Why the .45 Matters

Strategy Page ^ | Feb 1, 2006

[MarkL]

I have a .40 cal. Firestar. It is very compact but really heavy. When loaded it feels like it is a chunk of lead.Pistol recoil doesn't bother me right up to a .44 mag but that is as much as I want to experience. If I had a 50 S&W, I would download for it.

It's got a very sharp recoil, but my biggest problem is that the read edge of the safety bests on my thumb knuckle, and it gets really sore after just a few rounds.

Mark

[CGTRWK]

There is no difference in handling and no practical difference in accuracy between ball and SWC ammo. The only thing you get with semi wadcutters is cleaner hole in paper targets for easy scoring.

Full wadcutters with a large meplat have a greater wounding effect in soft tissue than ball, but generally won't feed in autos.

[Gordongekko909]

Yeah, but nobody this side of Chuck Norris has the wrists for that. And come on... .50 cal? What are you trying to put down, an 18-wheeler?

[GVnana]

Wow. A gun porn thread and it's not even Friday!

[School of Rational Thought]

"The 9mm is a metrosexual pistol. The .45 is a man's gun. "

My gun is huge, but my firearm is 9mm.

[SauronOfMordor]

And come on... .50 cal? What are you trying to put down, an 18-wheeler?

A few weeks back, a friend let me shoot his .50 S&W Magnum revolver. The brass case was big enough to swallow a .45 round whole. With porting, the recoil was managable (then again, we're both pretty big guys)

[SauronOfMordor]

And as to "what am I trying to put down", if you have to ask, the answer won't mean anything to you.

It's big, it's load, and it makes big holes. What more does a man need?

[mad_as_he$$]

During the Southeast Asia War Games I popped a VC at about 125 yards with an M-16A1 FMJ 56 grain(I think)three times, he kept coming and coming and coming shooting his AK. It was clear he wanted to get a gringo that day. Well, I was clip deficient and everybody else was busy. So I drew my 45, thumbed the hammer and popped him high in the chest at about 10 yards, it knocked him flat on his back and stopped him cold. When the smoke cleared we examined him and found that I had tagged him three times in the lower torso with the M-16 and ALL three had gone through and out. It should be noted that the 45's were not regulation (my Uncle's special brew of hot round and hollow point, And for the people that are going to write and say that a HP will not work in a 45 - all's I can say is I am here now.)

The next day I made two changes. Since the group I was with had some latitude in weapons choice I switched to MAC-10 in 45 and I ALWAYS kept my 45 cocked and locked.

[SauronOfMordor]

load = loud

[SauronOfMordor]

A guy I knew in my younger days was in WW2. He said he shot a german soldier in the face at close range. The guy didn't have a head any more

[Terabitten]

There's also the .50 Desert Eagle

I've got access to several Desert Eagles - one of which is in .50.

It sucks to shoot. It feels like someone punching you in the hand with every round. Usually after about two magazines, I'm done.

[mad_as_he$$]

While I truly love and carry a slab sides daily, I have had occasion to use a 357 with a medium load and reversed wad cutters. Let's just say that that is a wound equal to a Civil War musket and leaves a lot of work for the Corner.

[mad_as_he$$]

I believe it! Scary round to have coming at you.

[calex59]

Yes, to the .45. It will put them down and it works well with hollow points if you know what you are doing. I just never trusted the 5.56 round and hated it when I had to trade in my M-14(which I carried for some time.)For close combat give me a shot gun or a .45 cal submachine gun and a 1911, they didn't call the Thompson a broom trench for nothing! I got out soon after I traded the M-14 for the M-16 but still have an affection for large slow moving rounds and large fast moving rounds!

Elmer Keith was my source for many years until he died. He thought the 30-06 was a varmit round!:) However, some of his ideas were correct, large rounds put things down better than small calibers do.

[Terabitten]

One reason the so called stopping power of the 9 is not evident is because they use ball ammunition and it does not expand and give take advantage of the velocity.

That's a *HUGE* issue. There's a reason that damn near every law enforcement agency in the country went to 9mm back in the 80s. With hollow points, you get decent "stopping power" and can carry a sh!tload of ammo (see my tagline.)

With hollow points, 9mm Luger does just fine. The problem is that the military uses ball ammo, and as the author rightly states, 9mm ball tends to overpenetrate.

If you are restricted to using ball ammo (which the military is, essentially), then it's a no-brainer: bigger is better. If the we ever quit following the BS parts of the Geneva Convention, then 9mm hollowpoint would be just dandy.

[tarator]

As far as I'm concerned when you need to know what it takes to put a six foot man six feet under, foot-pounds just seems to make a lot more sense.

Yeah, but our troops rarely get to do that. Usually, their enemy is a 2 metre, 80 kg man.

[calex59]

You are correct, however, I would still prefer 185 grn hollow points in the .45 to any 9 mm ammo. I know, I know, you can carry more 9s and with hollow points they do work fine(this was one of the reasons the old .38 long colt and todays .38 special didn't perform as well as they could, hard lead bullets are just about as bad as FMJ). My personal defense gun now is a .44 special(loaded up a little!)and I love it for it's accuracy and its stopping power, large is better as far as I am concerned but still some people prefer the 9 and if the right ammo is used it is a good defense gun.

Actually, I have a bunch of personal defense guns but carry the .44 most of the time!

[umgud]

This is what REAL men use!!!

Is that what they call tactical?

[dangerdoc]

The 180 grain hollow point is the flying ashtray. Big fat hole in the middle. I have a couple boxes of the +p 180 grain ashtrays down stairs. More than 500 ft lbs, pretty accurate and I've never had a jam with the stuff. The only problem is the colt bites the web of my thumb with the +p stuff.

[Republican Extremist]