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Bryant Ridge's AnalysisThe pistol that would eventually be named the Colt Commander was Colt's Manufacturing Company's candidate in a U.S. government post–World War II trial to find a lighter replacement for the M1911 pistol that would be issued to officers. Requirements were issued in 1949 that the pistol had to be chambered for 9mm and could not exceed 7 inches in length or weigh more than 25 ounces. Candidates included Browning Hi-Power variants by Canada's Inglis and Belgium's Fabrique Natio …

Bryant Ridge's AnalysisColt’s 1911 served the United States military through two World Wars and several other conflicts, is still in use by some units today, and has become popular with law enforcement, competitors, and recreational shooters across the nation. The design has seen some updates including a firing-pin block safety, higher profile sights, and more ergonomic grips, but the basic design and fantastic trigger remain the same after more than a century. This is an interesting variation f …

Bryant Ridge's AnalysisThe old Colt action design was a product of the late 1890's. It was complex and required that the action be literally hand fitted. The action was built using over-sized forged parts in which a fitter would assemble the action by filing, stoning, and even bending parts to get a working revolver. In line with the desire to make the Python the finest revolver ever made, Colt had the action even further polished and tuned to give the best possible trigger pull. So concerned wa …

Bryant Ridge's AnalysisIn 1950, Colt put the Commander into regular production so that ordinary folks like me could buy one. Colt had already set a record within the company by making the Commander their very first 9mm production pistol, and now they had achieved another first: the Commander was the largest gun made at that time with an aluminum frame. The first year’s production also included pistol chambered in .45 ACP and .38 Super. In 1970, Colt introduced a steel-framed version of the Comma …

Bryant Ridge's AnalysisBorn as an expensive gun in the depths of the Great Depression, the finely crafted Gold Cup National Match sold better than expected but was never destined to be a mass-market success. The addition of the Super Match, a .38 Super with the same treatment, differing only in markings, caliber, and cartridge capacity, did little to change the inevitable. When production ceased with the outbreak of WWII, the Colt National Match's epoch had ended. While Mullin notes that a few w …