M1911

The M1911, also known as the Colt .45, is a handgun featured in all installments of the Call of Duty series, excluding Call of Duty: Finest Hour and Call of Duty: World at War: Final Fronts.

Singleplayer
The M1911 is the standard sidearm during all American campaign missions. It is a very powerful weapon in close quarters, but its effectiveness over range is limited.

Multiplayer
The M1911 is the sidearm used by the American infantry. It has a seven-round magazine, relatively low accuracy and does average damage. It is most useful when the player does not have time to reload their primary weapon, or if their primary weapon is a bolt action and they need to engage close enemies.

Singleplayer
Again, it is the standard sidearm during all American campaign missions. It is more powerful than the version in the original Call of Duty, doing almost 50% more damage at close range and double the damage at long range.

Multiplayer
The M1911 in Call of Duty 2 multiplayer is much weaker than in the original Call of Duty. It is still a decent pistol of last resort, particularly if the player's primary weapon is out of ammo, or if the enemy is very close, but its effectiveness is severely limited over range.

Call of Duty 2: Big Red One
The M1911 is the standard sidearm for the American soldiers in multiplayer levels. It is handy for when the player is reloading or for when the player is out of ammo for their primary weapon.

When the player gets eight points in a match, they get the ability to use two M1911 pistols at once (called Akimbo) in the Sub-Machine Gun class, but with very limited ammunition. Once the player gets sixteen points, they get more ammunition. The dual M1911s are very effective when enemies are close; they can take out three to four enemies easily. Despite its advantages, the M1911 isn't used often by on-line players, as normal guns simply overpower its accuracy, damage and rate of fire.

Call of Duty 3
Sidearm of the Allies only in Multiplayer mode. It has medium power (capable of killing within 3-4 shots) and has a magazine capacity of 7, but has a faster reload than the Walther P38, which compensates for its smaller magazine capacity.

Singleplayer
The M1911 featured is a variant similar to the many modern custom and semi-custom M1911 models. The in-game M1911 possesses night sights, and an 8 round magazine. It is a starting sidearm in Hunted, Shock and Awe, The Sins of the Father, and Game Over, but also appears in War Pig, in which Marines sometimes draw it when their primary weapon runs empty while under fire. It can very rarely be found in The Bog. In the level Game Over, Ssgt. Griggs is seen using a nickel M1911 while dragging "Soap" to safety. The nickel M1911 can also be seen in the armory in the level F.N.G. The nickel plating led many to think that it was a Desert Eagle. The M1911 plays an important role in Game Over, when Captain Price slides his M1911 across the bridge to Soap, who then proceeds to kill Zakhaev and his guards with the pistol.

Multiplayer
In multiplayer, the M1911 has stats that are similar to the USP .45, except that it has a lower magazine capacity (8 in the M1911 vs. 12 in the USP .45), less muzzle climb, and a higher hip-fire accuracy, leading to a pistol that has a very different "feel" and playing style than the USP .45. Like the M9 and USP .45, it can be fitted with a Suppressor.

Singleplayer
The M1911 appears in some of Marine Raiders missions as the player's standard sidearm. The M1911 is a good weapon to quickly draw if the player's main weapon runs out of ammo, however it is often considered best to swap the pistol out for other weapons. Also, ammo for the M1911 is not readily available which is another reason to swap it out. However it is useful in close combat, but the player should remember that it's not a strong weapon and takes quite a few shots to take an enemy down. The player receives the M1911 in the missions Little Resistance, Hard Landing and Breaking Point.

Multiplayer
As with all pistols, the M1911 is better used as a last resort weapon. It is the default Second Chance pistol. Like all other non-Magnum pistols, the M1911 holds 8 rounds, opposed to the actual World War II M1911s, which held 7 rounds. The M1911 could hold 8 rounds if one was already placed in the chamber. If this was true, when the player reloaded, they would only have 7 rounds, because they did not place one in the chamber. The base damage and multipliers of the M1911 are exactly the same as the Nambu, Tokarev, and Walther and only differs from them in minor characteristics, such as reload times, rate of fire, and accuracy of the iron sights. Choosing a pistol in WaW is purely a matter of personal preference, and no one can definitively declare one pistol better than another. Do not discount this model simply because it is the default pistol.

Nazi Zombies
In Nazi Zombies, players always start with the M1911. It's a decent weapon for the early rounds, but even then often requires an entire magazine to kill a zombie. The best strategy for using the M1911 is to alternate between shooting zombies and knifing them. Shoot a zombie several times to weaken it and to get 10 points per bullet, then knife them to kill them to get 130 points on top of that. This will yield far more points than either knifing or shooting alone, and will whittle down a Zombie's health from a safe distance so that the player can then kill them with one knife hit, as opposed to the three or more it would otherwise require. If a player follows this strategy, they will not need to spend points on the weapons on the walls in the starting room, and can instead save their points for a better gun in another room, or even straight from the mystery box. Even then, the M1911 can still be useful as a backup weapon, or taken out whenever Insta-Kill is in effect, so that a player won't need to use up the ammo of their primary gun, because during Insta-Kill, every gun (including the M1911), knife, explosive, etc. becomes a lethal one hit killer. Generally speaking though, pretty much any gun is a better choice to have during rounds 5+.

