Hey, are the line troops still using the kimber 1911,45cal? Someone told me they are switching to the springfield 1911's,45cal. They say they had many troubles with the kimber. Any truth to the scuttlebutt? I own a kimber that is close to the one you are using in service now. Would like to know of problems that may occur ahead of time to prepare.
U.S.M.C 79-85
Wpns. Co. 3/9

Most pistols in the Marine Corps are Beretta 9mm's.

we have the meu(soc) springfield .45, remanufactured at quantico

I saw at least 4 Marines in Iraq with 1911 style pistols. This was in 2006.

I take my Wilson .45 with me. They are a bit pricey but they are the best you'll find without going to a complete custom build. Every one that I own will hold under a 1 inch pattern at 75.

we only had 9mm's over there. Sucks, cus when i broke my hand they gave me a 9 and took my m16 away. I felt like all i was contributing was throwing rocks if we ever got ambushed. Now i know what it feels like to be a corpsman. Sucks. Of course our corpsman carried m16s.

Damn Anbar thats straight up BS. If you were in my squad I wouldn't have made you go out. No offense but a guy with a broken hand and only an M-9 pistol is almost useless in a firefight (not so much you just the weapon) but also a liability. From a tactical standpoint a 9mm adds pretty much nothing to a squads firepower. Also if someones hit it's hard for a guy with one good hand (which is probably holding a pistol) to retrieve a fallen Marine, or God forbid if it came down to it to expect you to defend yourself. I guess on a platoon size operation you could hump a bunch of 240 ammo. Anyways enough from this arm chair general. That sucks you had to go out with a broken hand.

To someone elses reply about seeing 1911's. It must have changed since 2004 because the last time I went over we were specifically told we couldn't bring any firearm that wasn't issued to us. I always thought and will continue to believe that that is a totally BS order.
Semper Fi

quote:

we only had 9mm's over there. Sucks, cus when i broke my hand they gave me a 9 and took my m16 away. I felt like all i was contributing was throwing rocks if we ever got ambushed. Now i know what it feels like to be a corpsman. Sucks. Of course our corpsman carried m16s.

Lets get this straight,you were patrolling with a 9mm? A broken thumb made it so you could not shoot an M4 but still could shoot a 9mm?
Why am I confused?

Even this PEACETIME grunt would have to shake my head at that one. But...some orders and commands are just that, making sense of them is another issue. It's great that you make it back and the CO wasn't having to explain to parents/media why lil' johnny had a bad wing and got fried with only a 9mm in his paws.

As for the 45 vs the 9mm, I am sure that the DOD would trade them out but not in awhile. Someone made a mistake in taking the 9mm over the 45 in 80's so no one will step on that landmine in a long time.

As for the Berreta, I guess ya can hand out 30 rd mags or just adopt the Uzi or the Mac 9 to spray more lead in close quarters.

Good luck