Compact .45cal for CCW

[KahrKarrier]

Recently I shot a buddies Para Ord P-10. It was a great little gun and I really liked it. Now I have the hots for a compact .45cal CCW piece.
A question or two comes to mind. I wonder about the effectiveness (ballistically) of JHP's in a slow mover like .45acp fired from a pistol with a 3.0" or 3.5" barrel, any comments? I have read and heard that the really compact 1911's are troublesome which kinda puts the Glock models up to the front of my wish list.
Now to open a can of worms, next to my friends P-10, the only other .45 I have ever fired was a full size Colt military model, great gun but too big for me to use as a CCW piece. Next question: If I were to buy a semi-auto in .45cal, what follows is my wish list of favorites, (not interested in a full size 1911) Para ORD P-10, Glock 30 or 36, Kimber Ultra Carry II, Colt Defender, Springfield Armory Ultra Compact, S&W CS45 Chief's Special.
I love my Kahr's but just gotta have a compact .45. Any recommendations or comments will be most appreciated. Thanks------Jed

 

[Sox]

My top 3 are the Glock 36, Colt Defender, Sig P245. Between the 245 and 36 the 245 wins hands down because it is more comfortable to shoot. The Colt is the thinnest of the 3 by far and lightweight. All 3 were reliable and accurate. Have fun.

 

[12-34hom]

compact.

H&K usp compact or maybe Colt officers model would be excellent choices.

12-34hom.

 

[SouthpawShootr]

Would you consider a S&W 457? Little bit bigger than that CS45, but still much smaller than full-size guns. I love mine and have carried it a fair amount, but I shoot 9mm more often than not so that's what I carry. I didn't like the feel of the Glock 36, but did get the 30.

 

[priv8ter]

Firestorm

I bought a Firestorm Mini .45 to satisfy my urge for a compact .45. You can read my full feelings here:

http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?s=&threadid=26241

But, to some it up, it is not a bad piece, especially when you look at the price of a little over $300.

It's not perfect though...a bit, a bit of hammer bite, and a hard time with the only hollow points I tried, Winchester Silver Tips. But, due to some velocity issues in .45 out of short barrels, I carry FMJ.

 

[Bren]

I like, and have had good luck with the 4" compact 1911's for all round carry and the best of all worlds for reliability, control, and FPS.

Cor-Bon "power ball" and other lighter/faster 45acp rounds work well in shorter barrels. Bren

 

[Trisha]

My Kimber Compact Stainless and my HK USP Compact are both superlative firearms. I wholeheartedly recommend either. My chrono stats are skewed due to altitude (thin air at 9,200-10,300ft where I shoot).

Both feed Cor-Bon's without a glitch - so to me it's not an issue.

Trisha

 

[COK]

I have had no problems with a S&W 457S. I looked at the CS45 but found the 457 felt a bit better in my hand and still easy to carry.

 

[10-Ring]

In the compact 45, I like the USPc 45. In the subcompact, I like the Glock 36.

 

[jercamp45]

Ahh, a favorite subject...compact rock throwers!!

I have been looking for the 'perfect' one for 27 years...so I have played with quite a few!
Owned a Star PD, LW Commander, Steel Officer's, LW Officer's, 1991A1 Compact, 2 Glock 30's, a AMT Back Up .45(interesting experiment), Star Firestar(ugh!) and ParaOrd LDA Companion. Shot the Detonic's Combat Master, ParaP12, SA Micro, Kimber Ultracarry, Colt Defender and CCO, S&W 457(personally? YUCK!) and Glock 36!!
My favorites are the 1911 variants...Colt Concealed Carry Officer's comes in first, though I do not own one(yet!). They can be found used. I wish Colt would reintroduce it!! The Officer's frame is a great boone to concealed carry and the Commander lenth slide adds reliability, balance, and accuracy to the equasion.
Kimber makes the Compact in this style too!
And Caspian makes the titanium officer's frame and commander slide(in damascus as well...talk about a dreamgun....well that is mine, along with an HK UMP .45 subgun! Oh, and Nexus supressor for both!!)
And ParaOrd has their LDA CCW in that format...though it is all steel...the LDA triggers are really nice!!!!
At the moment I own a steel and lw Officer's(one is a car gun, one an off duty carry) and the ParaOrd LDA Companion, which is my duty gun(security in a most interesting area of Las Vegas).
I personally have never had a problem with the Officer's models(though the LW wears an oversized King's bushing, the steel is straight Colt other than a hard matte chrome, beavertail and extended thumb safety...I got it in 1986 and It has worked all the time!)!
The Para works great too...just need to change the recoil spring every 800-1000 rds.
The Springfield belonged to a friend and he had challenges with it until he added a wilsons two piece guide rod.
The Glocks are OK, if they fit your hand...I guess they'll do. The 30's were just too fat for me, and the 36 does not do anything my Officer's will not(my three primaries shoot the same ammo outta the same wilson's mags and I have alot of those...10 or 12).
I have heard both good and bad about Kimber's...my friend replaced his SA Micro with an Ultracarry CDP and loves it.
The lighter weight does make it more comfortable for daily carry....I carried a Commander for years and the Star PD for awhile....it was fairly reliable...but I started having problems(bye, bye Star). I still have the Commander(and two Governments) in a safe in the midwest...but the subject is Compacts!!
Well, that about covers it...but the breed is my favorite for defense and concealed carry, AND Uniformed duty....thin, flat, reliable; 8 big, heavy, fat bullets(I used 230's exclusively, JHP's for defense and ball for practise...I want the biggest heaviest rock I can chuck, thanks!) to deal with a close encounter of the worst kind.
I have a jay frame 38 that I occassionally put in my pocket, but it is SO rare now(in a decent IWB rig the Officer's frame just disappears under a slightly larger polo or t-shirt!), I am thinking about selling it and going to where I last saw that used Colt CCO.......one can never have too many Prancing Ponies in his collection!!
DVC....
Jercamp45

 

[BerettaNut92]

I don't like compact .45s, but if I had to, it would be the HK, which used to be my carry gun.

ARe you related to KahrCarrier?

 

[Poohgyrr]

Random thoughts from my scatterbrained head:

I had a Star PD for a few years. Comfortable & accurate, but it began falling apart with ball ammo.

The PO P12 just doesn't fit me for some reason, and I've heard way too many complaints about their mags.

The G30 is ugly, but really accurate, reliable, and is just too practical to ignore. Mags are cheap too.

 

[w1mnk]

Para Carry C6.45, advertised as the smallest 45ACP pistol in production (at least it used to be). I love mine, and it truly a drop in the pocket firearm.

 

[kentucky bucky]

my vote to glock 30

My Glock 30 is a small pistol that thinks it's a big pistol. It shoots great groups (it will shoot better than me), has 11 rounds capacity, but doesn't have much sting to it, as in muzzle flip. Add a pinkie rest to some of your mags and you could forget it's a shortie. They are a little thick, but that doesn't bother me, because it's a powerhouse in my pocket.

 

[Tamara]

I'm not real big on tiny 1911's. Although I've owned a Springfield V-10 and a ParaOrd P-12 that were both fine performers, I just prefer the full size guns.

As far as the guns on your list go, the only one I've seen that seems to have more than its share of "issues" is the Para P-10; I don't think I've seen one of those things that wasn't a shop queen. I still own a G30; it's the only Glock I own, and it's a right handy little package.