As a handgun enthusiast I have handled and fired all sorts of semi-automatic pistols and revolvers (and I still have all my fingers). Thanks to my late friend George Maddox I became acquainted with the 1911-style .45-caliber pistol, which was the U.S. military’s sidearm of choice from its introduction in the early 1900s until 1985, when it was replaced by the Beretta M9 9 mm. Many handgun experts have waxed poetic on the qualities of the 1911-style pistol, often declaring it the best handgun ever designed.
It was often opined that there would never be a better pistol designed than John Browning’s 1911.