Pro - it won the Moro insurrection for us. Hit anywhere for knockdown and a kill
Con - fire one and it will tear your arm off.
- Knowledge from the Internet and people I know.
I like to shoot it and I like the gun. My 1911 would be a pain to carry as compared to others.
There has never been any test, study, or research showing it out performed any other handgun round. Most of the mythology of the 45 can be traced to the fictional writings of Jeff Cooper who had no data to back up any of his claims. But some people still believe it.
The .45 ACP essentially copied the ballistics of the BP loaded .45 Colt,
Actually, there was a test. One may have issues with the way it was conducted, but its called the Thompson-Lagarde test.
As I promised you I got ahold of a copy of the 1983 GunDigest in regards to its evaluation of the Mythical Thompson Tests and here are some shocking facts that prove once and for all how totally invalid the Thompson tests really were.
Did you know that only 13 animals were shot and-------
1. That more animals were shot with the .45 calibers making the statistical outcome irrelevent.
A. 8 were shot with the .45 calibers.
B. 2 were shot with the .30 Luger.
C. 1 was shot, thats right just only 1 was shot, with the 9mm, the 38 ACP and 38 long colt.
AS YOU CAN SEE THE EXPERIMENTERS WERE ALREADY DESPERATE TO STACK THE TEST RESULTS IN FAVOR OF THE BIGGER CARTRIDGES. AS I SAID BEFORE THEY DEFINATELY HAD AN AGENDA RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TEST.
2.The .45 calibers were also given the advantage of using expanding bullets as well as solid bullets(the smaller bullets were not tested with expanding bullets just solid ones (ARE YOU READING THIS CAREFULLY: IF YOU THINK THAT OLD STYLE EXPANING BULLETS WERE SO INFERIOR TO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY!)
3. Later in the test after the .45 calibers had failed so miserably the testers shot the animals rapid fire and they never did this with the smaller calibers. ONCE AGAIN STACKING THE RESULTS IN FAVOR OF THE .45 CALIBERS.
4. AND HOW ABOUT THE BALLYHOO OF THE CADAVER TESTS. The smaller calibers busted up bone just well as the bigger calibers and in the case of the .45's some of the expanding bullets failed to penetrate adequately as the ranges were increased.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I PREVIOUSLY POSTED IN REGARDS TO THE SHOOTING THAT WAS TOLD TO ME BY THE POLICE OFFICER THAT WAS THERE. NAMELY THAT AS THE RANGES INCREASE THE LETHALITY OF THE .45 CALIBER GOES DOWN BECAUSE OF A SLOWING DOWN OF THE BULLET THAT MAY NOT ENABLE IT TO ADEQUATELY PENETRATE. ALSO THAT AS THE DIAMETER OF THE BULLET INCREASES ITS ABILITY TO PENETRATE GOES DOWN AS COMPARED TO THE SMALLER CALIBERS IF VELOCITIES ARE NEARLY EQUAL BETWEEN THE TWO ROUNDS. AS THE VELOCITY GOES UP AND THE CALIBER GOES DOWN THE PENETRATION GOES DRAMITACALLY UP AS WAS PROVEN WAY BACK IN 1945 IN THE U.S. MILITARY TEST TRIAL OF THE 9MM V/S THE .45ACP.
This has been a good discussion without snarky attacks on others via their opinions.
As I promised you I got ahold of a copy of the 1983 GunDigest in regards to its evaluation of the Mythical Thompson Tests and here are some shocking facts that prove once and for all how totally invalid the Thompson tests really were.
Did you know that only 13 animals were shot and-------
1. That more animals were shot with the .45 calibers making the statistical outcome irrelevent.
A. 8 were shot with the .45 calibers.
B. 2 were shot with the .30 Luger.
C. 1 was shot, thats right just only 1 was shot, with the 9mm, the 38 ACP and 38 long colt.
AS YOU CAN SEE THE EXPERIMENTERS WERE ALREADY DESPERATE TO STACK THE TEST RESULTS IN FAVOR OF THE BIGGER CARTRIDGES. AS I SAID BEFORE THEY DEFINATELY HAD AN AGENDA RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING OF THE TEST.
2.The .45 calibers were also given the advantage of using expanding bullets as well as solid bullets(the smaller bullets were not tested with expanding bullets just solid ones (ARE YOU READING THIS CAREFULLY: IF YOU THINK THAT OLD STYLE EXPANING BULLETS WERE SO INFERIOR TO WHAT WE HAVE TODAY!)
3. Later in the test after the .45 calibers had failed so miserably the testers shot the animals rapid fire and they never did this with the smaller calibers. ONCE AGAIN STACKING THE RESULTS IN FAVOR OF THE .45 CALIBERS.
4. AND HOW ABOUT THE BALLYHOO OF THE CADAVER TESTS. The smaller calibers busted up bone just well as the bigger calibers and in the case of the .45's some of the expanding bullets failed to penetrate adequately as the ranges were increased.
THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT I PREVIOUSLY POSTED IN REGARDS TO THE SHOOTING THAT WAS TOLD TO ME BY THE POLICE OFFICER THAT WAS THERE. NAMELY THAT AS THE RANGES INCREASE THE LETHALITY OF THE .45 CALIBER GOES DOWN BECAUSE OF A SLOWING DOWN OF THE BULLET THAT MAY NOT ENABLE IT TO ADEQUATELY PENETRATE. ALSO THAT AS THE DIAMETER OF THE BULLET INCREASES ITS ABILITY TO PENETRATE GOES DOWN AS COMPARED TO THE SMALLER CALIBERS IF VELOCITIES ARE NEARLY EQUAL BETWEEN THE TWO ROUNDS. AS THE VELOCITY GOES UP AND THE CALIBER GOES DOWN THE PENETRATION GOES DRAMITACALLY UP AS WAS PROVEN WAY BACK IN 1945 IN THE U.S. MILITARY TEST TRIAL OF THE 9MM V/S THE .45ACP.
Have a link to this, Manta? BTW, Julian Hatcher had no trouble with the test at all, and seems to be a pretty good authority. In addition, whoever the author of this piece is, they missed a few things as to what the test was actually testing for, or have some sort of bias as to the cartridges tested.
My baby Sig is a 938. Big by comparison.I agree with every part of this, except for the Sig being a "big" pistol.
It's not. Its the approximate size of a Commander, considerably smaller than a Government Model 1911A1.
I realize that attitudes change over time, and the "small" Sig seems big compared to the more recent micro mini compact models out there. I don't consider the P220 to be "big". A 1911A1 is "standard" size, a 7.5" Ruger Blackhawk is "big", and a Desert Eagle is "freakln' HUGE", in my book.
Over 100 years ago the Army spec'd a caliber, bullet weight and speed that they knew from experience would stop a man, or a horse (with a proper hit).
It will still do that today, although we seldom have the need to stop horses anymore. TO me, the biggest drawback to the .45ACP is the myth that it is a magic bullet. Nothing is, nor can be.
The .45 has a long history of working pretty well (not perfectly but pretty well) with the least effective bullet possible (in terms of stopping power,) the FMJ RN.
It suits my needs, and I like it. That's good enough for me. Its fine with me if you have a different opinion. I'm not in your shoes, and won't tell you what's best for you. Do the same for me, and we'll get along fine.