Here's my take, that I wrote over on the G&A forum.
Look at it this way.
When the 10mm came out, it bombed. It was made to solve a problem that didn't exist, to wit: something better than a .45 on a .45-sized platform.
The .40 S&W took off because it solved a problem that DID exist, to wit: something better than a 9mm on a 9mm-sized platform. It REALLY took off because it fit into most 9mm-sized guns with little more than a barrel and recoil-spring change. No re-tooling, or very little, and you get to re-issue a given gun in a larger diameter caliber, something that really appeals to American sensibilities. We love Magnums, and calibers that start with ".4" And for a darn good reason:
they work better.
Look at the 45 Glock the same way: something better than a .40 S&W, that fits into a .40-sized platform without a whole lot of modification.
How many 9mm/.40-sized guns exist in the market right now? How many really compact non-1911-based designs exist right now that run .45 caliber ammo? See the possibilities? (Comment edited. People on this board are NOT idiots, and should not be treated as such. 'Swhy I hang out here.
)
As for ballistics, a 200-grain bullet cooking along at 900 fps exceeds John Browning's original loading for the .45 ACP. What's not to like?
The real question for me is not whether or not the Glock 37 takes off. It now becomes how many other makers are going to modify and chamber their existing compact autos to be able to run fat .45 caliber bullets. If they can squeak it throught existing slide dimensions, it's a no-brainer except for single-stack magazines. As for full-size autos, how many people have wished for a .45 caliber High Power or CZ-75, for instance. The big factor has alway been cartridge overall length
I can see a LOT of exciting possibilities for this round. The inability to run heavy-bullet loads didn't slow the 357 Sig down much. I don't see it stopping this new 45 Short either. LOTS of people like to run 185's, and they certainly hit plenty hard. What'd happen if you stuffed those 165-grain Hydra-shoks in this round, hmmm?
Unfortunately, the ENTIRE REST OF THE COUNTRY is playing dense, if what I read on two or three other forums I looked at about this means anything. Universally, almost NO-ONE can stretch their brains around the potential of this round. I would say something like 1-2% of postings.
For that reason, I see this round to be doomed to being a commercial failure. No-one's got any imagination. If that winds up as the case, I will be unsurprised, but equally unimpressed.
THINK about it for a second. What neat little gun have you always thought would be THAT MUCH BETTER IF IT COULD JUST BE A .45? Never tried thinking like that? Why don't you try it NOW? Is that too much to ask?
Forgive my cynicism, please. It's making me a bit over-the-top with the acid tone. Price I pay for being able to think outside the box. I oughta give up hoping for the rest of the world to do that, but what the hey, hope is cheap. I sell a lot of it.
Wholesale.
Hard to regard that as an achievement, really. Optimism only goes so far.
H_R_G, alias L_H_R, alias Target Guy, alias Colin, well-known loon and expert craftsman. A proud TFL survivor, now riding The High Road.