I think I am going to consolidate to one pistol caliber...

[ST911]

Standardized on a few calibers for all uses years ago. Retained a few sentimental pieces in other calibers, but no intention of using them in any quantity. I'd carry a 10rd 9mm for the same reasons I carry a 15/17rd 9mm but capacity is a late consideration.

If a .45 shows up anywhere, it's with some combination of a gunwriter, someone ~60yo+, or that guy that always has to out-custom everyone. No swipe, just my reality.

Awhile back, I had trouble giving away .45ACP and .357SIG ammo. Pre-pandemic/election drought, many dealers wouldn't even trade in guns in those calibers.

[HCM]

If i was behind enemy lines my platform would likely be a ss 1911 in 45. Also established as an inherent concern here at PF is the belief that 9mm in a ss 1911 is less reliable than 45. But I think an underlying question/point here is, are 9 and 45 truly equal or does 45 offer some minor advantage even if that advantage was not based in terminal ballistics, being better on auto glass or something to that effect that, most things being equal, tilt it in favor of 45.

On another note, i prefer the recoil impulse of 45 over 9.

What ever the real or imagined terminal ballistics advantage of .45, there is a time / control penalty when multiple shots are required, whether that is multiple shots on one threat or the need to engage more than one threat.

Timers and Targets don’t lie.

10 rounds of 9mm is also slightly lighter than 10 rounds of .45 but that’s a secondary concern versus time to put effective hits on target.

And while it’s true, that the 1911 is most reliable and its original form, that being a steel framed 5 inch gun in 45, the 9 mm, 1911 reliability code has pretty much been cracked in the last 10 years. A single stack 9 mm 1911 is going to be just as reliable as any light weight or reduced size 45, caliber 1911 variant, which is what most people carrying .45 1911s actually carry.

[HCM]

I think he had this in mind:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FitzGerald_Special

I’m sure that is what he had in mind, but it still doesn’t make it a good idea.

Yes, I understand there was an articulated logic behind it but I disagree with that argument. It was a bad idea in 1923 and it’s a worse idea in 2023.

[HCM]

I haven’t seen the issue of factory ammo vs hand loads mentioned.

While hand-loads are pretty much a non starter for defensive use in 2023, I think using .45 acp for everything would necessitate hand loading for both economic and versatility reasons.

Most of the old timers who advocated .45 did not shoot full power hardball (or equivalent) all the time.

Most of their shooting was with reduced power 185 and 200 grain loads at either medium or “bunny fart” power levels.

All 45 all the time would probably require a spectrum ranging from 45 super loads in an HKUSP to lighter bullet loads in the 600 or 700 ft./s range.

[Totem Polar]

RR, Consolidate to 45acp, then get a lever gun to shoot 38/357. The j-frame won't adding a pistol caliber.

I like the way this man thinks.


I have tried soooo many times to “caliber consolidate.” I consider it a triumph of the spirit that I no longer have a .32acp (after selling, what… my 3rd Seecamp in my lifetime??) and I forced myself to jettison 45LC and .44special. Though I still miss the SAs that chambered those rounds—fortunately they all ended up with others here.

I cannot do without:

.22LR, in all lengths
.38/357 in all frame sizes AND lengths

.9mm if you don’t own a G26, you’re most likely wrong. If you’re in a 10-round ban state, which I now am simply by living long enough, then you’re *absolutely* wrong.

.380 I know, I know, but… G42. And model 34…

.45acp if you don’t own a 1911 1911s, you’re most likely wrong. If you’re in a 10-round ban state, which I now am simply by living long enough, then you’re *absolutely* wrong.

.243, .308, 12 gauge, 20 gauge, 16 gauge, .300BLK (AR-P)… .22mag…

“caliber consolidation” has proven to be a pipe dream for me. I bet I own another .44spec before the decade is out. And probably another fucking little seecamp. The potato chip of mouseguns, in more ways than one.

Good luck Rob. You remain one of my favorite crack smokers on this forum.

[shane45]

For what its worth and maybe uninteresting to anyone but I have always kept my calibers consolidated . I was for a very long time 45 in semi and 38/357 in revolver. 308 in bolt gun, 556 and 308 in semis.

Today im generally 45 in single stack and 9mm in double stack. For me there is negligible performance difference between the two. I do not feel like I am at a performance dissadvantage with 45. Anecdotal and relative to shooters in my area but i have taken overall match high score in IDPA with a 45 1911 against many a 9. But I have shot more 45 than all other pistol calibers combined(late 90's IPSC). In semis I have 556, 762 and 300blk. In precision guns thats where all bets are off and i have moved around a lot here. 260 rem for the semi and 6.5cm and 300 Norma for the bolt currently. Gauge has always been 12 . My only wheelie is a sa 45lc.

[Robinson]

I could sell the 1911 tomorrow and not be that worse off in terms of covering essential needs.

That's what you think.

[oregon45]

Perhaps a division between "working" calibers and "tinkering" calibers might be useful. "Working" calibers consisting of those of which you expend more than, say, 1,000 rounds a year. For myself, that would be 9mm, 38spl, .45 ACP, 12ga, .223 and .22lr. If I had to "consolidate" that list I'd drop .45 and .223 because I'd rather maintain my skills with a shotgun than with a carbine, and because I have the same guns in both 9mm and .45 (1911's and USP's) I could cut my consumption of .45 without reducing relevant exposure to the guns.

In terms of "tinkering" calibers I have probably two dozen that I handload for and, at any one time, I may have between 50 and 500 rounds available depending on the caliber. I see no need to maintain more than 50 loaded rounds of 450/400 3" Nitro Express, for example, and "consolidating" by giving up that caliber would gain me only one open space in the gun safe and about a square foot of shelving where the dies and reloading components reside.

[Dov]

I see no need to maintain more than 50 loaded rounds of 450/400 3" Nitro Express, for example, and "consolidating" by giving up that caliber would gain me only one open space in the gun safe and about a square foot of shelving where the dies and reloading components reside.

if your looking for reasons to keep more than 50 loaded rounds for your 450/400 consider:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Footfall

https://www.amazon.com/Footfall-Larr.../dp/0345323440

[eclecticmoose]

If I had to go to one pistol caliber it would be .38 Special, or .38/357, if I may.

I would choose S&W J-K-L-N frames or the Ruger version of LCR/SP/GP/RH in various configurations.