And the good news is...

[mayagrafix]

Maybe this belongs in gun-smithing section but it is basically about a USGI pistol.

http://kitup.military.com/2007/10/barn-busting-re.html

[Scott Gahimer]

Interesting read. I can't argue about relaxed toerances. They were recomended to be relaxed in November 1943. The result...total interchangeability was achieved and reported by the Spring of 1944.

I was an Army MP and taught at the MP School. Part of my time there was spent on the pistol range. We shot a 50 rd. course for qualification. Often there were students who complained there was something wrong with their pistol. To remedy that, we often would take the same pistol and shoot a few rounds. Rarely were we not able to score hits with every shot on the silhouette target.

Bottom line...the pistol was designed as a combat weapon, not a competition pistol. The enemy isn't wearing uniforms with a bullseye or 10x ring on them. A hit is a hit. Obviously, the best hit is center of mass. A standard military .45 is capable of that with every round in the hand of a trained shooter.

Once you start modifying the tolerances to achieve target accuracy, you sacrifice interchangeability. It is more important the pistol works than that it shoots in the 10 ring every shot.

With proper training, nearly anyone can learn to shoot well enough to get by in a combat or defensive setting. We don't fight wars with pistols. The pistol is a secondary weapon. Our .45 was not a single shot handgun. 7 in the mag and 1 in the tube is more than enough to do the job it was designed to do.:cool: