In the past, we've covered ammunition designed for rifles. This time around, we’re going to dive into one of the more common – though perhaps not the most popular – pistol rounds ever created. If you’re into the 1911 pistol platform, you probably are very familiar with the .45 ACP round. For those new to the handgun game, while it seems 9mm pistols run the roost, that wasn’t always the case; the .45 ACP was at one time America’s pistol cartridge of choice. And for some, it still is.
History
Before jumping into the ballistics, benefits and reasons you may want to get a gun chambered in .45 ACP, let’s look at the cartridge’s history, because that tells us why the U.S. government was a fan. For a long while, revolvers were what was carried exclusively; they were reliable, but the downside was limited capacity. Furthermore, the guns were heavy, especially when chambered for and loaded with .45 Colt cartridges. For that reason, soldiers carried the .38 Colt, but found that it wasn’t as effective in combat as they needed it to be to stop threats of the human kind.
That’s when the government determined more firepower was needed. It requested that a cartridge with ballistics matching the .45 Colt be put into a smaller cartridge that could function from a semi-auto, decreasing weight and increasing capacity, if only by a round or two. In 1911, John Moses Browning and Colt made the 1911 pistol, which fired the then-new .45 Automatic Colt Pistol cartridge, or .45 “ACP” for short. That pistol – and the .45 ACP cartridge – became renowned and revered by most pistol aficionados for decades.
Even now, you’ve probably heard the phrase or jokes about “two World Wars” in reference to the pistol/cartridge combination, and like it or not, it was for good reason. It's true that the guns could be finicky, because machining and tolerances aren’t what they are today, so parts had to wear in together. But firing the .45 ACP cartridge in the 1911 pistol – and more modern pistols – is still ubiquitous, and often mentioned in debates around the ballistics of pistol rounds when it comes to personal preferences.
Pistol Preferences
As mentioned, the .45 ACP started out life as the cartridge for the 1911. Nowadays, it can be chambered in most pistols, and with moon clips and a recessed cylinder, can even be fired in some revolvers. (Alanis Morrisette, this is irony.) Pistols from Glock, Walther, Ruger, Kimber, Springfield. Smith & Wesson, CZ, Colt … name the company, and it probably makes a gun chambered in .45 ACP. The cartridge isn’t relegated to pistols now, either. Many companies, like Ruger, make carbines or AR-style “pistols” (those with barrels shorter than 16") that fire the .45-caliber cartridge.
So while it may appear modern firearms are all about 9mm concealability and capacity, and 10mm power, the .45 ACP still has a plethora of firearms backing it, as if the 1911 platform didn’t give it plenty of life already as a classic firearm/cartridge combo that’s been going strong for over a century.
Firing the .45
All this history is great, but it demands a new question: Can the .45 ACP still throw its weight around as a contender? Looking at ballistics, I’d certainly say so. Considering the other half-dozen common ones (for argument’s sake, we’ll stick with 9mm, 10mm, .380 ACP, .40 S&W, .38 Special and .357 Mag.), the .45 ACP definitely holds its own. After all, it does shoot the heaviest bullets out of the bunch, with most projectiles coming in at 230 grains. The other rounds may go faster (barring the .380 and maybe the .38 Special), but speed isn’t everything. The .45 ACP will leave a slightly bigger hole, and you don’t need speed when momentum from increased weight is on your side.
Big Projectile, Little Noise
On the note of speed, many of the previously listed rounds exit the average pistol barrel going faster than the speed of sound. The .45 ACP, however, is subsonic (slower than the speed of sound, which is about 1,100 fps, or around there based on other environmental factors). Therefore, it is one of the more suppressor-friendly cartridges out there, and with prices for suppressors coming down due to the commonality of the item, that’s a win for shooters who want to try out this easily suppressed big-bore pistol round.
Do More with Less
The one definite downside to the .45 ACP is capacity. But that alone can be reconciled if you’re willing to put out some cash. For example, Kriss (yes, the company that makes one of the more unique .45 ACP firearms, known as the Vector) makes a 30-round magazine based on a Glock 21 mag; Kriss offers an extended body which can be bought and paired with an existing Glock 21 magazine, or you can buy it preassembled from Kriss.
That said, with 30 rounds of .45 ACP on board, I don’t think there will be any problems with capacity in the case of the .45 ACP – assuming your firearm can take Glock mags. What I’m getting at is, there are work-arounds even for this potential problem, which can be easily mitigated.
Is It Right for You?
Considering the extra mass in the bullet (and therefore the more energy put on target), the larger hole created when looking at terminal ballistics, the simplicity of suppressing the cartridge, and now the increased ammo capacity, the .45 ACP cartridge shouldn’t be overlooked based on performance. And c’mon… who can argue with a pedigree like the .45 ACP has? If you’re in the market for a classic firearm like the 1911, or you want something modern but unique, you’ll be well-served to pick a gun chambered in .45 ACP.
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