U.S. Brings Back the .45

Strategy Page ^ | January 27, 2006

[yarddog]

I am guessing you really meant "topstrap". If the backstrap blew, then I can see why his hand was sore.

[MarkL]

.45's don't have clips.

Mine does!

Of course, that's for when I'm shooting this:

Mark

[Washi]

I'd keep the Beretta, unless they're coming out with an new/accurate .45 design.

Beretta makes a pretty good .45, the 8045 Cougar. I've got one and I love it.

[MarkL]

The problem isn't the pistol...it's the ammunition used.

A big part of it IS the pistol. Many people whos only experience with 1911s were in the military, often in basic, and those were often so loose they rattled - LOUD!

A well fitted 1911 is one of the most accurate pistols around. The key is that everything needs to come back to where it started, and if there's a ton of play in the slide, bushing, and barrel lockup, then it's not going to be accurate.

To put it bluntly, bad ammo will make an accurate gun somewhat less accurate. On the other hand, match ammo will never give you any accuracy from a loose, inaccurate pistol.

Mark

[Jasper]

"I like my Glock 10mm. :-)"

I love my Glock 20 also.
Powerful, accurate and easy to carry.

/jasper

[hiredhand]

I've known lots of varmint hunters back in the mountains where I'm from who have most certainly broken records by a wide margin, and never became known for it. I'm not really bothered that you don't believe me. I have a credible, and living witness who used the same rifle just before I shot that group, and he fired a solid .5" group (five rounds). Maybe he "warmed it up" for me. :-) I don't know. I was actually concerned that it was warm already when I fired it.

I've got a .243 that does just about the same thing. It's not uncommon back home. We shot and killed ground hogs for years with another .30-06 that I had, and at distances of between 600 and 900 yards. We stepped it off back then, and years later we used a laser rangefinder and the distances where the the same. People told us back then that we were full of crap. :-)

I'll be the first to admit though that you better pick your weather correctly to shoot like that. It better be VERY still outside (no wind).

[RightWhale]

My S&W .45 ACP stainless Mountain Gun has half-moon and full-moon clips also. I am not sure if the half-moon or the full-moon is quicker on reload, especially if the shooter is in a hurry. The full-moon takes a steady hand, while the half-moon handles easily, and stores more compactly. The revolver has a lot to recommend it in spite of the short barrel.

[hiredhand]

Yes....topstrap....oopsie. :-)

[Simo Hayha]

M-110? Have a M-100. Is there an easy way to load?

[hispanichoosier]

I dont understand why the US even puts up with the Geneva BS. Every other country wipes their butt with it.

Because we're better than other countries.

[Squantos]

In a "declared" war you are correct ..... BUT !

I am in possession of official DOD documents that allowed us to use hollowpoint ammunition in our weapons against terrorists and on LIC missions aka low intensity conflicts.

Hollowpoint ammunition is authorized by the DOD (approved by the JAG sorts) for general use during such "police actions" vs a full up war as officially declared by the congress of these United States.

Stay safe !!

[hiredhand]

A friend of mine's daughter lost a SIG220 at a state fair a couple of years back. Somebody broke into the truck, and tore the little pistol safe from the floor in front of the backseat (looked like a real "crowbar job"). They were ill. She told me that gun was sooooo nice, and VERY accurate!

[MarkL]

The article really lost me with this statement:"There are several modern designs out there for .45 caliber pistols that ......are easier to maintain than the pre-World War I M1911". 30+ years of gunsmithing tells me that whoever wrote this surely has never worked on the 1911 and all of the newer designs. The newer designs tend to have more parts and more complicated double action trigger designs. Most of the .45 designs out there are nothing more than variations of the Browning short recoil design that was used in the 1911. The real difference in the newer designs usually lie in the trigger mechanism (double action as opposed to single action) and the magazine capacity (double stacked as opposed to single stacked). The only other differences are the material that the frame is constructed of (steel, alloy, polymer).

I posted a similar thought when I first read that sentance. You'd be hard pressed to find someone LESS "gun-smith-inly" inclined than myself. I have a buddy who's a master machinist, tool and die maker, who's also quite a good hobby gunsmith. In the past, I've helped him with his computer problems, and we had come to an agreement... I would never take the side plate off my S&W revolvers again - even after showing me how to clean the lockwork, and put them back together, I was never able to reassemble them so they worked - and he wouldn't mess with his computer's configuration! We'd just leave that work to each other! LOL.

But seriously, I have NO problems at all, at stipping my 1911s down to pins. Complete disassembly, and replacing all the springs. It's really no big deal.

As I mentioned, proper fitting up the locking lugs and barrel bushing ARE highly skilled operations, but that's part of what an armorer does, when BUILDING the pistol. It's NOT a part of normal service.

Mark

[AnAmericanMother]

When my husband was in Officer Basic, the range sergeant said the same thing.

My husband picked up the 1911 and put five in the black. Made the sgt apoplectic. (He didn't know that my hubby was on his college rifle and pistol team and one of the starters . . . )

[verity]

[MarkL]

Please, stop passing these myths off as fact. An unsupported chamber will not cause a Kb. It might cause a case failure if the ammo is loaded too hot.

And the only time I've ever seen a case failure was in a 1911 with a double charge of 231. The barrel was stock (not ramped, so the base of the case was unsupported), and the results were a slightly burned and bruised off-hand, where the magazine was blown downward, out of the pistol.

Mark

[Andonius_99]

My Kimber .45 is extremely accurate.

I agree, you can practically drive nails with a lot of the newer 45's. I am particularly impressed with S&W's version of the 1911.

[ghostcat]

LoL, I've repaired my share of "cleaned" guns !

You are absolutely right, Ive heard it said that you have reached the ultimate in engineering design when you have reduced the number of parts to the lowest amount possible while still maintaining reliable function.

[MarkL]

Yes, and Federal finally admitted they had defective ammo. They did a recall and have since fixed the problem.

It's amazing what "bad" ammo can do. I was using some loads that I found off the Internet some years ago, with 165gr FMJBT (yes, Boat Tail!) 9mm bullets I found. The recoil was pretty stout, but I expected it given the heavy bullet weight. After about 5 magazines, the Taurus PT-99 I was shooting locked up. It took a while, but I was finally able to disassemble it, and it turned out that one of the 2 locking lugs had broken off, lodging it into a position where the action wouldn't cycle.

Later on, I found out that the load I was using was a +P+ submachine gun load! It was well over the 9mm proof loads!

Happily, Taurus fixed the pistol at no charge, although I didn't mention that I was shooting "home-brewed" loads.

Mark

[IndyTiger]

My .45 is a S&W 4506-1. Heavy as a tank, but it shoots accurately and feeds anything.