Some designs just cannot be improved upon. One of these is the 100 year-old Browning-designed .45 caliber Colt automatic M1911. Do you know it's history? Here's the story I was told.
Following the 1898 Spanish-American War the U.S. occupied the Philippine Islands as colonies. At least some Filipinos didn't like being a colony and a guerilla insurrection occurred (or more likely, continued).
The sidearm of the U.S. Army at that time was a .38 caliber revolver carried by sergeants and officers. The Army learned the hard way that the .38 didn't have enough power to stop an enraged rebel charging with a machete.
Responding to this problem, the .45 was designed to stop whoever it hit. It is viewed as a success in that regard. After using 9mm Berettas exclusively for several years, the Marine Corps has placed a new order for more .45s, see this Fox News story.
