.45 ACP: Reputation deserved or no?

[ZekeLuvs1911]

First off, what this post is not. It is not a discussion about whether the .45 is better than the 9mm or etc. It is not whether a 1911 is the best designed gun or not. I just want to poll what you all think about the reputation of the .45 ACP cartridge. Do you think the .45 ACP 230 gr. FMJ cartidge deserves the reputation that it has? Why or why not? Thanks!

 

[Byron Quick]

230 gr. FMJ's reputation? That's really a sorta-kinda indeterminate question there. Who carries 230 gr. FMJ for self defense?

On the other hand, my 230 gr. Gold Dot's by Georgia Arms? Yeah, they deserve their reputation.

My 230 gr. Triton Quik-Shoks? Yeah, they deserve their reputation.

I don't know of anyone who has a high opinion of ball ammo in any pistol caliber...fired from a pistol-not against goblins or critters.

Bottom line: exactly what reputation do you mean?

 

[10-Ring]

I think it's a well earned reputation, based on YEARS of field data!

 

[Neal Bloom]

Seems to have worked over the years.

 

[megatronrules]

I think its deserved. Lets be realistic here. The .45 FMJ was stopping people before most of us were born. Are Hollowpoints better? Yes im sure that they are. They are also much more expensive. I have on occasion when money was extremely low used ball in my gun. Thankfully never needed it A HP may expand to .55 or even .75 caliber. Big Deal. Either way at any rate the "worst" thing you can have is ball ammo for defense. In which case,the target will have a 230 grain .45 caliber slug impacting it. Not going to be fun on the targets end im sure. Thats not so bad in my opinion Many servicemen and people who have seen the **** hit the fan, owe their lifes to their 1911's. I doubt they were throwing Hydra-Shocks,Gold Dots, or any other wonder slug. That being said i keep Hydras in my .45 for the overpenatrion factor. Im afraid that in a house ball will punch through something a HP wont. Smart *** mode off

 

[ZekeLuvs1911]

I'm talking about the reputation that the .45 has acquired over the years as a "man-stopper." I use 230 gr FMJ because that is the cartridge that gained the reputation. No HP back in 1914.

 

[Blackhawk]

All reputations are deserved.

 

[T.Stahl]

Hmm, are we talking about a good or a bad reputation?

 

[Tady45]

I shoot 230 grain Black Talons, Speer Gold Dots, Fed Hydra Shocks etc. I don't know about reputation, but I know that most SWAT teams, and HRT's use these type of rounds. I would hate to be on the business end of any of these



Larry

 

[BigG]

Yup.

 

[megatronrules]

I would hate to be on the end of one of those too! As a matter of fact I would hate to be on the business end of a .25
Who's with me?

 

[Blackhawk]

Hmm, are we talking about a good or a bad reputation?

Doesn't matter.

 

[cratz2]

The 45ACP has a 90+ year long earned reputation for stopping folks on the other side, whatever that means.

Of course, the 9mm does have a pretty long reputation as well.

 

[Topgun]

I carry hardball.

Silvertip in chamber. Glock 30. It has NEVER jammed on ANYTHING.....but.....why chance it?
I am confident that anything that can't be stopped by plain old 45 ACP hardball should make me run away.

I also have thoughts about the effectiveness of the frangible or expanding stuff on things like auto glass or thick clothing.

I ....FEEL....enough security from the ol punkin ball.

Maybe not, but I hope I never find out.

(I must be a risk taker cuz besides having hardball backing up the first Silvertip, I also only have 8 in the mag)

 

[ruger357]

Yup, served my country well all these years.

 

[Missouri Mule]

Why? Who you been talkin too?

 

[Nightcrawler]

I think the biggest advantage of Hollow Point Rounds is that they're less likely to overpenetrate, a safety issue. They're still not going to put the badguy down any faster if you don't hit something vital.

At least, with hardball, if you don't hit something vital, you give him two holes to bleed out of!

 

[4thHorseman]

"Do you think the .45 ACP 230 gr. FMJ cartidge deserves the reputation that it has? Why or why not? "
Yes. Battle ground proven.

 

[Bainx]

I've said it a kazillion times...."why put a small hole in the BG, when you can put a big hole in the BG?"

 

[gryphon]

I use ball ammo in my 1911's without hesitation. I don't want to get shot by anything, least of all 230gr, almost half inch chunk of metal.

 

[Autolite]

'Small holes vs big holes'...

I read somewhere that the shock effect, (and blood loss), increased exponentially by creating two or more 'small' holes than one big hole. I thought that's why the military dropped the .45ACP and went to a higher capacity 9mm ...

 

[MarineTech]

Through family experienced garnered from my grandfather as a Marine (Marshalls, WW2), my father as a Marine (Vietnam), and myself as a Marine (Gulf War & Somalia), all of us using the same Remington Rand 1943 production 1911A1, I can most certainly say that the 230gr. FMJ round is fully deserving of its reputation as a man stopper. I have used it, and would certainly continue to use it in defense of my life.

 

[Nightcrawler]

The problem with trying to figure out stopping power is the almost unlimited variables that affect whether or not the person will actually drop when shot.

All you really have to go on is field data from other shootings. People like Marine Tech, who've used the .45ACP round in combat, trust it, so I do too.

This is not to say that 9mm, etc. won't kill you, of course. I mostly just like big bore guns of all sorts.

If they made a FAL in .45-70 I'd be all over it.

 

[blades67]

Yes, it is a deserved reputation.

 

[Matthew Courtney]

If you want to reliably stop a BG, use a long gun. A handgun's primary use is to allow you to fight your way back to your rifle.