Why .45 ACP “Sucks” for Self Defense

[gqllc007]

Ballistic gel testing is not the tell all BUT I have done 9mm, .40, .357SIG and .45
The .357SIG clearly had more kinetic energy. Basically it rocked the block! I carry Corbon DPX as they penetrated to 17"-171/2"every time and fully expanded. Underwoods 125gr gold dot loading penetrated to 19 1/2-20" every time and expanded as much as a gold dot does. I would use Underwoods if I was LEO.

 

[dsdmmat]

Both the 7.63 mauser and 7.62 tokarev are bottlenecked.

Are they a major American cartridge?, No they are European and usually only find their way to the US in the form of military surplus.

The 400 Corbon, 357 sig and 9x25 Dillon (which are American Cartridges) are bottlenecked as well and outside of a few segments of the American shooting landscape those cartridges remain widely unused.
As I stated in my previous post American tend not to like or trust bottle neck cartridges that is why they have not caught on.

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Are they a major American cartridge?

Their not even a major russian cartridge lol. I have both a tokarev and pps43 and it's an excellent round. I kind of feel like the 762x25 inspired the 357 sig. They went back to an old effective design to re-reinvent the wheel.

 

[Cooolone]

Your feelings on what inspired the. 357Sig are misplaced. The. 357Sig was developed to provide the same characteristics of the beloved LE 357Mag in a Semiautomatic handgun plain and simple.

What they got should be the most popular round as it doesn't stop for wood, glass, car doors, etc... It packs and unbelievable punch and is as close to a one shot stopper as you'll get in a semiautomatic handgun.

.357Sig FTW

 

[twax100]

I could care less about .45,

Not true.

It WAS though. Fucking ATF! Now, she's good to go.

But, who sells 5.56 blanks?

I just came here because can cannons are cool and here's where you could get some blanks... United Nations Ammo Company (UNAC)
Go to the blanks section. (They'll ship to you too but shhhhh)

 

[gun_slinger_boy]

Your feelings on what inspired the. 357Sig are misplaced. The. 357Sig was developed to provide the same characteristics of the beloved LE 357Mag in a Semiautomatic handgun plain and simple.

What they got should be the most popular round as it doesn't stop for wood, glass, car doors, etc... It packs and unbelievable punch and is as close to a one shot stopper as you'll get in a semiautomatic handgun.

.357Sig FTW

I wasn't debating why the round was developed but how it may have come about. I'd find it hard to believe that the 762x25 didn't come up at all while developing 357 sig. Or the 30 luger or 30 mauser that matter. Before the 357 sig how many bottle neck pistol rounds were there? Not many.

 

[Marine Cpl]

The only negative I see about the .357 Sig is the excessive flash, recoil, and noise from a short 3 inch barrel compared to a 9mm for example at the same barrel length. Is the extra 200 fps worth it? (1100 fps vs 1300 fps)

 

[ECU Pirates]

The only negative I see about the .357 Sig is the excessive flash, recoil, and noise from a short 3 inch barrel compared to a 9mm for example at the same barrel length. Is the extra 200 fps worth it? (1100 fps vs 1300 fps)

It was not designed for short barrels so I would say no.

 

[FLA45fan]

I agree. I think the Sig round is the best performer but for some reason it has not caught on.

It'll eat you out of house and home if you shoot it a lot. My first Sig was a P239 in .357Sig. I was shooting 100-200 rounds a week and it was costing me $17-20 a box of 50 when I could find it (early 2000's) where 9mm was under $10 all day long and plentiful. Beautiful fireball out the front and a tremendous boom, always got attention at the range. Loved the whole package, but really couldn't afford it. Went back to .45 and 9mm. Now it's primarily 9mm. My smaller and lighter carry guns are more controllable and more accurate for me, as well as more forgiving to my aging hands. And cheaper besides.

 

[FLA45fan]

Crap, I'm gonna have to change my name to NY9mmfan if this keeps up! Not to mention 20 years ago it was all about 1911's in .45ACP, smallest, lightest I could find. Then I couldn't find one that was reliable, so I switched to Sigs, P245 and finally P220 Compact. But a Glock 19 was lighter and held more rounds. I still wanted a smaller .45 and got a XDS45 3.3. Bingo! Then I made the mistake of shooting someone's Glock 43 and I had faster and more accurate follow up shots. Crap, whoda thunk I'd be rocking a couple of 9mm Glocks (in NY, of all places).

 

[Cooolone]

May, all hogwash... Is at what the 9mm was when expensive, but can easily swap the. 40 if you are worried about cost. I get it from $.32 to $.36 per round. .380 is just under that. Flash isn't a problem except with hot rounds like Underwood and quite frankly, the commercial grade 1300-1350fps rounds aren't true. 357, I tend to shoot the 1475-1550fps. Those have a nice CRACK when discharging for sure. Recoil is nothing on 229.

 

[gqllc007]

Here is HST 230+P on left, DPX 185+P in middle and Golden Sabers 185+P on the right out of Shield .45

 

[Marine Cpl]

Here is HST 230+P on left, DPX 185+P in middle and Golden Sabers 185+P on the right out of Shield .45

Once again, speed is the culprit. Even more so out of a short barrel. If you insist on the .45 ACP for whatever reason, 185gr is your best bet. At least it has some velocity.

 

[ECU Pirates]

Once again, speed is the culprit. Even more so out of a short barrel. If you insist on the .45 ACP for whatever reason, 185gr is your best bet. At least it has some velocity.

They have 165 frying pan killers also.

 

[Marine Cpl]

They have 165 frying pan killers also.

Even better if the hollow point penetrates enough.

 

[gqllc007]

Corbon DPX 185+P penetrated 13-141/2" very consistently
The golden saber 185+P penetrated 16-171/2" The down side to the golden saber is it is a much hotter round in the small .45 Shield compared to the DPX and recoil was much stouter

 

[FLA45fan]

Tried golden saber in one of my Sig 220s ( older model) and the hollow points were so big (flying ashtrays) they would hang up on the feed ramp. Earned them the nickname " golden showers". I think they had "Government something or other" on the box. I'll have to check when I get back. They did work in all my other P220s.