Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns why do new handgun calibers so often fail?

The HK USP can handle 46 Super
The only modification that I had to do to mine was inreplace the magazine springs, other wise no modification was required

How many rounds of Super have you put through it?

What about the Sig 220?

Someone at the other site claimed that H&K specifically approved .45 Super for the Model HK45, but that no mention of the .45 Super was made by H&K in regard to the USP-45. But he assumed the same would hold for both.

That's nice. When they put it on the side of the gun, I'l really sit up and take notice.

Or in the manual. That would mean something.

I have no idea how many that I have fired through it. When I bought it which was used I asked Jack Huntingyon and he said that the HK USP would handle 45 Super without a problem just as it was

When S&W came out with the .38/44 and the Heavy Duty and Outdoorsman designed and marked for it, Colt announced that their Official Police .38 would handle the new .38/44 load, which was just a super hot loaded .38 Special approaching what would later be called the .357 Magnum, but not quite. Anyway, it wasn't marked on the gun or in the manual, but Colt said it could handle it.

Not 100% relevant to our discussion, but just a side note that I was reminded of by this conversation.

I don’t remember what the bullet was but it was a Winchester load. I called him and he thinks it was the SXT load but couldn’t remember the bullet weight

Interesting.

Bullets will and do deflect on hard bone if hit at an angle.

I have no personal experience with the USP in 45 caliber.

I'd say a stronger recoil spring is a sensible addition in any pistol in which you're shooting substantially heavier than standard loads and where frame battering is a concern.

I can think of five deer I killed outright or finished with the 40 S&W using 165 or 180 grain Federal HST. It will shoot through the chest cavity behind the shoulders, shoot through it above, in through the hump of the shoulders and out through the sternum. Shot one straight across the shoulder joints and that bullet was recovered under the skin of the far side shoulder, looking like hell hammered on concrete. It's worth mentioning that all three were on the ground where they were hit or within 15 feet of there. I've head shot several others... usually full penetration and DRT instantly. No ricochets off the noggin...

If you put a stronger recoil spring in a HK USP then it will not run 45 ACP and sporadically run +P

I have smaller hands and if I lived in a state with a 10rd mag law, I'd buy a G38 in 45GAP and call it good. It would be a 21st Century 45 Commander. Other than that, I wouldn't have a use for it.
PS--If every cartridge was popular, no cartridge would be popular...think about it.

Now, that's interesting.

There you go, Thanks JWP.

https://www.snipercountry.com/10mm-vs-45-acp/
I know a couple guys that bought 10mm glocks over the last couple of years for bear defense while hiking/fishing. None of them have had to use them. Ive read some ballistic info on the 10mm. It looks like it has a slight advantage on paper. I also watched a show a couple years ago where they compared 45acp and 10mm in ballistic gel. The 10mm penetrated 6"+ deeper but it could have been bias. Who know who funded it and I cant remember what different ammo they used. I have faith in my xd 45 still though.

I don't know how anybody could say the 40 S&W enjoyed "limited popularity". The .40 has been nothing less than wildly popular. The advent of better 9mm ammo may have trumped it a bit, but it will be a big seller for the foreseeable future due to the proliferation of fairly cheap guns and ammo for it.

The 10 was somewhat unsuccessful initially especially since the FBI adopted it and it still didn't go over big. Too much competition from the .40. It hung on and is still fairly popular. To a lesser extent, so has the 357. The 5-7 was almost moribund, but now Rooger has a platform...we'll see. The only one really dead is the GAP.

Personally, I never saw the need for any of these rounds. I've had a bunch of 10's and they just never stick. I resisted the 40 for a long time, but the ammo was so cheap and available that I got one. Then another. Then I got rid of both. Then I got another because I had ammo, brass, dies, bullets, etc. I use mine a lot, not because I'm in love with it, but because it's there. I don't like Glocks and I don't like Glocks in 40 the most. I've got a S&W M&P in .40 and it's just a gun. It's a good gun, but it isn't something precious like a JOHN MOSES BROWNING 45 AUTO COLT PISTOL.

Threads without pics are like War and Peace, but threads WITH pics are like a good Jonah Hex comic book...mo betta.

I should have said "some of them enjoying limited popularity" there is no doubt the 40SW is dying off, 40 caliber guns are almost impossible to sell these days in my neck of the woods, some folks taking half of what they paid for them in when the do sell. In my opinion the 40sw is slowly going away.

I doubt it. It's actually an excellent round in many ways. The reason for the sudden and dramatic price drop is that it has gone out of favor with law enforcement agencies, and there were so many in existence that were being replaced so suddenly, all at once, that market principles operated to drive the prices way down.

Agreed. In an instant, it could be back in favor with LE too. They love getting new equipment and are fickle in their choices. Many LE, especially the ones making decisions about equipment, are not gun folks. There was never any real reason to move to the .40 in the first place, nor was there any real reason to move away from it after doing so. The 10 was a fine choice for the FBI too. Just load it down or make recruits train until they were proficient.