Am I crazy for thinking about buying a .45 GAP?

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TTv2

TTv2

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IDK why, maybe it was the 10rd mag capacity law that got passed and signed this year where I live, maybe it's because I'm bored, maybe it's because used GAP's can be found cheap, or maybe it's because .45 GAP uses only small primers while .45 ACP most of the brass I find for free is large primer and I have a lot more small primers than large, but I'm thinking about getting one.

I don't have any interest in the smallest one that only holds 6 rds in the mag, but the G17 and G19 equivalent .45 GAP Glocks are tempting me for some reason.

So, for one who reloads, are the .45 GAP Glocks worth getting even if it's just for curiosity? If yes, which model would be the one to get?

For the record, I have a Glock in every size except the 19, so the G38 has more appeal given it is most different compared to all other Glocks I have.
 
If you reload it makes sense, otherwise not because I imagine that the cost of a box of .45GAP ammo is high and the availability is scarce. Since you don't have a 19 size Glock it makes sense to buy the 38.
Nice video review here:
 
If you were thinking that it was somehow superior to .40, 9mm or .45ACP I'd say you were, not crazy, but misguided. With the size gun it is used in, I do see the advantage over .45ACP for a carry gun, but not over 9mm or .40S&W. For a home defense gun, I can understand preferring .45 over 9mm or .40, but then there is no size advantage and I'd go with the easier to find .45ACP. Since you are looking for something fun and different to add to the collection, that sounds like a great reason to add a .45GAP! The fact that it could then be used as a 9mm/.40S&W sized carry gun in a .45 caliber is just the icing on the cake.
 
Something to keep in mind is the GAP can be loaded to a little higher pressure than the ACP. The GA Highway Patrol used them for years until a few years back, locally you could find them for $325 with ammo and extra mags, they shoot soft, smaller chassis than a 45ACP, ammo is available but pricey recently, easy to find parts and holsters. The GAP never took off like the 40S&W
 
rdnktrkr said:
Something to keep in mind is the GAP can be loaded to a little higher pressure than the ACP. The GA Highway Patrol used them for years until a few years back, locally you could find them for $325 with ammo and extra mags, they shoot soft, smaller chassis than a 45ACP, ammo is available but pricey recently, easy to find parts and holsters. The GAP never took off like the 40S&W
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IMO, the GAP coming out a year before the AWB sunset made the appeal of a smaller .45 that met the mag capacity law very limited and years after the GAP hit the market more .45 ACP's in smaller pistols (M&P, Shield, etc.) came out and the ammo availability for any new handgun cartridge is always suspect, about the only one that's come out the past 30-40 years that's had any success has been .40 and 10mm. Even with the 5.7 fad as strong as ever the ammo supply is not there to support it.

Few years ago I got used Glock .40 Gen 4's for under $400 shipping included, so I think if I do go for a GAP I'll wait for the prices to drop more. I doubt ammo supply for the GAP is ever going to improve, more than likely will continue to get worse given how few pistols have been made in the chambering. Lack of consistent ammo supply does wonders for lowering gun prices.
 
TTv2 said:
...the ammo availability for any new handgun cartridge is always suspect, about the only one that's come out the past 30-40 years that's had any success has been .40 and 10mm
Click to expand...
You have to bear in mind the real reason that the 45 GAP exist. Regardless of what their marketing department wants you to believe, it really wasn't about putting .45ACP stopping power into a 9mm sized pistol...that had already been addressed with the .40 S&W. It was all about having a cartridge on that market that had the Glock name as part of it's label...like .45 C(olt) AP, .40 S(mith) & W(esson), and .44 Remington Magnum

I actually like the 45 GAP, but for a completely different reason. The GAP fits in a revolver chamber in .45ACP and would be loaded with moon clips. The shorter case makes for more efficient powder burn and smoother loading in IDPA competition (limited to 6-shot revolvers)
 
I get that, but if I'm gonna shoot a short case .45 in a revolver I'll use the Cowboy Special instead.

Nobody is really telling me not to do this, so if in the coming months or years I see a Glock 37 or 38 for a good price and primers come back, I won't hesitate to pick one up.
 
