Does the .45ACP provide a mental edge?

W

Will Beararms

New member
I'm here in my office burining the proverbial oil to get ready for the challenges of the week. I have some of the ammo from my favorite pistols on my desk. There is 9X18,9X19,.380,.357Magnum and .45CP. Right of the bat, the 50 round box of .45 must weigh three pounds compared to the other offerings present. Then I take out the rounds and start to analyze. The .357Magnum gets my attention but good gosh look at the huge glob of lead protruding from the 230 grain hardball cartridge! Next, I see the Makarov,.380 and the 9mm Luger and all I can think about is a tiny peice of lead used for fishing with plastic worms. ;)

As the great Yogi Berra used to say: 1/2 of it is 90% mental. Maybye that's what makes me so fond of the 45.

------------------
"When guns are outlawed;I will be an outlaw."

[This message has been edited by Will Beararms (edited May 08, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Will Beararms (edited May 08, 2000).]
 
If that's what works for you, I'd say go for it & be happy.

However, any handgun is underpowered for any "stop 'em in their tracks" power factor.

Proper placement & bullet (in that order) works better than the "what cailber is best" (obviously, with reason) antics.

OK, new topic "what's within reason?" many ;)s
 
Well, as soon as my new concealment shoulder rig for my T/C Contender in .308 arrives...

Unfortunately the bad guy isn't aware of what caliber you're using on him. Having had pistols of more than one caliber pointed at me, I can affirm that at that moment they all look like sewer pipes, it ain't till later that you realize "Gosh, that was 'only' a Ruger Mk II."...

------------------
"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!
 
I think so, there is always a mental edge of having the .45, perhaps because of its long history and it also proves to be still the undisputed caliber being loved by profesional gunners.
 
Instead, I think of an "Edge" provided by knowing one is proficient with one's weapon of choice,highly proficient....

My GM is an excellent sidearm. The edge is my knowing just how effective I am with it.

And while I'm fond of great big bullets, it where they're put that counts.

The effectiveness ladder.....

Big holes,center mass.

Small holes, center mass.

Big holes, elsewhere.

Small holes, elsewhere.

Scare them with the noise....
 
As you can see, you will get many suggestions that don'y bear on your question.
Any mental edge you have will happen before the shot so whether or not you can aim an shoot accuratly will come second.

Yes, the 45ACP will give you a mental edge. First, because you know you are sending a sizeable amount of lead at the BG.
Second, Because if the BG can see your gun he can see a hole much bigger then the normal pea size hole on the end of most other semi-auto handgun calibers. The 45 is visibly larger thus more intimidating.



------------------
"It is easier to get out of jail then it is a morgue"
Live long and defend yourself!
John 3:16
 
I think folks who have looked down a barrel of a 22 LR report it looks like a howitzer.

If the 45 ACP makes you overconfident of its stopping power, then it does you a disservice.

Make sure you can use your firerarm to hit the target and you know when to use it.

That's a better mental edge.
 
My CCW allows a .38 spl, a 9mm and a .45

I almost prefer the .38 because it makes me so damn reluctant to use it that I would probably try everything possible to avoid a shoot situation but I am still armed if necessary.

Now how is that for perverse logic?

When I am loaded with gold (I am a bullion and coin dlr) I automatically take the .45 just because I figure that's the time I am very likely to be a target.

But for ordinary times, I usually pack the .38
 
My home gun is now a .45 because I am not likely to fire many shots...might as well make each count. Then again, the .45 is a stop-gap measure till the .30 rifles come to play.

Yes, I would be more confident with a .45 than with smaller calibers. I no longer want to try .357 as it is even harder on my ears. However, with a decent barrel length, I would feel as confident with 9x19, provided I could hit accurately.
 
Personally, although I do not prefer to carry anything less than a 40, I would feel confident with a .380, or better, with +P loads.

My confidence comes not from caliber, but from execution. I know that anything that I choose to carry, I am proficient enough to use, and use well.

I know that although a .380 may not have the highly reliable stopping power everyone looks for, a well placed shot, or series of shot's will get the work done, and I learned from my military experience to "Train as you Fight!"

So, in short, yes, my .45 will give me warm fuzzies, not from size, or weight, but from my competency & the knowledge of the destruction I am capable of dispatching with it.
 
I like the fact that my Hi-Power can take 15 rounds of 9mm slivertips.. but the feel of my fullsized 1991a1 is super slick and even though i shoot the 9mm better.. the 45 does have a "mystique" about it. i'm faster at mag changes/jams/gunhandling with the 45.. but that's just a matter of training. 8 rounds of 230 grain hydra shock is no laughing matter from anyone's point of view... but niether is 15 silvertips or stafires or etc etc etc. My 45 doesn't bite my hand.. my hipower beats the web of my hand to hamburger. maybe what i really need is 45 that is somewhere in between. ;)

use whatever gun you are competant with and the rest is academic. You will have a greater chance to hit center mass with a gun you can control.
 
