that and other successful trials, the pistol was formally adopted
by the Army on March 29, 1911, eventually gaining the official
designation M1911. It served as the standard-issue sidearm
for the United States Armed Forces from 1911 to 1986 and was
widely used in World War I, World War II, Korea, and Vietnam.
BERETTA M9: How do you replace an icon? That’s the challenge
military officials faced when it was time to find a substitute for the
M1911, the procurement of which numbered nearly 3 million in
military contracts during its service life. In the end, the candidate
that won the coveted contract in 1985 was the Beretta M9: a
short recoil, semi-automatic, single-action/double-action pistol.
The handgun was easy-to-use, safe, accurate, and adaptable for
either left-handers or right-handers. It earned the moniker “World
Defender,” having succeeded in tough and demanding conditions,
from the sweltering deserts of Iraq to the brutal cold of the
mountains in Afghanistan; all the while maintaining its reputation
for durability, reliability, and dependability.
DARDICK REVOLVER:
Not every gun that breaks
new ground succeeds.
The odd-looking revolver developed
by Russian-born American inventor
David Dardick in 1949 was just such a
creation. Its design was controversial and
unconventional; plus, the gun’s special feeding
mechanism required customized .38 caliber bullets
called “Trounds,” a combination of the word triangle and round,
which were stored in a magazine within the pistol’s grip. The
barrel of the Dardick pistol could be changed to accommodate
.22-caliber Trounds. Dardick and his ground-breaking approach
to designing a handgun might be compared to Preston Tucker
and his unorthodox Tucker sedan developed to take on Detroit’s
“Big Three”: Ford, General Motors and Chrysler. While neither
Dardick nor Tucker were welcomed into the mainstream of their
chosen industries, each remains a reminder that innovation is
a double-edged sword with victory on one side and defeat on
the other.
SPRINGFIELD MODEL 1903: Officially adopted as a United
States military rifle on June 19, 1903, the Springfield Model 1903
saw service in World War I. Most notably, it was the weapon used
by Alvin C York of Pall Mall, Tennessee, one of the most-decorated
American soldiers of what some called “the war to end all wars.”
He received the Medal of Honor for leading an attack on a German
machine gun nest, killing at least 25 enemy soldiers and capturing
132. York’s heroics were portrayed in the movie Sergeant York
(1941). The starring role was played by actor Gary Cooper, who
went on to win the Academy Award for the performance. The fiveround,
magazine-fed, bolt-action service repeating rifle remained
in service as a standard issue infantry rifle during World War II
when it was used as a sniper rifle. It also saw action in Korea and
Vietnam. It’s still popular as a civilian firearm, collector's piece, and
competitive shooting rifle.
GLOCK 17: Engineer Gaston
Glock had experience in
advanced synthetic polymers,
not guns, when his namesake
company developed the first
commercially successful line
of pistols with a polymer frame. In
1982, the Austrian Army assembled a team
of experts with backgrounds in military, police,
and civilian sport-shooting. Their goal was to set
parameters for a new combat pistol. That opportunity
launched Glock into developing a prototype handgun with proven
mechanisms and multiple desirable traits from other successful
designs. Then, he added his “secret sauce”: synthetic materials
coupled with state-of-the art manufacturing technologies. The
handgun submitted for test trials was based on the company’s 17th
patent. In 1982, the Glock 17 was declared the winner and an
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The TRUMP RALLY Publication 59