why do yoiu carry the .45 ACP

[dougk]

With all the calibers available, why do you carry the .45 ACP?

[John R.]

Because they don't make a 46 acp. Seriously, the cartridge has been around since 1911, and has proven its worth countless times. It has one of the longest track records out there. Besides, what's NOT to like about the 45 acp.

[williamlayton]

Well, it is a good question.
Answers come from a lot of levels of needs and desires.
I like big and slow on a lot of levels.
I also see the benifit of fast and hard---as well as the disadvantages.
.45, .44, .41---Mag, super and a few other variations. What the attempt is, is to make a one cartidge that will fill all of the bills. Just like women--one kind does not fill all the needs---we prove that by marrying different kinds.
A .45 in its original design is good and all the others do is change the design but not the effects-really.
The big cartridge was designed for whallop---not a jab---a roundhouse.
The others must produce this whallop with HP's or flat nosed projectiles. The penetration is too great and too quick, IMO, with most.
Doesn't make them not work---just must work differently---and in most cases demands greater accuracy.
Now I carry a wide variety of calibers, so I can't say that you are a fool to consider another.
I would rather be hit in a non-lethal part of the body with a 9MM than a .45---BUTTTT---I don't want too be hit with a BB, either.
Blessings

[Mikey]

It's big, it works and it makes ugly holes.  I like it.

[Tonk]

I carry the 45acp, that has been around since 1905 and has a proven track record of stopping man in his tracks! It makes a very large entry hole and penetrates deeply to boot, with that 230 grn FMJ bullet. It is best suited for up close and personal confrontations and that what it was designed for in the first place. The use of our military men fighting hand to hand in muddy trenches during World War 1. It has been doing a great job ever since mind you, regardless of the 9mm Luger or .40cal S&W taking its place in the military.

[Tn Jim]

Because I carried one in the Army from '81-'92 and I have seen what one can do. It made a lasting enough impression in my mind that I think the round is without equal as a fight stopper.

[Redtail1949]

i carried a series 70 government for years it concealed better than almost any revolver. the caliber is a tried and true defense round. i personaly have seen a perrson shot with a 9mm 14 times yes that is right 14 times and he held on to the door knob of his front door until i broke his hands off of it to help put him on a gurney. all 14 rounds from a beretta hit betwen the shoulders and hip. that boy lived and is alive and well today.

i personaly know another that was shot 6 times with a .38 special by his father in law he went down but lives two houses from his father in law today.

i have arrived after the fact on .45 shootings all were dead 1 shot most 2 on a couple they all went down and stayed down. i have heard of some people eating more but they are not many.

it is just those things that persuaded me in my 1st chgoice weapon for peronal carry and defense it does the job.

[delt167502]

I guess old workable habits die hard.this is a cal.that works and is what a person could call a round that if it fails to expand.its still a hole of almost 1/2". have been required to carry it on duty .then someone changed the guide lines. we were required to carry the 9 mm ,untill it proved to be a poor carry. then we could opp out and carry our own weapon.

[mcwoodduck]

I guess old workable habits die hard.this is a cal.that works and is what a person could call a round that if it fails to expand.its still a hole of almost 1/2". have been required to carry it on duty .then someone changed the guide lines. we were required to carry the 9 mm ,untill it proved to be a poor carry. then we could opp out and carry our own weapon.

Round for round the 9mm and the 45 Acp have one stop shots about equal.
In street stoppers the 45 ACP ball was effective 64% of the time
the 9mm ball was effective 63% of the time.
and to put all that in comparison the 32ACP with silver tip ammo was an effective one shot stoper 61% of the time.
The 9 and 45 JHP round run about the same in effectiveness with the 45 being slightly ahead of the 9mm.
Both trail to the Remington 125 grain semi jacketed hollow point 357 mag round that is in the high 90% out of a 4" gun.

[torpedoman]

honestly, because it was the pistol i learned to shoot with, i can point shoot and hit what i want to , i can fire it in either hand and hit were i want to,

[williamlayton]

Mc
That report compares apples and pears.
Ball does not compare well with HP's.
A .38 is a 9MM is a .357.
Powder and loading being the difference and a 9x23 wil do anything that a .357 can do---even a 38super.
Blessings

[Bigeasy]

The 45 acp acrtridge, in a 1911 auto pistol is a nice balance between power, recoil, muzzle blast, re-load ability, accuracy, and feel / point ability.

Larry

[Oldshooter]

I carried a 44 mag for years, hunted with it and kept it handy for self defense. I still like it!

Now I carry the 45 acp in a glock for all the reasons stated above. If I was convinced that there was something better for me I'd likely switch. ............so convince me! 

[Savage]

I'm not one to obsess over defensive handgun calibers as they are all marginal stoppers. I tend to carry the most powerful one I can based on dress and destination. That might be anything from a .380 to .45. Not very "Tacticool" I know, but so far it's worked for me.
Savage

[StrawHat]

For me the 45 ACP is a good blend of large caliber, moderate capacity and good accuracy that can be launched from a great revolver.  I have 3 S&Ws that use the ACP.  I carry the 4" one.

