Ward Clark, at Red State, reminds us that today is not only about sending roses to wives and girlfriends.

On February 14th, 1911 — 114 years ago — the United States Patent Office officially published patent US984519A, titled “Mechanisms or systems operated by propellant charge energy for automatically opening the lock recoil-operated the barrel being tilted during recoil.” That patent was issued in the name of the DaVinci of firearms, John Moses Browning, and the mechanism in question was the recoil-operation mechanism for what may be the finest martial sidearm ever invented: the Colt-Browning 1911. …

It’s interesting to compare and contrast the 1911 pistol to another sidearm that entered service three years earlier: the P-08 Luger. I have one of those, too, made in Oberndorf by the famous Mauser-Werke in 1934, still carrying the original Nazi proof marks. Whatever you think of the people who carried them, the Luger nevertheless remains one of the most graceful and, yes, beautiful military sidearms ever made. It has lovely lines, the grip shape and angle are near-perfect, and if you bring the arm up in one hand and extend your arm, you find your eye drawn naturally to the sights.

But, oh, those sights! The front blade sight is fine, but the rear sight may as well not be there on the issue P-08; it’s barely a notch cut in the pivot of the gun’s toggle. The placement of the rear sight on the toggle means that the front and rear sight are on different parts of the gun, one of which moves with every shot. Worst of all, judging by my example, the Luger just isn’t very reliable. My copy and other ones I have handled and fired have a penchant for stovepipe jams; mine does it at least once with every magazine, and it’s not like the piece was cobbled together from parts. Like a lot of late 19th-century designs, the Luger is made up of many screwy little parts, those parts are all numbered, and all the numbers match.

The 1911, though, can take a licking and keep on ticking. It’s not graceful like the Luger; instead, it’s solid, slab-sided, robust, and tough. It’s a remarkable design, as are most of the Maestro’s efforts, and the fact that it remains in wide use today after 114 years speaks volumes. Almost every gun company operating today makes a version of the 1911. It’s a remarkable design from a remarkable designer, one that won’t be matched any time soon.