pistol, as well as giving competition shooters some other things they wanted.  The top of the Government’s slide is flattened and a tension groove cut into the slide to allow the mounting of optics.  The ejection port is further enlarged, and the beavertail is lengthened.  The frame has a shallow finger groove under the trigger guard.  Another version of this pistol, the XS Government Model, has mahogany grips, a triple-aspect combat sight, and an increased magazine capacity.  The Special Combat Government Model has a Bo-Mar micrometer sight and the enlarged magazine.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: The Government Model in 9mm Steyr is not available, nor is the XS Government Model or the Special Combat Government Model.

Colt Huntsman/Challenger

     Notes: This is a rimfire plinking pistol introduced in 1950 and ending production in 1977.  The original pistol was the Challenger; it has no slide catch and the magazine catch was in the heel of the butt, and the entire pistol looks cheap.  The Huntsman appeared on the scene in 1955; it had plastic grip plates until 1960, after which the grips were made from fine walnut.  They are identical for game purposes.

Colt M-1903

     Notes: Before general officers began being issued the M-15 in the 1960s, they were issued a smaller pistol called the M-1903.  Like the M-15, one grip plate had a metal plate engraved with the general’s name, and other side had a medallion engraved “US Government Property.”  According to the general’s wishes, it could have a Parkerized or blued finish, and could be in .32 ACP or .380 ACP caliber.  (Most chose .380 ACP.)  The pistol had checkered walnut grip plates.  The weapon had an external extractor and a 3.75-inch barrel.  Though this was the issue weapon to generals, many chose different weapons (General Patton being a prime example).

Colt M-1908

     Notes: This is basically Colt’s version of the Browning Baby; Colt bought the patent rights for the weapon and began to produce it in the US.  Colt added a grip safety in addition to the safety catch, and shortened the grip somewhat; if one had small hands, they might actually be able to fit two fingers (other than the trigger finger) on the grip.  There are no conventional sights, but there is a groove on top of the slide for sighting.

Colt M-1911A1

     Notes: This weapon was first invented by John Browning back in 1905, and was accepted by the US military in 1911.  It was first used in combat shortly thereafter in border actions against the Mexicans, and was the standard US military service pistol until the M-9 came into service in 1985.  Large numbers of them are still being used by the US as well as countries all over the world; it is perhaps the most widely-used pistol in service.  The M-1911A1 model is a modified version of the M-1911; after experience in World War 1, the spur of the grip safety was lengthened, the grip’s shape was widened, the trigger was shortened, and the trigger and trigger frame were chamfered.  Despite the change to the M-9 (a slightly modified Beretta M-92FS), many soldiers were reluctant to give up their hard-hitting “Forty-Fives,” particularly those in special operations.  It should be noted that while the standard issue magazine for most armed forces contains 7 rounds, many companies have made modified magazines which contain 8 rounds and are useable by the M-1911A1.

     With such a widely-made and distributed weapon, it should not be surprising that many variants have been built over the years; in fact, a great deal of modern pistols are based upon the M-1911 design.  Some are these are handled in these pages in separate entries, and most are simply M-1911s and M-1911A1s built in different countries, but some show a bit more variation.  One of these was built for the British during World War 1 from 1915-18 and also used during World War 2, and it is chambered for the then-standard British pistol chambering of .455 Webley Auto.  Though these versions are rare (some 600 being built, with many of them having been since rebarreled to .45 ACP), these British M-1911s are of such good quality that most of them are still useable as military weapons. The British M-1911s can still fire .45 ACP, but the reverse is not true.  (In game terms, the shooting characteristics are identical when used with .45 ACP ammo.)  Most British M-1911s have a lanyard ring at the butt and are blued.

     Perhaps not so unusual, but inevitable, was the Service Ace.  To reduce training costs, the US military asked Colt to begin designing a .22 long Rifle-firing version of the M-1911 almost immediately after the M-1911 itself was adopted.  This turned out to be more difficult than first thought; the War Department wanted the M-1911 to be modified as little as possible to fire the .22 Long Rifle round, so that the M-1911s could be modified back and forth as necessary.  The original Ace proved to require too much modification for the War Department’s tastes, and what was more-or-less a modification kit submitted by Colt also did not work since the rimfire round did not have enough power to properly operate the heavy slide of the M-1911.Work continued until 1938 (and at that time, based on the M-1911A1), when the famous Carbine Williams came up with a design that worked both mechanically and to the War Department’s liking; this became the Service Ace.  They were produced from 1939-45, with almost 14,000 being built.  An unforeseen consequence of Carbine Williams’ “floating chamber” system was that the bolt tended to prematurely wear out.  The Service Aces that were still viable were sold to civilians after World War 2, and now bring a decent amount of money in real-life terms.  Many companies now make a .22 version of the M-1911 or coversion kits for it; the Service ace may be considered representative of these. Since the introduction of the Service Ace, the same concept has been duplicated under many manufacturers and many names.

