Double Barrel 1911 Close-up

In normal circumstances, shooting 20 rounds from a 1911 in less than 1.5 seconds—on target, no less—is absurd. Even when you throw in a second 1911, it’s still a tall order for speed shooter Jerry Miculek. He may be a wizard on the firing line, but there’s only so much he can do to challenge the laws of physics.

So in comes the double-barreled 1911 from Arsenal Firearms. Introduced roughly 100 years after the original, this “Second Century” 1911 from the Italian gun maker offers shooters twice the firepower and twice the fun. After all, who needs four arms when you can just make your guns shoot more bullets?

“The experience is quite different,” Jerry said in his summary of the pistol. “I do have to say, there’s a lot of horsepower. You’re shooting two .45 ACP 230[grain] round ball ammunition at one time, at one trigger pull. So you’re getting 460 grains of lead downrange. So the thump that you feel is close to a .500 magnum, maybe a little bit less.”