I carried the old 1911 also. I had an advantage over most. My uncle had a 1911 that he taught me how to clean and disassemble. I thought it was the biggest gun in the world at the time. It just seemed huge to me as a little kid. First time handling it in the military, the instructor watched me handling it and asked me if I bhad handled one before.
I said Yeah, but it was so much bigger when I was a little kid. I then proceeded to breakin' it down to parade rest in nothing flat. The instructor's eyes bugged out.
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He pensively told me to reassemble it. BAM! It was done! It was funny AF! I had never shot one though. Never shot any thing that big. I thought the kick was going to be horrendous. Naaaaaaa! I was really surprised. I do love the balance of a standard 1911 45.