     Essentially variants of the M-1911A1, the XSE and its variants feature a few things that the M-1911A1 does not have, such as front and rear cocking grip serrations on the slide, manual safeties with are extended and ambidextrous, and adjustable aluminum skeletonized match triggers.  Checkering on the grip plates is finer, and the grip plates are made from rosewood.  The sights are fixed, low-profile combat sights.  The hammer is a loop-type Commander hammer.  The entire XSE is built to tighter tolerances than the standard M-1911A1, and the XSE can be had in .38 Super (on the Lightweight Commander variant only) as well as the standard .45 ACP. The Government comes in brushed stainless steel or blued carbon steel finishes; the Commander comes only in a brushed stainless steel finish, and the Lightweight Commander variant, with its aluminum-alloy frame, comes only in a brushed aluminum finish for the frame, a brushed stainless steel slide, and uses a Teflon-coated receiver. Government XSEs use a 5-inch barrel, while the others use a 4.25-inch barrel.

     Based on the M1911A1 design, the Government 380 fires the smaller .380ACP round. It is designed for the civilian and police market.

     The M-1991 is basically an M-1911A1 manufactured in the late 20^th and early 21^st century, and using modern manufacturing methods and materials.  In short, the M-1991A1 is a near-copy of the M-1911A1, constructed almost entirely of blued steel and having few differences from the original. 

     The Colt Mk IV Series/Officer’s ACP is a modernized copy of the M-1911A1.  Differences include the inclusion of a firing pin blocking safety, and the choice of construction from carbon steel or stainless steel.  The carbon steel version can have either a polished or matte finish.  In addition, a version that fires .38 Super ammunition is also available.  The Mk IV Officer’s ACP is a shortened and lightened version of the Mk IV Series 80; it is available only in .45 ACP, but comes in either a stainless steel, carbon steel, or aluminum alloy frame.

     Considered by many to be the definitive version of the M1911A1, the Combat Commander is a slightly shorter version of that classic handgun. It is often carried by US Army officers in place of the M-1911A1. The Combat Commander is also available in 9mm Parabellum and .38 Super, but these versions are rarely found.  The Lightweight Commander is the same weapon, but uses a lightweight aluminum frame and comes in only one caliber.

     In 2011, Colt introduced a new iteration of the M-1911: the New Agent.  The New Agent is a compact pistol, reminiscent of the Officer’s ACP, but with a DAO action instead of the single-action operation of other M-1911s.  The pull weight of the trigger is 12 pounds; many shooters say this leads to quick trigger-finger fatigue. The hammer is also very bobbed; it is spurless, and almost inaccessible when it is down.  The matte black alloy frame is mated to a steel slide finished in gray.  Grips are of wood with a tight diamond-checkered texture.  The frontstrap and backstrap are grooved to aid gripping; as the operation is DAO, the New Agent has no grip safety and only a small beavertail.  The New Agent is almost totally dehorned.  Instead of a standard front and rear sight, the New Agent as a continuous U-shaped trough running the length of the slide.  The 3-inch barrel does not have a bushing, but instead has a bell shape near the muzzle, which allows for positive lockup. With light weight and a relatively short grip, recoil and barrel flip are stiff.  The New Agent is barely recognizable as being part of the M-1911 line.

     The M-1911A1 is one of those firearms that has been produced in various forms by many different companies throughout the years.  While some have different features and specifications, many differ only in minor details such as grip panels, sights, triggers, hammers, finishes, and other relatively minor part details.  Such pistols are often known as “1911” pistols, and many have “1911” as part of their name.  For the most part, however, they are close enough to the M-1911A1 in game terms to be considered identical for game play. Similar clones of the Commander and Lightweight Commander are also common.

     One of the lesser-known users of the M-1911A1 is Nazi Germany.  Before World War 2, Norway license-produced the M-1911A1 in Norway, and after the German conquering of Norway, the factories were turned over to production for the German Army.  Production figures during World War 2 in Norway were never high, and most of the Norwegian M-1911s were retained for use by German forces in Norway.  Only a very few found their way to Europe.

     Twilight 2000 Notes: Hundreds of thousands of these pistols remain in service with US forces alone; some National Guard, Reserve, and even Active Duty units were still equipped with them, and they were handed out liberally to civilian militias by both MilGov and CivGov. The M-1991 is another one of those pistols issued as a “substitute standard” to US forces, particularly to new units raised by the US Army shortly before the collapse of central authority in the US.  The New Agent is not available in the Twilight 2000 timeline.

     Merc 2000 Notes: As they are so common, it is not surprising that the M-1911A1 is traded far and wide in the world.