Manual colt 1911 a1

M1911-A1 REDUX
re·dux (rē-dŭks’)

adjective
Brought back; returned. Used postpositively.

Drawings of the Government Model M1911-A1 Semi-Automatic Pistol, Originally Designed by John Browning for Colt Firearms Company, Completely 3D CAD Modeled and Redrawn With Present-Day Standards and Technology by Rio Benson, Benson Consulting, LLP, ©2010

FROM RIO BENSON, BENSON CONSULTING, LLP, ONTHE PREPARATION OF THESE DOCUMENTS
To qualify my efforts in the development of this drawing package: As a Machine and Mechanical Designer, I’ve been preparing drawings to DOD-100/1000 and ASME/ANSI Y14 standards, for a living, for more than a half century. I am also a shooter and a firearms enthusiast with sporting experience since my mid-teens and significant military firearms experience from mylate teens to my late-twenties. I am also an avid fan of John M. Browning and the “original” M1911. Historically, when the drawings for John M. Browning’s Colt M1911 were first created, there was little in the way of ‘consensus’ standards to guide the designers and manufacturers of the day in either drawing format or in DOD documentation of materials and finishes. For the most part, these wereadded, hit or miss, in later drawing revisions. Furthermore, due to the original design’s flawless practicality and it’s amazing longevity, the government’s involvement, and the fact that in the ensuing 100-plus years of production the M1911 design has been officially fabricated by several different manufacturers, the drawings have gone through many, many revisions and redraws in order to accommodateall these various interests. These ‘mandated by committee’ redraws and revisions were not always made by the most competent of designers, and strict document control was virtually non-existent at the time. All of this has led to an exceedingly sad state of credibility, legibility, and even the availability of legitimate M1911 drawings today. Granted, the M1911 is still being produced by amultitude of manufacturers, but obviously not to the original drawings. The current manufacturers have their own documentation, including their own modifications and production improvements. Because of their competitiveness, there is little chance any of these current manufacturers will publish or furnish any part of their documentation, since they might be giving away some of their trade secrets. Ofcourse, we must assume that none of these manufacturers have ever heard of “reverse engineering” [LOL]. With that being said, I have noticed numerous requests for M1911 drawings over the years, and now having the time, the knowledge, and the means, I decided to model the M1911 in 3D, using SolidWorks 2009, and then create updated drawings from those models. My source for the original[?] drawingscame, free of charge, from the internet. As a drawing set for the M1911 these were better than nothing, but they were full of misinterpretations, errors, omissions, in addition to being very difficult to read. Unfortunately, that was all that was available. Due to the poor legibility of the reduced drawing sizes, original drafting quality, and reproducibility of the source documents, and also of thecollective questionable veracity of revision status, a number of assumptions and even interpolations had to be made in the creation of the subject documentation package. While every attempt was made regarding the maintenance of technical correctness and completeness, I (Rio Benson), or Benson Consulting, LLP, cannot warrant or guarantee the package’s accuracy or suitability for manufacture, andrecommend its use be limited to only that of a source of interesting and historical information. This package is furnished free of charge, and the user must assume any and all liability in any connection with its use. The laws regarding intellectual property apply here. This documentation may be published and distributed freely as a complete package, without charge, provided nothing is altered in...