In regards to the Texas DPS switching to the .357 Sig, first of all, not all of them shot the .45, some shot 9mm and some shot .45 etc and they wanted a gun that would fit the smaller hands but handle obstacles like auto glass.
In regards to the .45 "not giving them the performance they wanted, that is an Ed Sanow quote (the king of little, fast bullet lovers). I think that these quotes from another site address these so-called "failures" of the .45.
"Sanow speaks of three cases involving the .45 and never does he show it "failed", just that most bullets lose about 100 FPS when going through car doors etc, and that the DPS wanted more velocity. Over half of their shootings involve shooting into or through cars, so it makes sense. Although, if they were worried about 100 fps, they could just shoot +P's (and, in one sentence that is easy to miss, Sanow states that the +P .45 is still available to Officers if they choose to carry it over the .357 SIG, and that it solves the velocity problem but has more recoil). The DPS said that, out of their full size service guns, they were getting only 815 FPS. That tells me they were using some really slow, lightly loaded .45 ammo.
One incident cited said the .45 went through a window, then through a leather vest and clothing, and then into the BG, and did not expand and "did not affect him fast enough" (no more was said, so who knows what that means....exactly what is "fast enough"?....this isn't the movies, people don't just keel over dead *instantly* from a single pistol bullet wound to COM).
The other case was where the .45 hit a stack of business cards and a wallet as well as clothing and failed to expand. The BG was attacking the Officer with a hatchet. The BG, upon being hit with the .45 that did not expand, immediatly stopped attacking and sat down and collapsed. Sounds like the SINGLE SHOT did a very good job to me if it stopped a madman with a hatchet in his tracks. Most bullets, no matter how fast, would have a very high likelyhood of not expanding after going through a stack of thick paper, a wallet and clothes. Would a single shot from a smaller caliber have stopped him in his tracks even if it did expand? What if it did not expand?
Never the less, a SINGLE SHOT from an apparently lightly loaded (815fps) 230gr .45, that did not expand due to multiple obstructions, took a lunatic who was attacking an officer with a hatchet, and stopped him dead cold in his tracks.
Is that "bullet failure"???
The third and final incident was a point blank shooting where the officer fired one shot (again, just one single shot) and the bullet did not expand (not that surprising from a 230gr bullet at the low velocities they were shooting) . Once again, the bullet did not have "immediate effect", whatever that means. But, the BG was trying to grab the gun from the officer, and upon being shot that one time, he was stopped and the officer was saved. The bullet did exactly what it was supposed to do, it stopped the attack. I would consider that a "stop" and not a falure (?).
The second guy who attacked officers with a hatchet sat down, collapsed, and stopped his attack immediatly, so I am also wondering what these people mean by "not a fast enough effect".
Also, all these people were only shot ONCE, which is kinda rare in defensive shootings. It sounds to me like the .45 did a very good job since all officers walked away unharmed and apparently all the bullets, from ONE shot, stopped the BG, even if it wasn't "fast enough", whatever that means, because apparently it incapacitated them fast enough that none of the officers were hurt.
I did not see anything about the .45 "failing" at all in the article. It seemed more to me that they wanted a round that was easier to qualify with for everyone, but still packed a punch. I doubt that the option was there to require them all to carry a more powerful .45, because then many officers would not be able to qualify with it. (And, what the heck, they probably wanted the free guns too). This gives them free guns, and is good publicity for Sig and their cartridge.
The DPS stated that they wanted to find a bullet that performed the same as the "proven" 125gr .357, which in their tests is 13" of penetration and .47" to .52" of expansion. And how is that any better than a .45 that does not expand? It does not make sense to me, although they did go with the Gold Dot which expands to .61" in gelatin according to their tests, on a good day."
Sorry for that long quote, but I thought it was better than I could have written.
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