An old-school warfighter for throwback fans on a budget…meet the MAC 1911 MEUSOC
by Paul G Markel
First, you can say all you want about the guns coming in from Turkey, but if it were not for the Turks and their NATO-spec arms manufacturing plants, many of us would just have to dream of owning some fantastic firearms. The MP5 and MP5K clones that are coming in from Turkey are examples of extremely cool guns that we can now afford. The subject of this review, the Military Armament Corporation MEUSOC 1911, is another one.
I consider myself fortunate to have lived and been involved first-hand during several historical eras in firearms history. When I first became a police officer, the DA revolver was still the most commonly issued sidearm. I watched as departments traded .357 Magnum revolvers out for .40 S&W semi-autos. Likewise, when I entered the United States Marines Corps, even though the US Army had already cast their vote for the Beretta M9, the Corps was still issuing the M1911A1 and I carried that gun for the first two years of my service.
What the Heck is a MEUSOC M1911A1?
The simple answer is that MEUSOC stands for Marine Expeditionary Unit (Special Operations Capable) and the MEUSOC pistol is a 1911 .45 ACP, but that just scratches the surface.
The MEUSOC 1911 or MEU(SOC) has the official Marine Corps designation of “M45 MEUSOC.” Colonel Robert Young, USMC, was credited with laying out the specifications for this gun in the mid-1980s. Rather than attempt to reinvent the wheel, the Marine Corps looked to the examples of the masters in the custom 1911 market — men such as Armand Swenson, Ed Brown, and Bill Wilson.
From an official standpoint, records indicate that the M45 MEUSOC was retired in 2022.
A full-sized M1911A1 in .45 ACP with a 5-inch barrel was used as the base model for the MEUSOC. Skilled armorers at Marine Corps Base Quantico meticulously assembled these pistols using the steel frames of the original M1911A1 pistols and a battery of parts from numerous custom 1911 makers such as Wilson Combat, Ed Brown Custom, Kings Gun Works, Nowlin Manufacturing, and Novak as well as slides ordered from Springfield Armory.
During the post-WWII era, the American civilian gunsmithing world had learned that the stock M1911A1 was a good pistol and a fantastic base upon which to build, but it was not perfect. Small improvements made through trial and error, from the 1960s on, resulted in a fighting pistol that was both reliable and accurate. The Marine Corps officially adopted their upgraded MEUSCO M1911A1 pistol in 1985.
Conventional troops who were issued a pistol during the Cold War era might be lucky to qualify with them twice a year. Once a year was more common. Such was not the case for those fortunate enough to be in a Special Operations unit, such as Marine Force Recon and MARSOC, which came later. These operators fired thousands upon thousands of rounds per year in training. Their pistols had to be dependable and accurate.
In contrast to the World War II veteran M1911A1 pistols that filled the conventional Army and Marine Corps armories, the MEUSOC guns were constantly inspected and maintained. As I experienced personally, many of the 1911A1 pistols in the armories of designated training commands quite literally had the rifling shot out of the barrels; however, as long as the guns still fired, no parts were ever changed. The men who were issued MEUSOC pistols kept track of their round count and the guns were completely rebuilt after 10,000 rounds. This process was naturally time consuming as the guns were built and the parts hand-fit by trained armorers.
MAC MEUSOC 1911
Over the years, several companies have produced custom M1911A1 pistols based upon the MEUSOC specifications. These have traditionally been limited production runs, and the price tags were considerable — think $2000-plus. Last year, Military Armament Corporation (MAC) produced and imported a MEUSOC clone built to mimic the original guns but with an MSRP that most anyone can afford.
Regarding specifications, the MAC 1911 MEUSOC is a true single-action M1911A1 pistol with a traditional barrel bushing, recoil spring, guide, and spring plug. The barrel is five inches, and the overall length is 8.8 inches. The sights are described as “enhanced GI style.” The front sight is taller than the original, which you might remember was little more than a bump on the front of the slide. The steel rear sight is taller as well and has a flat front that can be snagged on a belt or whatever for one-handed emergency manipulation. This is an important feature on a gun that is a designated as a “fighting” or “combat” tool. Based upon my forty years of experience, a rear sight that is “snag-free” or sloped has no business on a fighting gun.
The old grip safety, which often caused severe discomfort to the web of the shooter’s hand after more than a few dozen rounds, was replaced by a “beavertail” configuration. To mate with the new grip safety, a rounded “combat” hammer was added. A “three-hole” trigger with serrations replaced the WWII stock version. Cross cut serrations were added to the slide stop and the magazine release button. A big departure from the original was the addition of an enlarged, ambidextrous manual safety.
Down on the frame, you will find the telltale indicator of a serious M1911A1 pistol: wrap-around Pachmayr black rubber grips. In the 1980s, the surest way to know someone was serious about their pistol shooting was the presence of Pachmayr grips. This feature gives the shooter a solid purchase on the pistol in all weather conditions — cold, wet, hot and sweaty, gloves or barehanded.
Interestingly, the original M1911 pistol had a flat mainspring housing that was changed to a rounded version for the “A1.” As time progressed, shooters leaned back toward the flat housing. That part on the MEUSOC is checkered and includes the old-school lanyard loop that the Marines just could not get away from. The MAC MEUSOC pistol comes with two eight-round magazines with extended base pads that keep you from slamming the palm of your support hand into the lanyard loop. I must confess that, more than once, when using the flat base seven-round GI mags, I bruised the palm of my left hand on that demonic feature.
Range Time
Those who are long in the tooth, Generation X and above, will recall that when it came to out-of-the-box 1911 pistols in the ’70s, ’80s, and even the ’90s, you could not just assume that the pistol would feed reliably. The truth is that most stock GI-configuration M1911A1 pistols would not reliably feed anything other than 230-grain FMJ (ball) ammunition. In the old days, if you wanted your stock 1911 to run hollow-points as well as reduce the number of stovepipes, you needed to send the gun off to a master gunsmith and wait a year or so to get it back.
For my range testing of the MAC MEUSOC, I included a variety of ammunition from various makers as well as a variety of projectile designs. Ammo makers included Black Hills, CorBon (old stock) Double Tap, Federal, and Winchester. The bullet designs included the fluid transfer monolithic (Honeybadger from Black Hills), full metal jacket, 100-percent copper hollow-point, lead-core jacketed hollow point, and the Winchester Silvertip hollow-point in case of werewolves.
Before I sat down to pen this review, I took the MEUSOC pistol out on three separate occasions, with my oldest son, Jarrad, shooting it as well as myself. Between us, we likely put 350 to 400 rounds through the gun. I am most pleased to report that no stoppage problems occurred, regardless of the ammunition make or type.
The pistol was as accurate as you could expect. During one range outing, Jarrad and I started a walk-back drill from ten yards using a steel silhouette. We both stayed on target back to 50 yards. Later that evening, a bunch of guys were testing their skill by shooting handguns at a steel silhouette from 100 yards with varied levels of success. I am pleased to relate that I was able to ring the steel with the first shot out of the MEUSOC that evening. It’s always good to let youngsters know that dad can still shoot.
In a world of plastic-framed, striker-fired pistols, all made to be optic ready, with holes carved in the slides so you can see your barrel and compensators to dampen the massive recoil of the 9x19mm, it felt good to spend some time with genuine steel in hand, launching “God’s pistol caliber.” The best news of all is that MAC has their 1911 MEUSOC listed at an MSRP of only $731. Compared to the older custom-built guns, that’s a steal.
