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

I haven't handled one yet but I sure like the MP45C. Glad that one is working out for you.

Good choice on the 45 Shield - I'm really liking mine so far...

it surprised me in the accuracy department and the recoil department.

I've only shot factory Hornady 185 XTP'S in mine thus far - I was pleasantly surprised at the accuracy and how easy the pistol is to control - not near the handful I was expecting. I also have a M&P 45 Compact and the Shield 45 is not any harder to shoot well.

Wasn't a pistolero growing up'til the Marines taught me to shoot a 1911. Never stopped shooting them and carrying them.

One thing I have seen mentioned over and over again in the resurgence of popularity of the 9mm is now with the great high-tech bullets available it equals the incapacitaion ability of rounds like the .357 Magnum and .45 ACP.

That may be the case but what happens when one can not obtain ones perfect designer ammo...and in the recent past that has happened.

From what I have read and seen in studying gunfights over the last 40 years is rounds over .40 need both less expansion or velocity to be effective. Calibers .35 and under depend much more on velocity and expansion to get the same level of performance.

I usually carry .35 caliber rounds for self-defense but much prefer a round that has a muzzle velocity over 1300 fps to get the needed bullet expansion and penetration. When I carry a .41+ caliber gun 950-1200 seems to work just fine... .40/10mm usually 1200+- depending on the bullet weigh...

Bob

In subcompacts, I have the XD Mod 2, 3.3 with a 9+1 flush mag and the XD-S with a 5+1 flush mag capacity.
I also have 3 1911s representing all three commercial sizes, but with steel frames and the associated weight.



For me, the choice is simply related to which cartridge moves the pendulum the farthest when the bullet strikes. Everything else is theoretical.

I said that and then turned around & bought a copshop trade in M&P40c. The Missus has one too and this is about typical for 5 shots, standing/unsupported at 25 yards. This was 40/165/HST and I didn't suffer a broken bone or internal bleeding from apocalyptic recoil. Actually these little guns are real soft shooting for a small 40.

Nice shooting, the compact guns these days are accurate and very useful.

Thanks Jimmy. I've fooled with compact Glocks, 1911s and now Smiths. I've found them all to be more accurate than they're typically given credit for.

Most people just bang away with them at 7-15 yards and if most shots land in the big middle of a silhouette, they're happy. In all honesty, it's what they are designed for.

I'm really enjoying my M&P 45 compact that I've had for just over a month. I've been carrying an M&P 9c with 147 HSTs in it. I've had a hankering for a 45c for some time and I found one for the right price at a gun show. Very pleasantly surprised about the recoil of the 45 in a compact pistol. Shoots everything I put in it with no problems. I won't be getting rid of my 9; my wife thoroughly enjoys shooting it; but it won't be seeing very much time on my hip. I have some PMC Bronze 185 grn hp ammo that the 45c loves and that's what will be in the magazine when its on my hip.

Glad I finally tried a shield!

I like a .45 in a full sized gun, like a steel 1911 or a Glock 21. It's OK in a compact lightweight, but with those you detract from the advantages of the .45 ACP by increased recoil, interfering with follow up shots a bit.

Way too much ecumenism here for a proper campfire 45 versus 9 argument. No, they are not all the same, they are not all just as good. That is an FBI fairy tale for fairies, told so that the girl agents and those transitioning to be girl agents who had trouble with big bores could feel equal to the men agents when they waved their 9's around. LE agencies all over the country jumped on this for the same reason and civilian trainers now parrot the foolishness to swell their class enrollments with scores of the fairer sex. And now it has attained some kind of ballistic truthness even though everybody and their dog knows that big holes let more stuff out than small holes.

So there.

Not sure where all this talk of girls being unable to handle the .45 came from. My 15 year old daughter runs her Colt very well. Of course, she can shoot a 12 gauge with the best of them but she has never been told that she couldn't do it. Too many people believe they cannot instead of believing they can.

You should rent the 45 shield, I would have thought the same as you do before I shot it. With 230 grain FMJ ammo the recoil is similar to my Kimber Covert commander length gun. For hiking I intend to carry this over my G43 as it is more accurate.

Hits harder on bears and such, too.

Personal experience, plain and simple. I carried a 1911A1 a long time ago in and out of harm's way in far away lands and when it was needed it worked.
While I own and carry several different handguns in various chambering's there will always be 45ACP guns in the mix for me.
YMMV

StarchedCover

IMO the 45ACP's popularity is as much about the 1911 Govt. model's tradition and design as anything else. The ergonomics and weight make it easier to shoot a heavier bullet accurately, fast if necessary and the pistol has over a hundred years of American history behind it.

I like the cartridge better than the 1911, despite the gadzillions of rounds someone fired through their personal 1911 with no failures of any type after it was submerged in concrete for 10 years of course, some of the more modern platforms are rumored to be somewhat more reliable.