In Der Riese, the M1911 can be upgraded with the Pack-a-Punch Machine to the "C-3000 b1at-ch35". It translates to "See 3000 biatches" in 1337 (leet) talk (as in Elite talk). The C-3000 shoots grenades instead of regular rounds, and has minor splash damage. It is a less powerful form of the Holy Pistol.

The "Holy Pistol"
In the PC version, the Holy Pistol can be used in every level including the Nazi Zombies game mode. The Holy Pistol is an average M1911, except it fires grenades and provides shorter range than a pistol. The animation while sprinting is different than that of the regular M1911 as well, as if holding it down like a rifle.

Call of Duty: World at War (Nintendo DS)
The DS version of the M1911 is pretty much the same as the console versions, with the same accuracy, power, and recoil. The pistol somehow looks more like the one in Call of Duty 2 with a similar looking grip safety, the DS version also holds 7 rounds unlike the console and PC version that hold 8.

Also, it can fire as quickly as the player can pull the trigger button, and there are two on the DS. The player can rapidly push both, gaining a rate of fire higher than any automatic weapons in the game, however this tactic make aiming impossible and will burn in less than a second its magazine.

Multiplayer
In Multiplayer the M1911 is the standard sidearm for the American faction. Like in singleplayer it holds 7 rounds in the magazine which, coupled with decent damage and moderate recoil made an overall good sidearm.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
"This belongs to you, sir."

Singleplayer
The M1911 that Soap has in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 is the same one Captain Price gave to him during the mission "Game Over" in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare. In the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 mission "The Gulag" Soap gives it back to Captain Price saying "This belongs to you, sir." In Just Like Old Times, it is visible on Price.

The M1911 can be seen in the holsters of people from the various factions in-game. However, it can only be used in the bonus level, Museum, from the case in the first room (with Shepherd, "Cliffhanger"/"Contingency", and the "Takedown"/"The Hornet's Nest" showcases, etc..), although it can be seen being wielded in "Loose Ends". The M1911 has a delay for an empty reload that is not present in the other handguns.

Multiplayer
In Multiplayer, a player using a sniper rifle as their primary weapon will have an unusable M1911 handgun in a holster on either their belt or side.

Call of Duty: Black Ops
An M1911 with "Sally" engraved on it is seen at the end of both the two trailers, and promotional pictures for Call of Duty: Black Ops. There is a total of eight tally marks along its slide; it is thought that the said marks may be "kill marks". The M1911's iron sights have also been upgraded.

Multiplayer
The M1911 is a selectable secondary weapon in Black Ops. It also has the ability to accept the Dual Wield attachment, similarly to the other Pistols in Black Ops. This weapon will also be used in the One in the Chamber mode along with the Makarov pistol.

Attachments

 * Extended Magazines
 * Suppressor
 * Dual Wield
 * Upgraded Iron Sights

General

 * This is the first pistol to appear in the Call of Duty series.
 * The M1911 is the weapon with the most appearances in Call of Duty games, appearing in all except Finest Hour and WaW Final Fronts. A close follower is the STG-44, which doesn't appear in Modern Warfare 2, Finest Hour, and Black Ops.

Call of Duty

 * In Call of Duty, while aiming down the sights, it is not possible to see the front sight. The same is true with the TT-33.

Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare

 * In Call of Duty 4, Lt. Vasquez can be seen using this pistol when he runs out of ammo or executing an enemy after performing a hand-to-hand combat take-down.
 * If the "give all" cheat is used in "Safehouse", an M1911 with much greater sight zoom than normal can be obtained.
 * When Sgt. Griggs pulls MacTavish over in "Game Over", after the tanker explodes, his nickel plated M1911 has 8 rounds instead of 7, much like the M1911 in World at War.
 * In Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare and Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2, the USP .45 and the M1911 have the same firing and reloading sound, along with the M93 Raffica in Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2. The USP.45, the M9 and M1911 also have the same animations.
 * In Call of Duty 4, the three named Four Horsemen were killed by an M1911. Khaled Al-Asad is executed by Captain Price wielding an M1911, Victor Zakhaev kills himself with an M1911, and John "Soap" MacTavish kills Imran Zakhaev with the M1911 Price slides to him.
 * During the Call of Duty 4 beta, the gun was called "M1911 Colt .45" and "M1911 .45".

Call of Duty: World at War

 * In World at War, the magazine capacity is 8 rounds, rather than the usual 7 in other games it appears in.
 * In Call of Duty: World at War on the DS, this weapon has a slightly longer reload animation and slower rate of fire, as well as one less in bullet capacity when compared to other weapons.
 * The M1911 doesn't appear in Final Fronts, as stated above.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2

 * In Modern Warfare 2, there is a noticeable delay during the empty reload sequence, this can be counter-acted by pressing the reload button before the auto-reload.
 * When the M1911 is out of ammo in the Modern Warfare 2 mission "Museum", it is possible to see that the magazine is already gone.
 * In Modern Warfare 2, when the player sprints with the M1911 the pistol is not present on the screen. This is the only firearm in the game to do this.
 * On the Modern Warfare 2 level "Museum", the only level in the game that allows the player to use the M1911; it is not treated like the rest of the sidearms in that the player-character's movement is slower while aiming down the sights, which is similar to movement when ADS in Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare.

Videos
Video: M1911 MontageAn overview of the World at War M1911