introduction

Even though the M1911 was replaced in U.S. military service by the Beretta M9 9 mm pistol in the 1980s, many units and communities within the U.S. armed forces continued to use the M1911 for specialized purposes. U.S. Marine Corps, which always loved the pistol for its incredible stopping power and maneuverability in close quarters combat situations, did not give up to use M1911 and began to remanufacture the pistol at the Marine Corps Weapons Training Battalion’s Precision Weapons Section. The new weapons were then reassembled with new grips and ambidextrous thumb safeties, a new trigger assembly, high-visibility sights, precision barrels, and improved Wilson magazines.
In the early years of the 21st century; as the need for compact, reliable, and maneuverable firearms increased and opponents nature changed with body armor and pre-combat pain medication usage becoming common in places like Iraq and Afghanistan, requirement for a new pistol became more pronounced.
When Marine Corps Forces Special Operations Command - MARSOC battalions were created, Close Quarter Battle Pistol - CQBP program was started with a number of submissions from various firearms manufacturers. On July 20, 2012, the USMC Systems Command announced that the winner of the new CQBP pistol contract was Colt Defense LLC, the original manufacturer of Browning’s classic M1911 more than a century ago.

The new CQBP pistol, designated M45A1, looks and operates like the same M1911 pistol used in World War I but M45A1 is a highly evolved version of the classic Colt .45. The main new feature is a dual recoil spring that spreads out the recoil force of the big .45 ACP rounds over a greater period of time. In addition, it also has a number of detail upgrades;

Novak three dot Tritium night sight

Wilson Combat seven-round magazine

5-inch National Match barrel, lightweight enhanced hammer, beveled magazine well, lowered and flared ejection port;

Diamond Back G10 grip, ambidextrous safety, solid aluminum trigger

MIL-STD-1913 Picatinny Rail mounting flashlights, laser sights, and other accessories; and

Cerakote Firearms Coating finish in desert tan

review

The set comes inside a transparent zip-lock bag sandwiched and stapled in a folded hard cardboard cover. Front side is labeled with a photo for 3 versions supplied in the kit as back side shows a bigger photo of M45A1.

There are six 1/35 scale, grey resin cast Colt M45A1 M1070CQBP MARSOC .45 pistols, all served in one sprue. Pistols are given as one piece which requires no assembly. One of the pistols is given in hammer ready/cocked position and another one in slide catch. Resin quality is good, no visible casting mistakes or problems. Details are clean, crisp and well defined for this scale. Front and rear sights, hammer and spur, ejection port, grip and trigger guard are all well defined. Muzzles are given as holes so there will be no need to drill.

All pistols are cast with tactical weapon lights fitted to the rail system. As noted on the boxart; they look like a Surefire X-300U.

conclusion:

This is a useful kit to have nice detailed M45A1s for your Special Operations figures or scenes. Hammer cocked and slide catch variants are good additions to the set.

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