.45 acp in 2023/24

[GJM]

I have been really enjoying shooting the 10mm FN 510 the last few days. They also make the FN 545, which is a similar pistol, except in .45.

Any reason to have a FN striker in .45 these days, if you have its near twin in 10mm?

[Bruce Cartwright]

GJM:

Speaking to the 45 ACP issue (I have no experience with the FN Pistols you mentioned), here are a couple of thoughts:
1. 45 brass and components are easier to find and cheaper to buy the 10mm.
2. There are better outdoor/grizzly defensive loads available for the 45 now (Think the Lost River Ammo Co 45 +P 255 flat nose). I have little experience with the 10 mm cartridge (what experience I have with it centers around the H&K MP5/10 submachinegun) so I won't speak to which is better the 10 or 45 for big animal defense but the 45 has better selection of those kind of loads today.
3. The 45 is an exceptionally easy cartridge to reload for and tends to produce very good accuracy in most handguns.
4. While I have transitioned to running mostly 9X19mm handguns, I still have a fondness for the 45. I carried a Glock 21 for years and am very comfortable with that round. I cannot imagine keeping house without a 45 ACP.
5. I suspect, but have no empirical data to prove, that a wider range of loads can be easily loaded with 45 brass, than the 10. Everything from target wadcutters, to 200 grain IPSC loads to 230 grain ball, hollowpoints to ultra heavy bullet loads.
6. Sentimental Reasons: The 45 is still America's caliber.
7. Practice ammo is less expensive than similar loads in the 10mm.

Buy both and drive on.

Bruce

[MickAK]

Any reason to have a FN striker in .45 these days, if you have its near twin in 10mm?

Off the top of my head I can think of about 7 different handguns I read a review of yours on and decided I didn't need or have any interest in.

Said handguns would have needed mags, spare parts, sighting systems, optics, and ammunition.

Gas to travel to range, taxes on said gas, vehicle maintenance, speeding tickets.

Aside from GDP, not really, no.

[Salamander]

I currently reload for 9mm, 38/357, and 45acp and keep factory self-defense loads for same on the shelf.

Having culled 40, 357 Sig, 327, and probably a couple other things from the mix in recent years I'm not interested in adding anything back in. At least for pistol, my current intent is to keep things simple (harder to do with rifle because of having a few old mil surp examples that I still enjoy shooting occasionally, but those are just range toys).

So for me, 45 stays as part of the mix, mainly for woods carry, but only in HK/Glock and my one old Colt Series 70 that rarely leaves the safe. Currently no interest in adding more platforms, or 10mm, or any other new calibers. It's ironic that some of us spend most of our adult lives accumulating more stuff, then turn around and start getting rid of much of it.

[YVK]

If you took up bowling pin shooting, 45 might knock them off and out better.

[GJM]

If you took up bowling pin shooting, 45 might knock them off and out better.

Bowling pin division, interesting. I haven't heard about that newest provisional division in USPSA, but as life members, you and Cheby may have special access to board deliberations and plans.

[fatdog]

What Bruce said, plus the fact we know 10mm is hard on guns. We have no data on the long term reliability of that FN model but simply based on the pressures and recoil characteristics of the two rounds I am willing to bet than on average the .45ACP version lasts 2-3 times as long before breakage and wear take their toll, so it is a good practice unit for the 10mm version assuming the ergos and trigger are identical.

[fatdog]

...no interest in adding more platforms, or 10mm, or any other new calibers. It's ironic that some of us spend most of our adult lives accumulating more stuff, then turn around and start getting rid of much of it.

Truth. I have delved into 10mm at least three times in my life and completely bailed within a few years each time. At my age there simply won't be a 4th time. And I am daily haunted by the need to continue getting rid of all sorts of stuff now.

[mmc45414]

Maybe it is more an FN question, if you really dig shooting the FN the advantage would be from a cost perspective, both your wallet and your wrist.

[revchuck38]

Any reason to have a FN striker in .45 these days, if you have its near twin in 10mm?

Nope. But for most of us, the reverse is true, too.