Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns Who prefers the .45ACP and why?

The 45 ACP goes bang and that's about the extent it. Generally defensive guns in the 45 ACP are bulkier and carry less rounds. As a cartridge it's slow, takes a $hit on barriers and ricochets off funny stuff the 9 and the 40 doesn't. Velocity gives you capability, whether a manufacture utilizes it in construction is another matter. The only other bigger joke as a defensive cartridge would be the 45 GAP (excluding 380s and below). As a hunting cartridge I think when you load the 45 ACP to 45 Super "levels" it's a decent hunting cartridge for an auto pistol.
The 45 ACP isn't going anywhere, it's one of the most popular auto handgun cartridges. I don't shoot any of mine much but I would like a Shield in it.

There are things a guy can do to make the 45 ACP more effective though. Here are a few:

1) Put a What Would JeffCooper Do (WWJD) bumper sticker on your vehicle.
2) Put a DVC sticker under that.
3) Open Carry ( your 1911 duh) in a thick leather pancake holster.
4) Tell people you are carrying your 1911 in condition 3 and be sure to tell them you don't "give a $hit".
5) Nod at and fantasize about how women in line at 7/11 think you are protecting them, then post it on an open carry forum.
6) Flip your belt buckle down and use it as a dinner plate at Luby's.

That last one I am not sure there is causality but there is some sort of correlation.

Have you ever seen the results on bodies of a 45 Gap?

I'm certain those that I have seen would disagree with you thinking it was a joke. Our troopers carried it for a while and most of the guys really liked it, but wanted more capacity so went to the G21, now they carry a Sig P227

I consider the .45 ACP to be in most ways THE benchmark cartridge for a combat handgun. But 9mm's terminal performance is very close to the .45 ACP, enough so that on living humans, it doesn't seem to make much of a meaningful difference...and that could be said for all medium power combat handgun cartridges. So since the terminal performance is adequate, now it's time to look at other things such as the gun. 9mm's tend to be more compact, and thinner, with better ergonomics. And of course there's the magazine capacity, which is typically twice that of a .45 ACP. And while the .45 may have a slight edge in terminal performance, it's nowhere near twice as effective as a 9mm, so having twice the capacity wins over a very slight edge in terminal performance.

Same can be said for the other common handgun cartridges. 9mm will do what they all do, but can do it with more rounds in the magazine. Recoil is lighter with 9mm (not that I find a .45 ACP's recoil objectionable in the least), and finally ammunition cost is lower so you can shoot more.

But honestly where I live, I don't find a hi-cap magazine a must, so my personal needs can be satisfied with an 8 round magazine. The LW Commander is thin, light, accurate, easy to shoot well, and very reliable; well, that meets my needs just fine.

My S&W M1911PD LW Commander...Will remain my carry gun until my daughter takes it away in December.

I don't dispute that GAPs ballistics at all and again I would rather have a 45 ACP than a GAP.

Are you being sarcastic and I'm just missing it? Or are you really that dense?

Don't let it strike a nerve, I own 1911s and 45s too.

9mm is not a .45 ACP, but the difference between the two on living human flesh is a very small difference. In most categories the .45 ACP has the edge in terminal performance, but it's not a big edge. In most guns the difference in capacity is right around double in favor of the 9mm. To my mind, to justify the .45 ACP on terminal performance, then you should be able to make the case that the .45 ACP is twice as effective as the 9mm, and you just can't make such a case. Again, this is for self defense against humans.

Most of the "edge" is psychological, and for some that can mean a lot. Confidence is a very nice thing to have going into a fight.

Visually the difference between the two cartridges is very striking, and there are a LOT of people who have a real problem overcoming that. It is hard to believe that a cartridge that appears to be about 1/2 the size will actually produce a fairly similar wound. And there is a difference in the diameter of fully expanded bullets, and on paper it's a BIG difference. And many have a hard time believing that such a large difference actually doesn't really get you much on living, breathing, humans. 9mm's often expand to just over .50, and .45's often expand to around .70-ish. That's a pretty significant difference on paper. On living tissue, we've learned that the .50 seems to be perfectly adequate and a 50% larger hole doesn't equate to 50% "better" stopping power. But there are many who just refuse to believe that what logically works out with math, doesn't correlate to what it should be when you throw in living humans.

And I'll admit, I'm one of those who struggled with that for a long time. For a few years I carried a .45 ACP because I thought I "needed" the .45. Then I went up to a S&W 1076 in 10mm because I thought I "needed" the additional power.

When I became a medic and started treating actual shooting victims, that's when my ideas on what is "needed" actually changed.

New York state is a schit hole.

How's that?




Dave

As long as mental giants like these two are buying guns, .45s will still be in demand.

nice gun, CT laser grips!

do I understand you correctly I mean in that what your trying to say is that you can spend $1800 on a nice 1911, buy $20/50 practice ammo and you don't have twice what a less than 1/3 the price G19 and $13.00 practice ammo will get you? I mean do I understand what your saying or did I miss your point.

I agree with your statements here.

PS I have the same Commander. I don't think of myself as having it, since I have it for sale on consignment at the local gun shop.

Although it has been said that the .45 doesn't have a home in competition anymore, holds too few rounds in 1911 trim, is too fat in double stack trim, ammo is too expensive, it is too slow, and the 9 is 'just as good', I still like it.

I suppose the biggest part of it is I find it more enjoyable to shoot at the range. That being said, I do own more 9's than .45's and I own no .40's (save a 10mm).

Man,
Wish I knew that before I bought 3 guns this month. Would have been easier to just buy my daughter her own rather than parting with mine. Or give her mine, and replace it with yours.

I finally bought my first .40, but it was with the intention of converting it to 9mm, and making it a multi-caliber handgun (9mm, .357 Sig, .40).

I'm not a .40 fan. The cartridge is fine, but when you put it in a 9mm sized handgun, they tend to recoil more than a .45 ACP...so if that's going to be the case, then I'd rather just have the .45 ACP.

actually kevin, i have two glocks set up just as you describe with multiple barrels. I shoot it, but have never been fond of the .40 for some reason. having said that i like the 10mm, the 38wcf 41mag, 41special, so go figure.

I dam'd near spit my chew across the room.

If I carry a 45,9,40 or 10mm, I don't care. But one thing I like about the 45acp the most is the recoil pulse (Glock).

I worked in a federal prison for 17 years. I cannot begin to tell you the number of convicts walking around with 9mm scars. One I remembered appeared to have had a full magazine emptied into his torso.

I saw so many 9mm scars on convicts that when I purchased my own handguns I purchased a .45 ACP. I saw on convict with a .38 Special slug still lodged in his neck. He walked around really [bleep] up. I bought a 38 snubbie too.

The only .45 scar I saw was a convict with a very wide and long scar from the shoulder to his forearm. When he was a teenager he was stealing an "old timer's" wheels and the "old timer" shot him with a 45 Colt. Nasty scar.

That's all I had to see.

Dan