Dumb ammo question re: .45

R

Rorik

New member
This may be an extremely stupid question - or extremely common. Having only really dealt with rifles, I'm somewhat unfamiliar with .45 pistol ammo.

I recently picked up a 1911 and bought a box of Winchester .45 Auto ammo
s7_218504_999_01


This is the same as ACP correct? I know ACP is Auto Colt Pistol, just wanted to be sure I didn't spend 50$ on the incorrect ammo haha. I figured it was correct but what threw me off was seeing shelves at my LGS with two different labels under the ammo ".45 Auto" and ".45 ACP" as if they were two different types of ammo.

Also - would Winchester be a good brand of ammo to break in a brand new 1911? And how many rounds should I put through it before polishing the feed ramp and trying out hollow points? It is a Para USA 1911 GI
 
I cannot speak for how many rounds it will take to "break it in", but yes .45 AUTO is just another way of saying .45 ACP. Just don't buy .45 Colt.
 
Alright awesome I appreciate it. Ammo isn't returnable so I thought I may have thrown away 50$ haha.
 
And how many rounds should I put through it before polishing the feed ramp and trying out hollow points? It is a Para USA 1911 GI
Click to expand...

Doubtful you need to polish anything to feed hollow points, betting it works just fine as it is.
 
DO NOT polish the feed ramp of your 1911 if you don't know what you're doing. You'll turn a working gun into a nose-diving POS.

45 Auto is 45 ACP (less common 45 AP). At most stores it's sold next to 45 Colt (45 LC) which is revolver ammo. 45 GAP is for Glocks.

1911s aren't exclusive to 45 ACP. I'm assuming you don't have a 9mm, 38 Super, or other 1911.
 
Okay good to know, appreciate it. I know they have other 1911's in different calibers. Mine is in .45 ACP - just needed to clear up the issue on Ammo. I know how to polish the feed ramp.
 
Not sure on break in, gun should run fine out of the box but I know some makers do recommend a break in period, one that come to mind is Les Baer, they recommend 500 rds I believe before a detailed cleaning. Of course LB's are tight as a frogs u-know-what out of the box. Oh yea and step away from the dremel, l think more feed ramps are messed up than improved by trying to fix something that isn't broke in the first place.
 
Not sure on break in, gun should run fine out of the box but I know some makers do recommend a break in period, one that come to mind is Les Baer, they recommend 500 rds I believe before a detailed cleaning. Of course LB's are tight as a frogs u-know-what out of the box. Oh yea and step away from the dremel, l think more feed ramps are messed up than improved by trying to fix something that isn't broke in the first place.
Click to expand...

500 rounds sounds good to me haha. And the only reason I wanted to polish the feed ramp was due to problems I have heard with 1911's taking hollow points. Wouldn't have used a dremel, was just going to polish it by hand. But it probably would be a bad idea to try shooting hollow points out of it before dicking with it haha.
 
problems I have heard with 1911's taking hollow points.
Click to expand...

I'd like to have 1911Tuner to weigh in on this, but it's a bit more complicated than that. Most modern 1911s will feed JHPs reliably assuming that the ammo resembles ball ammo (some JHPs are shaped like SWCs and 1911s aren't too happy with that).

Also what kind of magazines you choose can determine if your JHPs will feed. My 1911s flawlessly feed JHP ammo with Wilson 47Ds (those have the nylon followers) and Chip McCormick Power Mags.

I'd pick an ammo that works and a good magazine before polishing your feed ramp.
 
Oh okay - I'm partial to Winchester so I will probably use their ammo. Saw that Hornady makes a round similar to what you are talking about with a hollow point and composite tip. Aside from Chip McCormick, are there any other brand magazines that you would recommend? I've heard of people going through 5-6 brands at times before finding a brand mag that really works.
 
Actually the box does not say ".45 ACP" it says "45 Auto". There are several different kinds of .45 ammo out there so I can understand the confusion for a new pistol owner. Still, there was no need for a new thread on the same topic.
 
$50 for one box of ammo??? :eek: I hope you got two for that, but even that is a bit high. My LGS (not quite real local but a LE supply) charges about $23 and I thought that was high.

Anyway, you may want to consider buying different varieties of ammo (if you can find it at a reasonable price) to confirm what works well and what may not. Although both my 1911's eat anything, I have a couple semi's that don't.
 
2ndsojourn said:
$50 for one box of ammo??? I hope you got two for that, but even that is a bit high. My LGS (not quite real local but a LE supply) charges about $23 and I thought that was high.
Click to expand...
I believe his first post/thread on this topic stated that he bought two boxes. However, when I went back to that thread to verify, I found that he edited the original post to remove the ammo question. I know it was there because my post in response to it remains.

Sneaky.
 
I believe his first post/thread on this topic stated that he bought two boxes. However, when I went back to that thread to verify, I found that he edited the original post to remove the ammo question. I know it was there because my post in response to it remains.
Click to expand...

I gotcha now. It was not in there when I looked. :confused:

$50 for one box of ammo???
Click to expand...

When he said that I assumed he had bought .45 Colt ammo by accident. $50 for .45 ACP training ammo is highway robbery even with the shortage going on. You should be able to get good hollow point SD ammo for that price. I just figured he had gotten "gun shopped".

This whole thing is weird. "ha ha"
 
Another vote for Wilson 47D magazines for a standard 1911. I don't have any Chip McCormick mags but I've read they are at least as good as 47D mags. I wouldn't touch the feed ramp until after about 1000 rounds, and then only if necessary (and NO Dremel).
 
Way too many people get bad advice off the internet.

Please remember...there is a difference between getting bad advice and following bad advice.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top