The Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 Military and Commercial Pistols (For Collectors Only)

Lots of data in here for collectors to verify their property. As well as for restorers to make sure they get the right parts to put their collectables. There are two books I go to for cross referencing this is one of them.

So comprehensive and authoritative. Already sorted me out in several 1911 transactions re: condition and specifics of manufacturing and nuances of identification. Came to me by recommendation from Dr. Nelson Ford, the Gunsmith, Phx., AZ. Passing it on.

Good basic book for 1911 collectors. Not perfect, but can be used in a general sense, and photos and charts are adequate.

Up until now, I only had 2 Joe Poyer books in my collection...I tended to pass them over, based on a preference for hardbound books. My impression was that other, more expensive hardbound books contained the same or better content. Well, I have to say that I was wrong. I recently purchased the 2nd Edition, Revised & Expanded of "The Model 1911 and Model 1911A1 Military and Commercial Pistols," by Joe Poyer, and I'm very glad that I did. This is an excellent book for the collector.The book is full of black and white photos showing very specific characteristics that collectors may use to determine the make and originality of what appears to be every 1911 part, and many accessories. The use of arrows to point to examples of exact physical characteristics is profuse. I was impressed with the coverage of holsters and web gear. The book seems to cover every mark that can possibly be found on an M1911/M1911A1, and later Colt versions. I was also interested to read more about the later production, General model 1911's that are covered in the book.The first edition had a blue cover, and the 2nd edition has a red cover. It just came out last month. I'm giving this book 4.5 stars, which rounds up to 5. The main reason I don't call out a full 5 stars for the book is probably getting to be a broken record for some who read my reviews, but my reason is that the book does not contain any listing of manuals. The book does an excellent job of documenting almost every collector accessory associated with M1911 pistols, but does not include a section on manuals, which are intriguing collector accessories for these pistols. There are many manuals that could have been included, as well as a couple of posters.If Mr. Poyer happens to read this, and would like to include a manual section in the next edition of this book, I am more than happy to contribute to that effort with my writing and/or manual examples. That would make the book much more complete, in my opinion. I can be contacted at dalbert at biggerhammer dot net.The only other callouts I will make are that there are more styles of military .45 ammunition boxes that could have been included, although a good job was done on ammunition coverage. Since the book also covers commercial M1911's, commercial ammunition could be an expansion opportunity, although the space required might be prohibitive. The book does pretty well without an index, although I always prefer to see one.So, great job on this book, and I know I will reference it frequently. It's a handy volume of 536 pages that I'm sure will remain in print, and continue to be updated for many years to come.David Albert

If you want to know about the 1911 pistol designed by Browning then you need this.

This is an awesome book!!

A lot of information about the 1911. Very informative

Superb reference