I am not familiar with many of the "reports" that compare stopping power of various handgun cartridges but I have heard at least one very well known one was compiled with bum stats to prove the point of the authors.

Even so, I prefer large and slow as long as it also gets where I aim.

[Tn Jim]

Straw, if I'm not mistaken, the report most are refering to was done by Evan Marshal. He is a retired Detroit PD dectective, if I remember right. You may be able to find it on the web.

[shvlhead.45]

Many of the posters here along with myself started carrying pistols in .45 ACP before there were more then a couple of factory loaded hollow points and those few were nowhere near as reliable as they are today.  Many may have been introduced to the .45 ACP during military service.  In the 70s and early 80s the most common 9mm pistols were the Browning HP and the S&W 39s and 9mm hp rounds where iffy at best.

I find that the .45 caliber hand guns work and if it ain't broke I don't try fixing it.  I use .45 ACP for self defense against 2 legged predators, .45 Colt for the woods.  When the day comes where I can afford to shoot in the games and/or go to a range a lot more often then I do now, I'll get me one of those little center fire pistols for fun.  My Browning Buckmark does pretty good handling that for now.

v/r
SH.45

[mcwoodduck]

Mc
That report compares apples and pears.
Ball does not compare well with HP's.
A .38 is a 9MM is a .357.
Powder and loading being the difference and a 9x23 wil do anything that a .357 can do---even a 38super.
Blessings

Sorry The 9 I was talking about was 9X19 Luger.
Yes I know that there are many 9's and I should have been specific.
What I ment was with ball ammo the 45 and the 9mm X19 (parabellum, Luger) are only 1or 2% apart when it comes to real shootings where a single shot ended the fight.
As you move to different HP designs the same gap of 1-2% in effectiveness stays when you compare the same round in factory loading.
The full house 357 mag with the 125 JHP load was #1 in Evan Marshall's book street stoppers where he took real world shootings and wanted to see what round was most effective.  One of the things he found out was shot placement was key and told a few stories of how some huge gun did not stop someone but a mouse gun did.
The Later Strousbourg test in France, they shot goats with a wide variety of ammo and saw how long it took for the goat to fall over and then to expire, had similar results as what Evan Marshall had in his book.  Each bullet in each loading got three or four goats and the times were averaged.
Sorry I was not clear in my first posting, I forget that everyone has not read Street Stoppers or has heard of the Strousbourg (Sp.) test.
If there is a PETA person that has been active since the early 90's around you.  Mention the test they will go ballistic, every punn intended.

[RB1235]

The 45 acp has the level of acceptable recoil I am comfortable with. A 40 is a very sharp recoil that takes a little more time to get back on target. A 45 is just a slow push. For me I feel comfortable believing I have adequate power vs. manageable recoil.

[jimster]

I always thought the 45 acp was a good balance of size and weight and was easy to shoot.  Another factor is the price compared to some other popular "stoppers".  Looking at the prices of 40 S&W 357 sig. and 357 mags, I don't know if I could afford to practice as much.  Even though all factory ammo is expensive I can still find better prices on 45 acp to practice and plink with.  9mm is not too bad price wise, have thought about that a lot, maybe someday, but there is some confidence I have in the 45, and the confidence makes me feel good even if it's all in my head.

[SHOOTALL]

I carry one less than a 357 mag. but do some , as to why - well that gaping hole pointed at someone makes an impression . I know this for fact

[mannyrock]

  A prior poster wrote:    "Round for round the 9mm and the 45 Acp have one stop shots about equal. In street stoppers the 45 ACP ball was effective 64% of the time
the 9mm ball was effective 63% of the time.
and to put all that in comparison the 32ACP with silver tip ammo was an effective one shot stoper 61% of the time."

   I must apologize, but the foregoing data is irrelevant. The one-shot stop index, as assembled by the famous coroner of Dallas Texas, only measures what percentage of the time the assailant was killed by a particular round with one shot to the torso. It does not measure in any fashion how LONG it took the person to die after receiving the one shot, or whether he was fully capable of returning fire after being hit with that one shot.  Most folks report that the one shot to the torso with a .45 acp literally knocks the assailant down. The 9mm and .32 auto apparently don't do this, and though the assailant may die from from such a gunshot, he is often fully capable of firing an entire mag of ammo in reply before he expires.