Everything works some of the time. Everything fails some of the time. This caliber/cartridge debate should be matter of "probabilities". What has the best probability of producing the desired result under the widest range of circumstances; i.e., marginal hit, drugged up assailant, barriers your bullet has to penetrate, etc. I carry 45 ACP's because they have a greater probability of stopping with fewer shots. No they aren't perfect. Not they are not magic. Do they give me an edge? Probably.

------------------
 
I always had 9mm or 38 for home defense, until the first time I HAD to use it or lose big time. Three dogs (two pitbulls) were on a very bloody rampage and caught me out in the open, no time to aim, just point and pull. The two pitbulls each took two Rem 124 gr High Velocity hollowpoints (two in the lungs for one dog, one the the neck and chest for the other) before they called off their attack and moved away to die. The shots were good, but neither dog was "stopped" even with the second shot. It was pure terror for me and I made the decision that I never want to have to shoot twice to stop anything ever again. So for me, my Sig 220 or 1911 with Hydra shocks does definitely have a phsychological benefit.

[This message has been edited by Raymond3 (edited May 08, 2000).]

[This message has been edited by Raymond3 (edited May 08, 2000).]
 
leedesert:

I think perhaps you misunderstood my post. Personally I think that any "mental edge" one gets from any caliber is more likely to be negative than positive, to wit:

1) The smallbore mental edge: "I've got (13,15,18) rounds available, so if I miss I'll just put so much lead in the air that something's bound to hit him."

2) The high-powered round mental edge: "This bullet was guaranteed to be a pure-T death ray by (Marshall, Fackler, Ayoob, Cooper, Taylor) and I'll only need a near miss to put the bad guy down!"

3) The 1911 mental edge: "I'm firing the same pistol used by 'professional gunfighters' like (oh, jeez just pick one) so with the power this magic pistol imbues in me, I will do my double-tap return the pistol to 'ready' and watch my foe collapse."

Looking for a 'mental edge' from a caliber or whatever is seeking a hardware solution to a software problem, and setting one's self up for a fall. The bad guy doesn't know or care what caliber it is. Trust me, they ALL look the same from the business end. What he will note is who is holding the gun, and whether they are prepared to use it. He won't know what caliber he's been shot with, and as far as terminal ballistics go, after impact his mental state has far more effect on the round's performance than your beliefs in your rounds abilities. Depending on the circumstances, I'll carry any one of a number of underpowered fight-stoppers, from .32 through 9mm and .45 up to 10mm Auto, and I have so little confidence in any of them that I constantly practice to try and get them to hit where I aim and plan on shooting until I run out of ammo or, as a deputy friend of mine put it, "The bad guy stops doing whatever it was that made me start shooting at him in the first place."

------------------
"..but never ever Fear. Fear is for the enemy. Fear and Bullets."
10mm: It's not the size of the Dawg in the fight, it's the size of the fight in the dog!
 
I also agree that the 1911 .45acp gives you an edge, in the form, that when a BG see's a cocked and locked 1911. They are pretty sure that they are dealing with someone who is much more familar and compentant with his weapon, than the average Joe. Who will be a much deadlier adversary than they are accustomed to going up against. I have had people that I have arrested, make comments about my cocked and locked 1911. Also while doing walk throughs in bars on my beat, I have had some of the patrons make comments about the hammer being back on my pistol. It does get peoples attention.


7th


------------------
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL POLICE, KEEP THEM INDEPENDENT.

[This message has been edited by 7th Fleet (edited May 08, 2000).]
 
.45 is a round of great confidence. Just knowing that one nick from a mighty 230 grain slug will knock a bad guy back through a brick wall (that legendary "knock down" power y'know) gives me that warm fuzzy feeling . . . compared to .45 every other caliber feels like a mosquito sting to the recipient of the shot.
 
Once again I fall back on a simple philosophy: Bigger holes are better.
As far as a mental edge, would you feel better defending yourself with an ordinary stick or a big 'ol club?

------------------
TFL's official "Curmudgeon Member" and damned proud of it!
 
Confidence in gun/ammo combo is a high priority. While it's true that a perp isn't particualarly going to care whether your gun is a mouse gun or an elephant stomper, it will matter to you. If you have the skills to quickly place 'em center mass under pressure, then knowing that you're going to be making big ol' 45 caliber holes can be a great comfort....

------------------
Shoot straight & make big holes, regards, Richard at The Shottist's Center
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top