Doug;

The story I read and heard was that George Lugar developed his 9 mm pistol and it was compared to the Colt .45 automatic. Part of the Army test required the weapon to be dropped into mud, and then fired. The Lugar is a beautiful pistol but do not get a grain of sand into the receiver track. It failed and the Colt past the test. This was sometime around 1895 as I recall.

The U.S. Army used the Colt .45 in the Philippines, during the campaign with General Fulton, around 1898 as I recall. The people they were fighting would use drugs and tied off their arteries so if they were shot they would continue to fight for some period of time. Those men equipped with 38 revolvers could empty all six shots into such an individual and not stop him. Many Americans died because of this. The Colt .45 would not only stop the enemy but cause them to go backwards several feet from the force of impact. This is according to reports I have read.

By the way, General Fulton showed up in San Francisco, during the 1906 earthquake. When Martial Law was announced – he was put in command. His men are said to have killed more people than the earthquake and fire. Some of the stories are unreal.

By the way when I was in high school I was in the top ten shooters in California, pistol and rifle. When I enlisted in the Air Force after shooting a rifle (an annual requirement) the results were turned in. I shot 299 out of 300. They thought it was a mistake so they had me shoot two more times. I shot 300 out of 300 twice in a row. I was then asked to join the Air Force Rifle Team (my dad was on the Marine Corp Rifle Team). I declined as I was accepted for 7 level school in Air Force Security Service and told them that shooting was fun but school was more important.

Tom