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

For bullseye competition, plinking and small game hunting, I like the .38 Special and .45 ACP rounds. As a reloader, for those uses, I use lead bullets and small charges of fast-burning handgun powders for 20,000 PSI pressures or lower. I don't need high velocities for those uses, and the relatively low pressures mean that my brass lasts and lasts. The taper crimp that .45 ACP loads require means that my .45 ACP brass outlasts my .38 Special brass, partly offsetting the higher cost of .45 lead bullets. It's a small thing, but every little bit of savings helps. As a retiree on a fixed income, low costs make my recreational handgun shooting possible.

Jam, come off safe accidentally, be harder to conceal but other than that, not much else...

Just kidding. Well kinda kidding, I think my 1911 is about sorted out but I still prefer my M&P 45 to it and am also thinking of a Shield in 45.

I like both the 9MM and 45ACP with both loaded right, they both work. No need to choose one over the other, you should have both.

I love the 45 ACP. Nothing feels more natural in my hand. I own and shoot a bunch of double and single-stack 9mms, and a couple of 40s, but a 45 1911 is my favorite platform.



Why?
1) I have a What Would JeffCooper Do (WWJD) bumper sticker on my vehicle.
2) I have a DVC sticker under that.
3) I like to open carry (my 1911 duh) in a thick leather pancake holster.
4) I tell people i am carrying my 1911 in condition 3 and I don't "give a $hit".
5) I nod at women in line at 7/11. They think I am protecting them ( I posted about it here).
6) I'm not from Texas, but I have some big belt buckles.

Piss you off because it won't run 100%.

hahahahaahaha! You and TWR are two realists, neither one of you is going to last long on the interewebs.

I can't say that I prefer it overall. But I would prefer not to be without it.

There are a few legitimate reasons to at least keep a .45 around. One of those is the same reason I still have and use revolvers. Options are good to have in case gun laws go sideways or ammo availability is otherwise limited.

There was an admittedly short time here not too long ago that it was impossible to find any auto pistol ammo in hollwpoint. For an even longer time, the only HP I could find on the shelves was of questionable quality. During that time, I carried a .45 almost exclusively. Even now, I often find the factory 9mm HP selection somewhat spotty at times.

Then there is the fact that the expansion required for 9mm performance to be an equal to .45 - although more reliable than ever today - cannot be guaranteed.

Lately, I carry a 9mm most of the time - for reasons having nothing to do with the caliber itself. It's more about the platform, and my current physical limitation.

First time I saw Saving Private Ryan, that scene fooled me...for about 2 seconds.

Great scene none the less.

LMAO #5 I swear is repeated on a half dozen sites weekly. I don't doubt you I just don't recall reading your post! Good laugh.

When we got the battalion scores back from training, before being sent to Vietnam, only 2 men qualified expert: the XO, with a custom smith-ed 1911 and me, with a lucky draw from the armorer.

The 1911 is the single most comfortable and easy-to-shoot-well handgun I've ever fired. Perhaps my deepest regret, pertaining to firearms I let get away from me during desperate times, was a pre-Series 70 National Match that had been further improved by Pachmyr.

9mm "Europellet" vs .45 "Slug" ------Hmmmmmm


They both have their merits.


Be confident in what you carry.


...and drink good beer.

I've always enjoyed mine.

Because I like shooting my 1911 and my Blackhawk.

Jimmyp, Maybe I'm a little too simple, but it seems that the bigger the wound channel - the higher the probability of hitting something vital!!! memtb

Yep. Bodies aren't homogeneous gelatin. That larger expanded bullet is more likely to catch something vital, and cut more blood vessels.

That said, as a practical matter, the 9 makes sense in many cases, and as results have shown, modern ammo makes it effective.

Shot a lot of bullets at steel plates. The .45acp was always superior at knocking them off the pillars. I figured, based on that alone, transferring mass to the target had to equate to something beneficial, everything else being equal.

Man is not a game animal. If they know they've been hit, I really believe you stand a greater chance of having them decide to quit fighting. I'd rather they realize they've been smacked and quit, than keep shooting while they bleed out. Plus, the same can be said about bullets for the .45acp. They expand pretty reliably too.

I don't believe there is any advantage to the 9mm, other than round count available in most platforms. That's not taking away from the great platforms, but in truth, I believe in Cooper's mantra, "Accuracy, Power, Speed."

When I was stationed in Germany, we were doing a training day with some German GSG9 types and later in the day, I was burning off some ammo all alone on the range. Drawing my AFOSI Compact .45 (Commander slide/barrel, Officer's sized frame - before there was a Colt Officer's Model) from concealment and double tapping the targets. When I finished, I discovered a small group of GSG9 members had gathered to watch me. I had mixed it up, torso/head, head/head, torso/torso etc, about 5 mags worth. I was really in sync that day and killing the targets with nice tight clusters.

They hadn't had much experience with the .45acp and I let them all take a couple of shots. They were duly impressed with the gun and round, compared to the Sigs they were carrying in 9mm. As they were leaving, one mentioned that he could tell my gun was more "powerful" than theirs. Then he smiled and said, "You are very fast."

So, I had all three of Cooper's mantra down pat.

I have 9mms, but I mostly carry something in .45acp, whether it be a 1911 compact, or my XD-S.

Today's Meth Heads are like Opiated Philippine Infantry.


The .45 was designed to take care of that old problem face to face.


Shock sets in faster when your down and out.

I prefer the 45 over 9mm and 40 S&W-because it is better in almost every category.

I don't prefer it over the 357, 41 Mag, 44 Spec, 44 Mag, 38 Spec, and the new 41 Spec, because it is inferior to all but the 38 in almost every category. I like the 38 because it comes in many revolvers and can be shot in 357's.
I prefer the 45 Colt, 454, 460, & 500 to the acp to. But that preference is not as strong.

Do some of you think about your kidneys working while you take a piss???

Seems a lot of people would be better off spending time getting more proficient with their sidearm than arguing/trying to defend its merits.

I 'prefer' the .45....when I want to carry my 30s. (Or 41)

I 'prefer' the 9mm....when I'm in the mood for my 19 or 26.

When I'm deciding what to carry that day it comes down to my mood. That's it. Period.

Whatever I'm carrying, I'm not walking around (or standing around in indecision) thinking about 'stopping power', mag capacity, or wondering where I can get reliable GSW trauma statistics.

For schits sake, find a gun you like the feel of, actually practice to become proficient with said firearm, stoke it with high quality SD ammo (easy to do nowadays) practice situational awareness (your best defense) and find something more constructive to argue about....like the gayness of all things .277".