.45 acp in 2023/24

[Trooper224]

One thing the .45 may not do as well as a spicy 9mm is penetrate sheet metal. Does it matter? IDK, but I’m around cars a lot more than dangerous animals so it earns the caliber one demerit from me.

Having some experience with that, I can say that any difference is largely academic.

[awp_101]

Do the 510 and 545 use the same frame? A G21 is a no-go for my hand size but the 545 is interesting if the frame is smaller/slimmer than a G21. AFAIK there's no 5" M&P but if there was, that would be my polymer .45.

[GJM]

Do the 510 and 545 use the same frame? A G21 is a no-go for my hand size but the 545 is interesting if the frame is smaller/slimmer than a G21. AFAIK there's no 5" M&P but if there was, that would be my polymer .45.

510/545 have the same size frame, and it feels closer in size to an FN 509 than a G20/21.

[SW CQB 45]

Any sense whether in a similar pistol, for example, Glock 20 versus 21, or FN 510 versus 545, whether 45 is inherently more reliable than 10?

So my younger LE days packing a G21 on duty. I hung out with two coppers one with me at the PD and the other was his nephew at the SO. These two guys were big hunters and bigger was better. 10mm was their choice. The nephew was a "crack" shot and could outshoot guys at a PPC match with custom guns. He would shoot his G20 equipped with Glock plastic sights. They both reloaded but were huge fans of Winchester Silver Tips 10mm. I think they were 170 grain (I could be wrong)

I never heard these guys having issues with G20.

The one I worked with, if I recall correctly his house was burglarized by some POS family member and stole his guns. He bought a brand new G20 and hammer fire the gun went bang. Slow, deliberate press, misfire. We discovered the back bend of the trigger bar was contacting the frame however a hammer fire would push past it. A little dremel work, clearanced the contact and never missed a beat after that.

When we first got issued our G21s, we were breaking extractors left and right. The ejection port was a 90 degree cut and Glock determined they needed to cut back the extractor area another 15 degrees to minimize the potential of breaking extractors. We had to send every slide back to Glock. They sent us some loaner slides and I think I still have some in my work storage area.

My buddy said they made G20 first and made it right.

[45dotACP]

Given the extraordinary accuracy of most .45 caliber Glocks, I'd be interested to see what the gen 5 "Marksman barrel" is capable of.

I've heard some say they've been able to get 5 shot groups sub 1" at 25 yards....which for a plastic gun might just be the craziest thing I've heard since I hot rodded my brother's M&P9 with an apex barrel...

[GJM]

Rules question -- can we take seriously a response pro 45, from someone with "45" in their screen name?

[Salamander]

There was an older fellow who was a regular at one of the local ranges until he passed a few years ago. Arguably the best bullseye shooter there, at age 82 he was still shooting one ragged hole with any of several 1911's in 45acp, strong hand only. He was a former Marine who had fought in Korea, then a Federal Marshall, then a firearms instructor for Treasury. Over the years I learned a lot from him.

I never saw him with anything other than a 45. For a long time I assumed it was because he was an old school 1911 guy. Finally I asked him.

He said it was mostly because he reloaded, and because of arthritis he had difficulty handling smaller caliber components. 45 was large enough that he had little difficulty with it. In his younger years he'd used other things, including a sweet custom PPC 38sp which he pulled out for me to handle.

Until that conversation it had never occurred to me that finger dexterity could be an argument in favor of 45. My fingers still work pretty well, so I'd had no reason to consider it til that day.

[awp_101]

510/545 have the same size frame, and it feels closer in size to an FN 509 than a G20/21.

Thanks!

Until that conversation it had never occurred to me that finger dexterity could be an argument in favor of 45. My fingers still work pretty well, so I'd had no reason to consider it til that day.

Good point and as someone that already has hand issues that occasionally turn into finger issues I’ll have to keep that in mind.

[SW CQB 45]

I am heavy 45.

I can basically carry anything I want commercially available.

I have never messed with an FN other than a nasty trigger 9mm FN that an officer wanted to pack on duty (I had to approve for duty carry). I think an out of the box 1980s SW revolver had a better trigger. I told him about Apex.

Glock 21 was a good piece.

I had a USP, it was BIG. I sold it. It shot good.

I was heavy into SW4500 when we could not pack 1911. I got scared when SW dropped 3rd gen series as I ran some rounds thru my guns and broke parts. I sold everything. 4506, 4516, 945, 845, 4563PC, 4566PC and Shorty 45.

Which comes to single stack 1911. It's just my choice. I am labeled old school at work. I talk about my times in the 70s, 80s and 90s when life was simple. Many will fault me with my choice (low capacity). Remember, I am on the top side of my career and recently got moved off the streets as a LT and driving a desk again. I like their quirkiness and I am a tinkerer that can't leave well enough alone. I shoot competitively with the same platform and sometimes my duty piece. Many tell me to go to Staccato, but I don't care for how it feels in my hand and the thumb safety edge is not dehorned or blended and digs painfully into my hand web area.

Mainly shooting around cops for the past 34 years, there are many who don't shoot it well. I like to stay on top of my training with the 1911 platform as my peers put me on a stage when I shoot. They are waiting for me to make a mistake or hope my gun will malfunction so they can call me out. My most recent blunder was forgetting to chamber a round on a 6 second stage and got called for 3 past the whistle violations. I ate it.

I teach basic firearms to cadets and tell them the 1911 is an enthusiast piece and it makes more sense to carry what the dept issues.

If I was not heavy into 1911 and still was a .45 dude.... that G21G5 would be my ride.

I have a good quantity of Gold Dot 230.

Here is my 94. The young officers will come up to me (joking) and would say.... you were my idol till you shot a 94. They leave notes on my door. I tell them that's the prettiest 94 they will ever see.



I was all irons till someone on this forum (I cant recall who) but in a PM they told me to modernize.

I still have not returned it to duty. I need to pump more rounds through it and hope to work out a slide stop/empty mag sticking issue.

[RevolverRob]

Rules question -- can we take seriously a response pro 45, from someone with "45" in their screen name?

Rebuttal: Does the guy who "Likes pretty much everything in every caliber." really need anyone to convince him?