Firearm History: Ever Heard Of The Colt OHWS?

[Ninety9Soulz]

Everyone here knows the HK MK 23. The pistol was submitted by Heckler & Koch for USSOCOM to be adopted for Special Forces. It passed the trial, was adopted, and the rest is history.

But the MK 23 had competition from Colt, who submitted the Colt OHWS(Offensive Handgun Weapon System). The Colt OHWS wasn't selected but was still interesting. It was based on the 1911 design, chambered in .45 ACP and used a FLUSH 10 round magazine. It also featured a threaded barrel and it's own unique LAM. The suppressor would actually attach to the frame rather than the barrel, and the gun operated as a double action. Mind you, this is early 90's Colt.

The pistol now stands as just a prototype. You really have to see the gun for yourself to truly appreciate it.

I find these types of prototypes very unique. No idea whether or not these are even in public circulation, couldn't find anything. Anyway, hope you guys find this as interesting as I did.

 

[Stratman60]

Cool

 

[drewhall]

Awesome! Thanks for sharing.

 

[Waitwhat]

Very interesting. Prototypes are always cool to see.

 

[browning guy]

That is very cooooolll!!

 

[Boonie Hat]

Very cool from an engineering standpoint. It would have been interesting to have seen this develop further

 

[rj1974]

Did some digging on that after I got a MK23 . It is basically a mutated Colt Double Eagle .

 

[mrbule]

As long as that grip is it reminds me of a much older design that it actually is.
Cool to see that they came up with something like that.

 

[Ninety9Soulz]

Did some digging on that after I got a MK23 . It is basically a mutated Colt Double Eagle .

Great find! Wow you can really see all the similarities, you're very right.