Joint Combat Pistol (JCP)
Yeah those all sound right. And IIRC HK originally asked Vickers to spec out a 1911 for them to produce. Yeah… an HK1911. That would be sweet.
It would cost 12,000 dollars and you’ll have to fly to Germany to get spare tuned extractors.
something that may help explain the contract- people all over the net are focusing on the 22.5 mil price tag. I went to the Colt defense web site and it clearly uses words such as “up to” and “may”.
in reality the first installment of the contract is for a little over 4 thousand guns. Just enough to probably replace what is broken and keep things going for a few years. sure they may get up to larger amounts later on but this contract means zip for how the majority of forces will utilize a handgun. For every issued 1911 out there there is probably a couple thousand beretta riding holsters all over the world.
One thing that people don’t realize with the HK45 option is the long delay time for replacement parts. My agency runs P2000’s and twenty HK45’s for SWAT. Last spring I decided to pick up some more P2000 recoil assemblies and tritium sights. That was in May. I got the sights last month and am still waiting on the twenty recoil spring assemblies. With the thousands of HK’s in the US inventory, one would think replacement parts wouldn’t take months for back orders. At least the Colt’s the parts would be available much quicker. David
The up to 12000 is a contract vehicle for potential future buys, but there aren’t going to be more than a little over 4000 buys for the Marines.
exactly my point ron
IIRC the HK 1911 was supposed to have an HK designed (i.e. it actually works) internal extractor, CNC machined from an HK forging with integrated plunger housings, and a lot of other nice innovations. They were looking for something to do with their P7 workers, tooling, etc. HK determined either (a) it was an expensive boondoggle or (b) the 1911 design could never be made reliable enough to stamp an HK symbol on the side. After than they regrouped and decided to scale up the USP Compact into the HK45.
Interesting… thanks 
Caspian makes a 1911 frame (cast, but they last forever) with good options such as integral plunger housing, and also with integral (stronger) mag well and picatinny rail. I don’t know who currently makes a slide with really really reliable external extractor (S&W?). But the 1911 has lots of tidbits that make it finicky, and it would be very difficult to make a top grade 1911 that does not require hand fitting of certain parts, and allow true drop in parts without decrease in performance. Plus the small mag capacity, heavy weight, high price, etc., no wonder its time as a mass issued pistol is reaching its end. IMO smart move by HK.
That sounds awesome. Thanks for that info, Greg.
The also use that figure to determine a average price that is significantly lower than what the Marines are paying for the M45A1s. The reality is we are pay around 2400 dollars per gun.
I’ve not heard anything bad about the S&W external extractor. Completely the opposite in fact. JM2CW
That is my understanding, too, although I don’t favor an external extractor in a 1911 (Colt man). Also, I have never owned an S&W 1911 style pistol so I can’t speak from personal experience.
Any info on how the guns are working now? I saw Augee’s post over on TOS and it seems that Colt fixed the frame issues that showed up during testing.