PISTOLS Colt .45 Country of Origin: U.S. When the opposition gets close, grab your Colt .45. Reliable and accurate, the Colt .45 is the finest American military sidearm ever made. Each of the seven rounds in your clip can deliver lethal force against well-protected opposition. Just be careful; the kick is heavy. Notes: For its small size, the Colt .45 packs a deadly punch. But like most pistols, it’s only accurate at close range. Use it for close combat, but keep an eye on the ammo count—the .45 can only hold seven rounds.
Historical Notes: The Colt .45
Beretta Model 34 Country of Origin: Italy The standard sidearm of Italian army officers is the Beretta model 34, a simple, reliable, small pistol with good stopping power. Composed of only 39 parts, this semiautomatic handgun can consistently deliver up to 40 9mm rounds in one minute. It weighs less than two pounds, and its versatility ensures that it sees action at every Italian front.
primagames.com
CHAPTER 2: Weapons, Equipment, and Vechicles
The Colt .45 was the sidearm of choice for the American military from 1911 until its retirement in 1984. Originally suspicious of its innovative auto-loading mechanism, the American military asked its inventor, John M. Browning, to rework the mechanism before accepting the gun into service. A subsequent version, the M1911A1, utilized recoil forces to push the slide back, eject the shell, cock the hammer, and reload the chamber within a fraction of a second. The finished version of this semi-automatic pistol packed more stopping power than its predecessor, the .38-caliber M1900, and with its improved auto-loader, could fire at a more rapid rate. Although more than half of all enlisted men in World War I carried the Colt .45, regulations forbade infantrymen from using them in World War II. However, these regulations were rarely enforced, as many sought them as a weapon of last resort. On VJ Day in 1945, the last order for Colt .45s was cancelled by the U.S. military, and for the next 39 years all pistols in service were rehabilitated secondhand guns.
15