.45 acp in 2023/24

[mmc45414]

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.

In my case I might be consolidating rather than shedding things. I decided a while back that I was only going to have one brand of striker pistol, and I probably didn't need a striker pistol chambered for something other than 9mm. I probably still have just as many pistols as I used to, but now they are variations of the same thing.

At the same time I am getting more aggressive about upgrading things I have intended to upgrade someday. Like I wanted a Dillon RL1100, and expected I would get one someday. Then it occurred to me that every year I waited was more than 5% of the time I would have to use the thing, so I sold some stuff I was never using and took the plunge.

I also always wanted the 10mm, but I never could decide it was worth the endeavor for a twenty grain gain in bullet weight. But that was back when I had a bunch of forty guns, and now I do not, soooooo maybe I might not be all that good at this consolidation thing...

[SwampDweller]

I've never shot the FN545, but we have one at the shop that no one has even looked at since we got it when they came out, and every once in a while I take it out to compare with other similar-sized .45's. The one thing that sticks out to me is that the recoil spring assembly looks incredibly small and dinky, especially when compared with a G21 Gen 5 RSA and even more so compared to a USP45 FS (and comparing it with a Mark 23 just made me chuckle, but that RSA makes anything seem tiny). I've never seen FN's 10mm, so I don't know what the RSA is like.

This could be completely irrelevant to the actual function and shootability of the pistol. You obviously have way more trigger time on modern FNs and experience is king.

I do like that .45 ammo is generally more available, less expensive, and has more variety over 10mm generally speaking, and certain components such as brass are easier to find for .45 Auto. I do wonder about the long-term durability of most 10mm pistols if using full-power 10mm ammunition, so an identical twin in .45 might be advantageous for general shooting if the FN 10mm is going to be a long term thing.

Plus if the FN545 can run high-end .45 ACP +P and/or .45 Super reliably, that'd be pretty neat too.

[JHC]

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?

YMMV but I think the .45 makes more sense for a lot of shooters (probably not including you however) than going through the struggle to find a 10mm that runs as reliably as the service pistol calibers. I don't know how the 545 runs but in general.

@Lost River recently made the point about his ammo that the .45 is underestimated as a field pistol caliber and I think he's onto something. I'm mostly spitballing but I'm betting that a properly loaded .45 will bust all that needs to be busted with less drama, recoil and load/gun experimenting.

But if it's just as an "understudy" then yeah, why not?

[JonInWA]

I'm underwhelmed by both 10mm and FN's current handgun offerings.

For me, 10mm doesn't seem to offer much over .357 magnum for hunting, and for self defence in the wilderness in the Pacific Northwest I'm satisfied with using Underwood Lehigh Xtreme Penetrator/Defender cartridges in a .40 Gen4 Glock G22, and Gen5 G23, and in .45 ACP in a Gen 3 Glock G21....hey, who the heck was it that sold me on Underwood Lehigh in the calibers for wilderness defence, anyhow???? :-)

While FN's current .45 striker offerings might be significantly better than previous FN offerings, FN has a miserable history of aftermarket support for them, and for orphaning them after relatively few years. The only FN that I have is my FN .40 High Power, and it's highly unlikely that I'll dip my toes in current FN waters.

In addition to the above, I simply don't see what FN is bringing to the table that Glock or HK have (and with a higher degree of vetting, support, and at a lower price point {particularly regarding Glock}.

Yeah, there's always the siren call of trying something new, but these days I'm pretty selective about going down the new platform route.

But I have no problem whatsoever with you being a trailblazer for us FN-wise, GJM....

Best, Jon

[littlejerry]

The most compelling reason for you to procure a new FN 45 is so that you can shoot it and report to all of us the nuances of how it compares to a Glock 21.5 and USP45.

We would appreciate some photos of it in Alaska as well.

[Tokarev]

https://americanhandgunner.com/our-e...45-to-9-to-45/

Sent from my SM-S901U using Tapatalk

[GJM]

I'm underwhelmed by both 10mm and FN's current handgun offerings.
....

Best, Jon

Have you shot the FN 510?

[JonInWA]

Have you shot the FN 510?

Nope. I don't doubt that the pistol is intrinsically decent, you have pretty discerning taste. It's just that I'm skeptical about FN in general regarding their commitment to their platforms and to their aftermarket support, particularly in the mid- to long-term. And in .45 ACP, that niche is adequately filled, and I'm not interested in going down the 10mm rabbit hole.

Right now, I don't need new shiny toys, and the concurrent need to rustle up the required ancillary support kit-the holsters, magazines, spare parts, etc.

But I'll happily vicariously live through you and your selections, George.

Best, Jon

[gato naranja]

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.

Gato Naranja's Great Firearms and Ammunition Purge was my drastic solution to the accumulation of more and more shooting gear that became less and less logical. In my case it was diving into .44 Magnum, not 10mm. By the time the dust settled, I only had .22LR, .38/.357/9x19, 5.56 and 12ga left, and the only backsliding I have done since then is to re-acquire an airgun in .177.

After fully retiring, I have instituted a policy of firearms parity: if anything new is bought, something old is sold. I told gata naranja that she has permission to brain me with any additional firearm I bring home unless it has been compensated for by a sale or trade-in.

As for "all sorts of stuff," I hear you. I have another hobby that I really need to pare back (for a second time), and I am coming to grips with the inevitability of that. To paraphrase Samuel Johnson, “Depend upon it, Sir, when a man realizes he is not going to live indefinitely, it concentrates his mind wonderfully.”

[fatdog]

In 2002 when I was fighting stage 3 throat cancer, post surgery, with radiation and chemo underway, 50% survival group at that time, it indeed sharpened and "concentrated" my mind as Mr. Johnson observed.

It is one thing to intellectually know you are going to die, it is another to look down the barrel at the hollowpoints in your face (figuratively).

I massively sold off, quickly, and got down to about 4 long guns and 6 handguns fearing what Mrs. Fatdog would have to face in terms of dealing with my shit. Having survived all that, the next 20 years I went back to acquisition mode but with my health problems of the last two years, and accepting the Medicare card is now in my wallet, it is starting again, this time with less urgency in the time frame required, I hope.