by Gun Mag Staff
It’s been called the greatest handgun ever made, and it has barely changed since 1911, when the legendary John Browning designed it especially for the US Military.
More than 100 years after its introduction, the Colt .45 M1911 is making a big comeback, since the US Marines have placed a $22.5 million order for the Connecticut-made pistols.
The 1911 was the standard-issue sidearm in the military for decades, until it was replaced by the Beretta M9 in 1985.
“It just became an iconic part of military and American history,” Gerry Dinkel, CEO and president of Colt Defense, told Fox News.
“You can’t beat a .45 cartridge,” Jack Lewis, firearms director for Cowan’s Auctions, told FoxNews.com. “Some things are hard to replace,” he said.
Colt Defense, based in Hartford, CT, will supply as many as 12,000 of the 200,000 US Marines with semiautomatic, tan-colored M45 Close Quarter Battle Pistols, and the contract includes spare parts and logistical support. The gun has long been the weapon of choice for special operations agents, thanks to its reliability and the stopping power of its massive bullets.
Some reports had suggested that the Marines are not happy with their main Beretta M9s for their lack of accuracy and stopping power. With M1911s now supplying Special Ops, growing interest may lead to a better solution.
BAE sells Safariland Warren B. Kanders, through an affiliate of Kanders and Company Inc., along with the management team of Safariland have acquired Safariland from BAE Systems Inc. for cash consideration (after adjustment) of approximately $124 million, The Tactical Wire reported on July 31.
Since 1964, Safariland has been a leading manufacturer of protective products and equipment primarily for law enforcement and military customers.
Key product categories include body armor, duty gear, tactical armor and armor systems, less lethal products, and firearms accessories. Headquartered in Jacksonville, FL, Safariland has approximately 1,700 employees in five facilities, including Ontario, CA, Casper, WY, Pittsfield, MA and Tijuana, Mexico.
Kanders, the president and owner of Kanders, had previously been the chairman and CEO of Armor Holdings Inc., the parent company of Safariland prior to its acquisitions by BAE Systems in 2007. Kanders initially invested in American Body Armor, a predecessor of the company, in 1996. Between 1996 and 2007, Kanders built the company through a series of approximately 19 acquisitions, acquiring and partnering with the company’s management team with the acquisition of a predecessor of the Safariland brand in 1999. BAE has owned the company since 2007 when it acquired Armor.
Kanders will serve as the chairman and CEO. Scott O’Brien, who has been with Safariland for over 35 years, will continue to serve in the role of president.
Cabela’s new stores Cabela’s, headquartered in Sidney, NE, has announced plans to bring the unique Cabela’s® shopping experience to Saginaw, MI, and Anchorage, AK, with the Saginaw store expected to open in the spring of 2013 and the Anchorage store in the spring of 2014.
Construction on the 43,000-squarefoot Saginaw store is scheduled to begin this fall. The Saginaw store will be the company’s third retail outlet in Michigan, joining the Dundee location, which opened in 2000, and the Grandville location, slated to open in 2013.
This is Cabela’s second planned Cabela’s Outpost Store, joining the Union Gap, WA, location scheduled to open this fall.
Designed for efficiency, flexibility and convenience at approximately 40,000- square-feet, Cabela’s Outpost Stores will serve customers in underserved markets across North America. They will bring the same quality products and customer service for which Cabela’s is famous to hometown markets too small to support Cabela’s popular next-generation stores.
NSSF, ATF rewards The National Shooting Sports Foundation (NSSF), the trade association for the firearms industry, has matched the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) reward offers in two cases of firearms thefts from federally licensed firearms (FFL) dealers.
One reward is for up to $5,000, the same amount as the ATF award, for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the July 12 theft of 30 handguns from the Gander Mountain store in Woodbury, MN.
The second NSSF award matching ATF’s is for up to $10,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person(s) responsible for the theft of 37 firearms—including four rifles, one fully automatic and all equipped with sound suppressors—that were stolen July 25 from Rio Rancho Armory in Rio Rancho, NM.
The matching reward payments by NSSF will be granted only following payments of the initial ATF rewards.
People with information should contact the ATF offices in their areas and refer to whichever case may be on interest.
Excise taxes, NICS up According to the latest Firearms and Ammunition Excise Tax Collection report released by the Department of the Treasury, firearm and ammunition manufacturers reported tax liabilities of $145.6 million in the first calendar quarter of 2012, up 32.16% over the same time period reported in 2011. This 2012 first-quarter total is the highest quarter reported since the Alcohol & Tobacco Tax & Trade Bureau took over record collection in 1991, surpassing the previous highest quarter reported (2nd quarter 2009) by 14.26%.
Meanwhile, July 2012 NSSFadjusted National Instant Criminal Background Check System (NICS) figure of 853,355 is an increase of 25.5% over the NSSF-adjusted NICS figure of 680,258 in July 2011. For comparison, the unadjusted July 2012 NICS figure of 1,289,585 reflects a 12.4% increase from the unadjusted NICS figure of 1,147,355 in July 2011.
This marks the 26th straight month that NSSF-adjusted NICS figures have increased when compared to the same period the previous year.