Our State Police used them for a little while. They used to shoot at our range and were pretty lazy about cleaning up after themselves and I ended up with a bunch of 45GAP brass, and didnt even have a gun.

Came across a 37 in a local shop for cheap a couple of years back (they seem to be the cheapest Glocks you see these days too) and grabbed it. The frame is basically a 9mm sized frame, the slide looks like somebody smacked it and it swelled up. They wont fit your other holsters.

Reloading for them didnt go quite as planned. Contrary to what Id read around the web, I couldnt use the 45acp dies I have, so I had to get a GAP specific set, and there were no 230 grain loads I could find either, none I was willing to trust anyway, so I had to get some 200 grain bullets. They use small pistol primers too, which isnt a biggie, but if you've got more large pistol, and its panic land in the reloading world..... Just finding load data for the powders I normally use, was a challenge too. I eventually did get it figured out, and it shot well.

I didnt keep mine long. Something else caught my eye and it ened up trading fodder.
 
trackskippy said:
Reloading for them didnt go quite as planned. Contrary to what Id read around the web, I couldnt use the 45acp dies I have, so I had to get a GAP specific set
Click to expand...
Much like using the same dies to reload .38Spl and .357Mag, you can use the dies for the shorter cases for the longer ones (by using a spacer), but the reverse doesn't work
 
They do, but you do see 45acp cases now with small pistol primers too. I find them from time to time when the LP primer wont go in when priming them, no matter how hard I push down on that lever. :)

The GAP cases arent a 45acp just trimmed down from what I remember, and are different internally.
 
From what I have seen the SP on the 45APC was "to be able to load to a higher pressure". The last sale I saw (Today) all of the 45APC was small PP.
I do not know if that is true or not. Go figure I traded off all of my SSP for large last summer!
IIRC the 45 GAP has a thicker web area allowing for higher pressure, trimming down a standard 45APC to GAP length might work, but will not have the higher pressure advantage of the GAP
 
hk940 said:
IIRC the 45 GAP has a thicker web area allowing for higher pressure, trimming down a standard 45APC to GAP length might work, but will not have the higher pressure advantage of the GAP
Click to expand...

Very true, but for practice/plinking ammo you'll be able to find a load that'll work. For carry ammo (if you're carrying) you'll be most likely using factory ammo. At least that's how I'd do things. So for me, the lower pressure ceiling of my practice brass wouldn't seriously impact me much (if I had a 45GAP).
 
.30 super carry and .45 gap are a lot alike. Yes your stupid. Most gun people are stupid. I know…
 
TTv2 said:
IDK why, maybe it was the 10rd mag capacity law that got passed and signed this year where I live, maybe it's because I'm bored, maybe it's because used GAP's can be found cheap, or maybe it's because .45 GAP uses only small primers while .45 ACP most of the brass I find for free is large primer and I have a lot more small primers than large, but I'm thinking about getting one.

I don't have any interest in the smallest one that only holds 6 rds in the mag, but the G17 and G19 equivalent .45 GAP Glocks are tempting me for some reason.

So, for one who reloads, are the .45 GAP Glocks worth getting even if it's just for curiosity? If yes, which model would be the one to get?

For the record, I have a Glock in every size except the 19, so the G38 has more appeal given it is most different compared to all other Glocks I have.
Click to expand...
Yup, you're crazy but aren't we all......... ;)
 
Why? Hard to find ammo and brass. Expensive and not any improvement over 45, 9 or 40. There is a reason why they are cheap.
 
G30S is not all that much larger than G19. It is wider, yes. But it's not insurmountable. Not enough of a difference over G38 in order to suffer 45GAP, IMHO.
 
I was in my LGS last week and he was asking about .45 GAP. He took in some ammo and he didn’t know anything about it. I suspect he’ll have a challenge trying to find a buyer!
 
I just don't see were there is a real world advantage to having a 45gap???

I like the 45acp and currently don't own a 9 or 40. If ten round capacity is the ticket try a compact Springfield Arms XDM or a compact Glock.
If a new cartridge is something that you want to tryout do you have a 10mm and/or 357 sig? They are more popular an much more likely to be here for the long haul.
 
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