Overview of a Philippine-made small rifle based on the 1911.

by RK Campbell

I have written a number of books on the 1911 and it is by far my favorite handgun. I know how to use and maintain a 1911 and any problem I run across is like an old friend in a new dress. On the other hand, I sometimes wonder why makers cannot seem to get the 1911 right after over a century!

I have a number of proven firearms I bet my life on. There are also quite a few that are just fun guns that do not require a task to fulfill. The Iver Johnson 1911A1 Carbine is one of the latter. However, coming across a 1911 that wasn’t a handgun piqued my interest.

There are plenty of precedents in history for shoulder-stocked handguns. The type seemed ideal for mounted troops to dismount and fight with. Sure, it wasn’t a rifle but it was better than trying to fight a fast moving battle with a long gun on horseback or hoping a stored rifle was still in the scabbard. Stocked revolvers for cavalry later morphed into stocked self loading pistols.

It’s important to point out the problems with legal issues this has posed since the 1934 National Firearms Act was enacted. Due to this, you cannot simply mount a stock on a pistol, although there have been attempts at non-fixed braces. Generally speaking, you cannot legally shoulder stock a pistol. For the most part we should have a pistol in a holster and a rifle in a sling, but then this Iver Johnson is a fun gun. As for stocks, hinged types and slots and connectors were used. A shoulder stocked pistol with a long barrel, however, becomes a carbine, kind of like the Taurus Circuit Judge. Just the same, the Judge is more permanent being a long barrel revolver.

For this reason, do not change the configuration of the Iver Johnson 1911A1 Carbine. It comes dismounted with the stock on one side of the shipping box, so that seems all right, but once the carbine was put together in the shop and I filled the papers out I have not dismounted it.

So what we have is a…

Read more in the August 2021 issue.

Don’t miss a single issue. Subscribe now or renew your subscription.

For non-subscribers wanting free access, submit one free article to use on our site and we’ll send you a complete digital copy of any issue of your choice (April 2006 to current).