.45 ACP outside the US

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Panzerschwein

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Hi! :) I'm curious to know what nations issue pistols using .45 ACP outside the States. Obviously this is a popular round in America, but I can't seem to find much about it's use anywhere else. Do any foreign militaries or police agencies issue it? Thanks for your wisdom!
 
Hi! :) I'm curious to know what nations issue pistols using .45 ACP outside the States. Obviously this is a popular round in America, but I can't seem to find much about it's use anywhere else. Do any foreign militaries or police agencies issue it? Thanks for your wisdom!
Norway, Mexico and Argentina made and issued .45 ACP pistols to their armed forces early in the 20th century. Many countries got US-made .45 weapons from the 1930's onward as military aid ( China, Soviet Union, Great Britain, etc. ) but did not issue the guns as standard. As for police forces, any bodies guess...

IMHO
 
I think there are two reasons why the 9mm prevails in foriegn nations:

1. Capacity and weight issues.

2. The round is not fired in smgs as much as 9x19. When stock are bought or manufactured it is easy to stay with one cailiber.

Just my guess.

It is quite popular among the civilian populations around world because some think that big fat round is cool, and some have solid reasons for it based upon rounds excellent performance and trak record over the years.
 
Foreign nations, especially in Europe prefer the 9mm. 9mm popularity exploded in Europe after NATO made the 9mm the standard cartridge. Almost similar as to why 9mm is so popular here and our military uses 9mm standard issue.

I was talking with some German troops on my way overseas and they have a sort of mystic attitude to .45 as some Americans have to .50BMG. They don't ask if it can shoot through schools but I did get questions of can it throw back a person a meter and the like.
 
Foreign nations, especially in Europe prefer the 9mm. 9mm popularity exploded in Europe after NATO made the 9mm the standard cartridge. Almost similar as to why 9mm is so popular here and our military uses 9mm standard issue.

I was talking with some German troops on my way overseas and they have a sort of mystic attitude to .45 as some Americans have to .50BMG. They don't ask if it can shoot through schools but I did get questions of can it throw back a person a meter and the like.
I don't know if it's true or not but I heard the Germans back in WWI and WWII gained a lot of respect for the .45 caliber weapons our troops were using. (1911 and Thompson) the Germans were using .32 and 9mm sidearms as well as 9mm submachine guns. I'd like to think the big bore struck fear into their hearts. But who knows.
 
Hi! :) I'm curious to know what nations issue pistols using .45 ACP outside the States. Obviously this is a popular round in America, but I can't seem to find much about it's use anywhere else. Do any foreign militaries or police agencies issue it? Thanks for your wisdom!
The only European user I'm aware of is Lithuania. Estonians had about 500 1911A1 these along with thousands of Makarovs were destroyed in January 2006 after then adopted H&K USP as standard military sidearm.
 
Wow guys thank you for the replies. I seem to remember some Scandinavian country using 1911 pattern clones. Read in article about it in a Surplus Firearms a few months back, but that was just about it. The caliber "11.4x23mm" or something like that was stamped on the slide. It does seem like the 9mm is the king of service pistol calibers here, I say here because I'm stationed in Germany lol. They don't have near the palette of calibers for duty handguns that we have.

I love both calibers, but I personally find 9mm easier to shoot and easier on the wallet, but I've had my eye on the Glock 21 for quite some time now.
 
The Greek Army still issues .45 M1911A1 pistols made during WWII and obtained after the war from the U.S. as military aid. They are also still in service with the Philippine Army.

At one time .45-caliber Sistema and Ballester Molina pistols were in service with the Argentine Army and various Police forces.
 
Norway adopted a modified version of the 1911 in 1914
It is also known as the Krongberg Colt. The slide release
came down the side of the frame further.

Argentina - 1927 Ballister-Molina was a variant

& the Spanish made Llama which are a copy but parts afaik aren't
interchangeable.

R-
 
Considering how many .45 1911 frames are made in Brazil and the Philippines I'd be real surprised if some of their military or police don't use .45's.

I also suspect that some German special ops teams probably are running H & K MK23's even though they were developed for SOCOM. I know that some special teams in the Indonesian, Malaysian, and Polish armed forces use them. But 9 X 19 has been entrenched in the European market for a long time.
 
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