M45 MEUSOC 1911: Full Review

I remember the first time I heard of the now-iconic Marine Expeditionary Unit, Special Operations Capable (MEUSOC) pistol, a Model 1911A1 in .45 Auto. I was an ROTC freshman and my Marine officer instructor — a ramrod-straight major who had just returned from the Gulf War — mentioned the custom pistols carried by Special Operation units on the Marine Expeditionary Units (MEU). The MEU was the Corps’ bid to be the “First to Fight” during the 1980s and ’90s. It consisted of naval amphibious ships afloat, deployed forward to crisis-­prone areas. They were packed full of capabilities. Way down the list of those capabilities was a custom-­built M1911A1 backing up the suppressed HK MP5s of some very hard Marines.

In 1991, I was a broke college student, upgrading my first 1911 one piece at a time as I had money to spend. I was enchanted at the idea that specially trained shooters carried heavily modified Colt 1911s. In an era more closely associated with the Tomahawk cruise missile, the Stealth fighter, and the futuristic M1A1 Abrams tank, the M45 MEUSOC was an anachronism. The U.S. military had largely completed the transition to the M9 pistol, a 9mm Beretta 92FS, including the Marines. Yet, in a small shop in Quantico, Virginia, the Rifle Team Equipment (RTE) section of the Weapons Training Battalion had match armorers converting World War II surplus M1911A1s into custom combat pistols. This unit of armorer became the Precision Weapons Section (PWS).

To get a sense of the finer details involved, I spoke with Kasey Crawford, a “2112,” the military occupational specialty (MOS) number for a “match armorer.” Crawford was involved in building the early MEUSOC .45s. (He is currently a pistolsmith known for making bullseye pistols and MEUSOC clones through KCs Kustom Creations. He indicated that armorers would select the best of available M1911A1 frames, which would then have the frame cut for a beavertail safety and fitted with extended aluminum Videki triggers, King’s extended and ambidextrous thumb safeties, aftermarket sears and Commander hammers. The frame would be matched to a surplus ‘hard’ slide, which were often associated with National Match builds. Then, a Bar-Sto semi drop-­in barrel was fit. A custom-­made rear sight was matched up with a front that was silver-soldered to the slide. The M1911A1 arched mainspring housing was ground down flat and re-­serrated. Finally, Pachmayr grips with wraparound rubber checkering were affixed to the frame.

The pistols served for more than 30 years with four broad generations of configurations, differing in the exact mix of slides, sights and parts, but all variations were on a theme and issued interchangeably. The M45 was carried by several specialized units but were most closely associated with Force Reconnaissance and the early Marine Raiders of MARSOC. A large part of the mystique of the pistols was their status as the sidearms of those very selective units.

The MEUSOC .45 was introduced in 1985 when the “9mm versus .45” debates were a staple in gun magazines. Guns & Ammo’s Lt. Col. Jeff Cooper was a strong advocate for both the Model 1911 platform and the .45 ACP cartridge to be used by serious professionals. The M1911s of that time were a largely custom proposition to get the beavertail grip safety, ambidextrous thumb safeties, custom trigger, and sights featured on the Marine pistols.

I spoke with my friend John A. Dailey about his perceptions of the M45 MEUSOC. Dailey was a veteran of Force Reconnaissance, Marine Corps SOCOM Detachment 1, and MARSOC. He authored the upcoming book, “Tough, Rugged Bastards” (2024). Dailey recalled his anticipation to be issued the sidearm and how lucky the men felt to have them, certain that these pistols conferred distinct advantages to the users. He recalled how Force Recon shooters would go through extensive training with the pistols and then, at a point after qualification, add the early Surefire pistol lights to prevent unnecessary wear on the slide-­stop attachment point. (It was the era before rails on 1911s.)

Marines who were issued the special .45s trained hard and often with them, sometimes firing 500 or more rounds a day, every day, for weeks as they prepared to deploy. In the original service trials for the handgun that would become the “M1911,” the U.S. Army had subjected the Colt and Savage contestants to a 6,000-round torture test with the round count approximating a reasonably expected service life for a military sidearm. The MEU direct-action platoons were nearing those numbers in the training package alone.

I interviewed one of the specialized 2112 gunsmiths who served with the MEU direct-action units around the turn of the 21st century. He remembered the struggle to keep the pistols in perfect working order. After the extensive training regimen, he would go through each pistol and replace springs and high-wear items. He took it as a point of pride that his shooters’ pistols stayed in optimal condition throughout the subsequent deployment.

One of the readily identifiable quirks of the MEUSOC pistols is how each part of the pistol has the last four digits of the serial number prominently hand-­stamped on it. It makes sense when you consider that the armorer could be working on several pistols in various states of troubleshooting and repair, often at a rough ammo table on a range or on the fantail of an amphibious ship as shooters were keeping their skills sharp while underway.

A pistolsmith friend of mine was converting an M1911A1 into a MEUSOC clone for a mutual friend, and he reached out to ask me some technical questions. I had to dig through some old deployment photos to answer them before realizing that I only had photos of one particularly memorable pistol I carried briefly in Afghanistan.

