"Excuse me... Is your Glock louder than my 1911?"

I was at the range the other day & I noticed something peculiar... Is my buddy's 9mm Glock louder than my .45 caliber S&W 1911DK?

So when I got home that evening, I researched on the web to see if my ears weren't deceiving me. True enough, I found a short article on www.m1911.org about this phenomenon... (BTW, this website is full of nifty things on the 1911 handgun. Check it out.)

"So you want to know which cartridge makes the louder bang? Some technicalities are in order first. Sound is measured in decibels (db), much like temperature is measured in degrees and speed in miles (or kilometers) per hour. Like most other units, the bottom of the scale or 0 db, is an arbitrary setting, which by convention is set to be the level of the sound that we can barely (sic) hear, or our hearing threshold, as it is normally known. ...Although loudness is subjective, most people perceive one sound to be twice as loud as another, when there is a 10-fold increase in energy, or a difference of about 10 db. ...Also, it is interesting to note that most people cannot discern any difference in perceived loudness of less than 3 db. That means that the energy in the sound has to double, before someone can notice any difference."
 
The following is a Table of Loudness from the same article...

So what can we learn from this table?

1.) That the sound that most guns make go beyond the threshold of pain. (As if we don't know that!)

2.) That, surprisingly, the noise that a chainsaw makes is below the threshold of pain.

3.) That a 12 gauge shotgun is louder than a 20 gauge shotgun. (Who cares? I do!)

4.) That the .44 Magnum is one hell of a  noisy gun!

5.) That a quiet street at 40dB is not so quiet after all... shhhh...

6.) That damn 9mm Glock was really louder than my 1911!!!





Back to HOMEPAGE

Our 1911 Grips on YouTube

A few months ago, we posted videos of our work on YouTube. So far, we've had encouraging results. Our first video posted about 3 months ago got 3,600+ views to date... that's more than a 1,200 hits a month! Visit our YouTube channel...
http://www.youtube.com/user/customkillergrips

If you want to order custom 1911 grips, or if you have ideas for grips, send us an email. We'd love to hear from you!

Back to HOMEPAGE

A Brief History of the Iconic 1911 Handgun

Have you ever wondered why the M1911 was chosen as the standard-issue sidearm of the U.S. armed forces from 1911 to 1985? Here is an excerpt from www.m1911.org...

"The Colt Model 1911 was the product of a very capable person, namely John Moses Browning, father of several modern firearms. The pistol was designed to comply with the requirements of the U.S. Army, which, during its campaign against the Moros in Philippines, had seen its trusty .38 revolver to be incapable of stopping attackers. An Ordnance Board headed by Col. John T. Thompson (inventor of the Thompson sub-machine-gun) and Col. Louis A. La Garde, had reached the conclusion that the army needed a .45" caliber cartridge, to provide adequate stopping power. In the mean time, J. Browning who was working for Colt, had already designed an an autoloader pistol, around a cartridge similar to contemporary .38 Super (dimension-wise). When the Army announced its interest in a new handgun, Browning re-engineered this handgun to accommodate a .45" diameter cartridge of his own design (with a 230 gr. FMJ bullet), and submitted the pistol to the Army for evaluation"

So it was the 1911's stopping power that sealed the deal. But why did the U.S. armed forces replace it in 1985 with the 9mm Beretta M9? Was it for the improved control? ...or higher ammo capacity? ...or the more advanced safety features? It's ironic that there are military and law enforcement organizations today that went back to use the .45 caliber M1911A1 handguns including the Marine Force Recon, L.A.P.D. SWAT/SIS, the FBI Hostage Rescue, FBI regional SWAT teams, and 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment (or Delta Force) to name a few...

Did I mention that I love this gun?


We are now available on amazon.
Back to 1911 Custom Killer Grips.




.

.

Custom 1911 Grips

We are makers of premium custom 1911 grips. We specialize in exotic hardwood like, cocobolo, coralwood, tigerstripe maple, afzelia burl, kingwood... to name a few. We also customize grips... we make what you want! We can woodburn or paint any design you can think of. Send us an image for a quote.

A few months ago, we started to sell rattlesnake grips... and some original creations like the sea snake skin & gator grips! Our stocks are limited, so hurry while they're still available!

Back to HOMEPAGE

Welcome to our Blog!

Hello fellow 1911 aficionados!  For some time now, I have been contemplating on starting my own blog about my greatest love (second only to my wife, of course)... the 1911 handgun! It's been a long love affair that started with my dad's army-issued Colt! We'd love to hear from you. Leave a comment below about your fond experience with the 1911.


Back to HOMEPAGE

.