The leaves are changing color and the days are getting shorter, which means only one thing – the gun industry is teasing products it will release next year.
One of the most recent goodies to come out of Morgan, Utah is certain to stir the pot. Browning is set to expand its Black Label brand with the addition of a 1911 .380 ACP.
Shooters looking for a smaller option in the iconic pistol might have reason to rejoice with the new handgun. On the flip side, 1911 purest are certain to grumble at the audacity of chambering the pistol in anything but .45 ACP.
Of course, the company’s new endeavor is quintessentially John M. Browning, given the prolific designer engineered both the 1911 pistol and .380 cartridge.
Browning putting together smaller-caliber 1911s is nothing new. The company released a .22 version to kick off 2011 that has proven widely popular.
The new 1911 .380 has the same proportions as the rimfire version, which Browning puts at 85 percent the size of a full-sized 1911. The handgun measures in at 7.5 inches in length, it has 4.25-inch barrel, it weighs in at 17.5 ounces and it has a 7-round capacity.
The pistol’s frame is made of aluminum-reinforced polymer and boasts an ambidextrous thumb safety. The initial MSRP on the new 1911 is $670.
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Bravo Browning! AKA LLAMA and ERMA. They both made a reduced version that sold well. I haven’t held an Erma version, but I own 2 Llama 380’s. My friend I worked with first showed me his in 1979. It was and still is a great gun. An actual locked breach 380. My son bought one of the first 22 caliber Brownings when they came out. I bought one of the Browning Commander size 22’s for my wife and had it customized with fiber optic sights, Ceracoted (pink) and engraved. It is EXACTLY what she wanted. I can now get her a centerfire version. AND I LOVE PLASTIC! It’s all about the weight to me. Plastic is less expensive, softer shooting, lighter and never rusts. Finally a plastic 1911 in 380! All we need now is a 32 (and dare I hope) a 25? Yes, go ahead and laugh, priced a Browning 25 lately? Both 32 and 25 calibers are accurate and Browning invented them all. My “Sunday go to meeting” used to be an engraved 25 ACP Llama that was a 1911 look alike that was 32/380 sized. It was fun and easy to shoot, never jammed and accurate. I even reloaded for it, yes you can reload a 25 and it was cheap to shoot.
I have to agree with the previous post. I almost could withstand the downfalls of oversize and the accompanying weight disadvantage, and then the “….reinforced polymer frame…” totally turned me off.
There was only one aspect of the design that could have rescued the gun in my eyes and that would have been the ability to accommodate +P ammo on a regular basis.
I just wouldn’t trust the thing with such a large percentage of it’s make up being plastic. Ech!
Oh brother, another junk plasticky pistol. I whish they still made the original 1910 .380, now that was a quality all steel gun, not a piece of plastic junk.