The .45 ACP

This is a classic semi-auto handgun cartridge. It was developed back about 1911 by John Browning for his model 1911 pistol. As the story goes John wanted to duplicate the effectiveness of the old .45 Colt revolver cartridge, and he did a pretty good job of it. The US military adopted it in that year and it has had a devoted following ever since. And with good reason. While there is no handgun cartridge that is a guaranteed one-shot fight-stopper, the old .45acp (by the way, "acp" stands for "Automatic Colt Pistol) comes pretty close. In military use it was unequalled, since armies didn't use expanding bullets. The .45 made big holes in enemy soldiers. That (the use of non-expanding bullets by the military) may be in the process of changing now -- we'll see. Just about the only things the .45 acp can't do well are recoil lightly, hold more rounds in the pistol, and weigh less. With the improvements in hollow-point ammunition the 9mm Parabellum runs the old .45 a pretty close race. Take your pick -- more power or more rounds before a reload. Both will do the job.


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