This pistol was an older build, identifiable by the shop-made rear sight and old-school Wilson 66 beavertail. It carried a battle-worn finish that it had earned the hard way, serving one Marine after another in harsh training and operations. Even the wraparound Pachmayr grips’ rubber checkering was worn nearly smooth in places, and you could see where armorers had given the old warhorse multiple rack numbers through the years, each number painted atop the previous. The Colt frame was in the 1 million serial number range, which dated its manufacture to 1943. The frame of the pistol could have seen combat in every war and hotspot since.

A Springfield Armory slide housed the Bar-Sto barrel. The Colt was neither loose nor tight; it was that happy medium which tended to favor reliability for the long term with other builds of that era. The pistol had an unusual two-­piece slide stop, and some of the finish wear suggested that it had carried a light at some point. The trigger broke at what was likely a touch under 5 pounds.

I remember taking the pistol out to the range on a Special Operations Forces (SOF) compound before a mission to get a little practice in and work through some nerves. The pistol piled 230-grain GI hardball into a neat hole at 7 yards, and still a close group at 15. I recall the pistol printing higher than I expected or preferred, about 3 inches above the sight picture at 15 yards.

The pistols were issued with a stack of the Wilson 47 seven-­round magazines. Even as eight-­round magazines became common in the civilian market, the Corps stood by Wilson’s seven-­round mags. Occasionally, Marines would supplement or substitute the official mags with eight or 10 rounders of their own, though.

For most of the service run, the .45s were carried in Safariland drop holsters in the 3004/6004 family. In the earliest years before Safariland made a holster to accommodate pistol lights, the M45s with the Surefire 610 were carried in a unique Ted Blocker leather drop holster. In the last few years of its service life, as drop holsters became less popular, many of the Raiders carried the pistol in an open-top Safariland paddle holster, the Model 560 custom fit, sometimes adapting small shock cord or boot blousing bands as field-expedient retention straps until near the objective.

Military small arms often have a raft of official nomenclature, nicknames, and slang, which may vary by time frame, unit, and so on. The M45 MEUSOC was no different. Depending on the time and context, I heard it referred to as the “M45,” the “CQBP” for “Close Quarters Battle Pistol,” and as the “.45” or “1911,” and more.

The Marine Corps is (in)famous for being conservative in its reluctance to abandon proven systems. The Marines fought through the early battles of World War II, for example, with the beloved Model 1903 Springfield before embracing the M1 Garand. The Corps trailed the Army by years before fully embracing an optic-equipped M4 over the carry handle M16A2. By the end of the M45’s run in 2012, it was the last .45-caliber 1911 standing in the U.S. arsenal. Even as the Corps was adopting the Colt M45A1 as a commercial off-the-shelf solution to replace the aging M45, the younger operators within the Raider battalions were clamoring for the wholesale adoption of the Glock 19 that some had been carrying in certain roles. It was fascinating to see that shift occur during a few short years. 

For most of its run, the shooters genuinely felt that the MEUSOC pistols were an advantage. The pistols facilitated hitting, and the big-bore cartridges were thought to have more effect in the urgent confines of CQB. There was also years’ worth of mystique and tradition. However, as the pistols aged, they became less reliable. Parts support was iffy toward the end, and there were never quite enough armorers to correctly maintain the pistols. In a surprisingly short span, the legendary pistols were seen as too heavy, holding too few rounds, and being less reliable than other options.

Now that the pistols are almost a decade from active use, the men who carried them look back much more fondly. Many of the unit-­level leaders in the Marine Raiders today came through the lengthy training pipeline as the M45 was nearing the end of service. It was a rite of passage of no small stress to qualify during the direct-­action phase of training. In every class, there were Marines who, after weeks of learning to shoot the pistols to high standards, didn’t quite get all the necessary hits within the required times. This would either send them back to their previous unit or, in cases where the student showed unusual potential, to the next course months behind them. Mastering the big .45 mattered, and while Marines may not pine for the M45’s return, there are strong memories tied to it.

There comes a point in the hero’s journey when he is given a special weapon, often one made by mystical artisans. The weapon often requires great skill to wield or gives the hero a unique advantage. For a period of time, for the Marines who carried it, this was a perfect description of the MEUSOC .45

M45 MEU(SOC) Gen 1

• Type: Recoil operated, semiautomatic
• Cartridge: .45 ACP
• Capacity: 7+1 rds.
• Barrel: 5 in., Bar-Sto Drop-In
• Overall Length: 8.5 in.
• Width: 1.2 in.
• Height: 5.5 in.
• Weight: 2 lb., 4 oz.
• Finish: Parkerized (steel)
• Sights: Millet, silver-soldered (front); RTE/PWS (rear)
• Trigger pull: Videki; 4 lbs., 8 oz. (tested)
• Safety: King’s thumb lever; Wilson 66 grip safety lever (Repro)
• Manufacturer: KCs Kustom Creations, 843-267-3773, kcskustomcreations.com

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