History
After Hiram Maxim introduced his recoil-powered machine gun in 1883, several gunsmiths set out to apply the same principles to handguns, including Maxim. Maxim's designs for smaller firearms using his recoil-powered ideas never went into production. In the 1880s, other designers worked on self-loading designs. The first model to gain any commercial success was the Hugo Borchardt-designed C-93, designed in 1893 and made its public debut in 1894. Borchardt invented the C-93 mechanism, based in large part upon Maxim's toggle-lock principle. The C-93 featured a clever locking mechanism modeled after the human knee joint. in which the mechanical joint is called a knee, or in German Kniegelenk (knee joint).
The C-93 proved mechanically reliable, but was too large and bulky to receive widespread acceptance. Equipped with a screw-on wooden stock, the C-93 served well in small pistol carbines, Borchardt also developed the 7.65mm Borchardt cartridge, around which the C-93 was built.
In 1896, Paul Mauser introduced his first model of the famous Mauser "Broomhandle" semi-automatic pistol, the C96. Using the powerful 7.63mm bottlenecked cartridge originally designed by Borchardt, the Mauser was the first self-loading pistol used extensively in battle, notably the South African War of 1899-1902. These pistols were made in 7.63mm Mauser, along with some models eventually being made in 9mm Parabellum and a small number in .45 ACP for China.
In Belgium in 1896, the first American gun designer to develop self-loading semi-automatic pistols was John Browning, whose models were first manufactured by the Belgian firm of Fabrique Nationale (FN) in Europe and later by Colt in the US. Like Luger's work conducted around the same time in Germany, Browning's first successful design was in 7.65mm, the Browning M1900. Browning also devised a slightly different 7.65mm Browning (.32 Auto) cartridge for his semi-automatic pistol that differed from Luger's 7.65mm Parabellum. Browning also designed .25, .380, and .45 ACP cartridges in addition to .32 ACP for his semi-automatic pistol designs.
Browning also created the locked-breech action now commonly used by nearly all heavy-caliber semi-automatic pistols, and designed the .45 ACP Colt M1911l,adopted by the US military in 1911. The Model 1911 is still in active use with some U.S. Special Forces and Marine Corps units.
Browning also co-designed the FN Browning Hi-Power, announced in 1922, during the last years of his life, working on this design until his death in 1926. It was a 9 mm Para semi-automatic pistol and was the first high-capacity, semi-automatic pistol design to feature a staggered-column magazine capable of holding 13 rounds (plus one chambered) in place of the single column magazine Browning had favored in the earlier M1911. (The earlier, single-column magazine design is still used to today, however, especially for deep-concealment semi-automatic pistols such as the Kel-Tec P-32.)
The next notable design was the 7.65mm Luger by Georg Luger, which although successful in its function, nonetheless failed to have adequate stopping power and failed to win widespread acceptance. In 1902, Georg Luger's subsequent and similar P08 in 9mm Parabellum overcame the problem of inadequate stopping power and featured a greatly improved Borchardt-type Kniegelenk ("knee-joint") locking mechanism. Unlike Browning's locked-breech design, the barrel in a Kniegelenk design does not tip up and down while the gun is fired, thereby theoretically improving shooting accuracy. Luger's P.08 was adopted by the German military and served as their standard sidearm in World War I. During World War II, Germany was the first nation to adopt a double-action pistol, the Walther P38, which could be carried loaded (with a cartridge chambered) and ready to fire without the risk of an accidental discharge if dropped. The P38 also used Luger's 9mm Parabellum cartridge.
During World War II, revolvers were still issued by various major powers, but their use was decreasing. Though the British firm Webley and Scott had developed several adequate self-loading pistols, one of which was adopted by the (normally unarmed) British police in 1911 and by the Royal Navy and Royal Marines before the First World War, revolvers were generally preferred by most British military. In the Soviet Union the TT pistol replaced the Nagant M1895 revolver during the war. In the United States the M1911A1 was adopted as the standard military sidearm. Both Colt and Smith & Wesson produced revolvers chambered for the same .45 ACP ammunition used in the M1911A1, because of the great demand for handguns and the need to adopt a common cartridge for use in both semi-automatic pistols and revolvers.
After World War II most nations eventually adopted 9mm Parabellum caliber pistols employing Browning's locked-breech design for their standard-issue military pistols. The most popular early choice was the previously mentioned FN Browning Hi-Power, which was the first high-capacity pistol; another popular model was the locked-breech Walther P38 because of its many safety features. As of 2011 the U.S. military sidearm is a variant of the Beretta 92F/FS.
In 1971 Smith & Wesson offered a safe double-action, high-capacity pistol, the Model 59. CZ launched its CZ-75 in 1975. Beretta introduced the Beretta 92 also in 1975. Glock introduced the groundbreaking Glock 17 in 1982, and SIG-Sauer introduced its model SIG P226 in 1983. Walther introduced their high-capacity P88 in 1988. In the early 1990s Heckler & Koch combined what they considered to be the most desirable attributes of semi-autos in the HK USP pistol. In 1995 Kel-Tec introduced their first compact 9mmP pistol, the Kel-Tec P11, designed for concealed carry. In 1999 Kel-Tec introduced their extremely popular .32 ACP P-32 for concealed carry. Both of the Kel-Tec pistols are double-action-only (DAO) designs.
After the Second World War, the almost universal trend has been for semi-automatic pistols to replace revolvers for military use, although the transition has been slower in police and civilian use. As of 2011, revolvers are mainly used in jurisdictions which permit their use for civilian self-defense, hunting, plinking, and target practice. Semi-automatic pistols are by far the most popular for concealed carry by civilians, primary handguns for police and military use, backup guns for police use, and where the usual 5 or 6 shots of a revolver are deemed inadequate.
Read more about this topic: Semi-automatic Pistol
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