[mcwoodduck]

In the same book he talks about a boarding house fight that started as fists and ended up with the two walking side by side up the stairs
One came out of his room with a Colt Gold cup loaded with Ball ammo.  The other showed up with a Jennings 22 loaded with stingers.
The guy with the 45 was laughing as he shot all 7 rounds out of his mag hitting with all 7.  When his gun locked back on an empty mag the guy with the 22 shot once, hitting the man with the 45 in the heart killing him.  The man with the 22 and 7 45 ACP ball rounds in or through him took 2 or 3 busses to the hospital and lived.
As I also said shot placement is everything.  I was comparing the one shot stop of each round showing that a well placed shot from either would have he same effect.  Marshall's book also showed me I should:
A) carry the best stopping round I can that works through my gun.
B) if any round is less than 100% stopping as a single shot I should shoot more than once and not rely on statistics to save me.
C) I should practice so that one or more rounds hit center mass on the chest and be ready to continue to fire till the threat was down and no longer a threat.
The book opened my eyes that a well placed 32ACP with a silver tip was better than 7 bad hits with 45 ACP ball considering they both have a 60% one shot stop.  The 45 is not a magical round that will compinsate for poor shooting and will take a bad guy off his feet or blowing him 40 feet backwards through the wall like it does in the movies.  Now having a .451 projectile is more likely to hit more vital parts than the smaller .4 or .355 and if they all open up 1.5 times as a hollow point design the 45 is going to hit more stuff and with a wider front it will deposit more energy into what it hits.  But as we all know speed kills and moving a bullet faster gives you more energy to drive the bullet deeper, and expand the bullet.
I am not saying the 45 is not a good round or that any of the others are better.  I am saying it is not magical and you should match up your ability, the amount of ammo you need in the gun, as well as what kind of climate and clothing you wear to match the gun and while a GI or carry full size 1911 may be The Best combat handgun ever built it may not do you any good if you can not handle the gun.  It is either too big for your hand, it has too much recoil for you to fire multiple shots accuratly, or is too big to hid on you.  With the advent of the smaller 45's this has become less of a factor and I personally think a Sig P245, now the P220 compact would be a great choice for someone who wants a compact 45 acp.  On the same note I would rather carry my P229 that is the same size and holds almost 100% more rounds has less recoil.  I picked a Sig as I am a sig fan, they fit and I shoot them well.  But you can modify that to any compact 45 be it a comander or officer size 1911, glock or other.

[Savage]

Well stated, mcwoodduck! Glad you addressed the myth of the .45 taking a man off his feet with even a marginal hit. All studies in stopping power are flawed as the individual reaction to being shot cannot be predicted. They do make fun reading though!
Cheers,
Savage

[SHOOTALL]

Shooting someone bent on hurting you is the last resort in a bad situation . Mcwoodduck you just made the case for a 357mag. if we use the stats.
 People forget opposite but equal reaction , anything that knocks someone on their butt would have a similar effect on the other end . Which brings up the idea of a gun that stops the attacker but has no kick .
 ROCKET GUN ?

[mcwoodduck]

 
years and years ago there was the Gyro Jet pistol.  It was a rocket pistol where the hammer whacked the nose of the shell to drive it on to the firing pin causing the rocket to ignite.
but the rocket guns need distance to build speed.  They have a lethal bell curve.  As most personal defence shots are less than 20 feet it may not have enough speed at that distance to be leathal but now you have a rocket motor that is flipping around and burning with someone you thought a good idea to shoot with out a hole in them and maybe some burns making them more angry or crazy.
Your idea of no kick is good but even the hasesrs on Star Trek had some kick. 

As you point out there is not a magic bullet in the 45 and everyone reacts differently to being shot.  the full house 125 grain 357 loads are a handfull need a 4" barrel and have a huge fire ball and we are back to the blast and recoil issue.
I think there are so many right answers to this question of what to carry and so many myths about it as well.
The right answers are:
Any gun is better than no gun.
Any gun that you can shoot strait and hit what you aim at is better.  After all 1 well placed hit with a 22 is better than 7 bad hits with a 45 in the case in the boarding house.
Confidance in what you are carrying, in the function of the gun, your ability to hit, and that the ammo will work, is what is going to get you through a fight.  If you are not confidant in the gun will go not only bang but bang, bang...& Bang, your ability to make multiple hits in a short period of time, or the ammo to go bang and expand, if not get something else.
A handgun is about the worst firearm you can use.  A shotgun or rifle is more powerful and accurate.  but you are more likely to have the handgun on you.
On our way back from a steel shoot my friends kid asked us what handgun we would want in a gun fight, with let's say the other guy having a 9mm.
I answered up I want a rifle and want to be 200 yards away.  If they have a rifle I want an M1A1 Abrams tank.

[SHOOTALL]

With new powders aval. today both flash and bbl length have been addressed and worked out .

[DAG460]

I carry a 1911, because I carried one in the army back in 1972 and continue to this day.  It just works and I shoot it well.  Old habbits I guess.

DAG

[Old Griz]

115 grains of lead v. 230 grains of lead.
A .355 dia. hole v. a .450 dia. hole.
The size of the hole expands accordingly with hollow points making the .45 that much bigger.
So with a bigger bullet, heavier bullet, and much bigger hole, bigger wound channel, greater damage, how can anyone believe that the two could be equal?

[Tn Jim]

115 grains of lead v. 230 grains of lead.
A .355 dia. hole v. a .450 dia. hole.
The size of the hole expands accordingly with hollow points making the .45 that much bigger.
So with a bigger bullet, heavier bullet, and much bigger hole, bigger wound channel, greater damage, how can anyone believe that the two could be equal?

Muzzle velocity. How does a .223 at 55 grains outdo the 45 and the 9? With 3250 fps MV.