doesnt anyone shoot 45acps anymore

[AZ Pete]

Yes, any case as small as the Wonder-9 has no room to grow, and it is definitely undersized and underpowered. Pass.

"The 9mm Punibellum. A cartridge fit only for women and Europeans." --Me

yet it has probably accounted for more human deaths than any other caliber....

[RC46]

Yes, shot my Sig 220 today, in fact. Love the cal. and the Sig; also own a custom Colt 1911. What's not to like? Accuracy, check; mild recoil, check; fun factor, check; historical significance, check.

[mongo40]

I shoot it and have for years, so I've got a pretty healthy supply of brass as I always pick mine up, Haven't looked for any but with everything else being sold out it just goes to figure that it would be to, with the popularity of all the plastic pistols that shoot 9 and 40 you'd think there'd be plenty of 45 around.

[Bmi48219]

Ranges I frequent the ratio of centerfire brass lying about is:
9 mm 72%
10 mm <2%
40 7%
45 acp 15%
All others 4%

Once in a while see a lot of 40s, same with .380.
10mm are harder to find than chicken teeth.

[ioon44]

Ranges I frequent the ratio of centerfire brass lying about is:
9 mm 72%
10 mm <2%
40 7%
45 acp 15%
All others 4%

Once in a while see a lot of 40s, same with .380.
10mm are harder to find than chicken teeth.

That is close to what I find on a local range, after USPSA matches there is some .38 super, also find plenty of .223.

[dale2242]

I don`t frequent public ranges often.
Most of the shooting in this area is in rock pits and logging landings on public land.
I`m not seeing much brass left in the last few months with the ammo shortage.
Probably a lot less people shooting and/or people picking up their brass.

[1I-Jack]

My local police dept sure shoots a lot of 45 acp. I try to go to our Club's range that day after the local police have their Qual shoots. I usually get a grocery bag of 45acp, and another grocery bag of 223/556. It happens twice a year, but they like to do this in the wintertime, when snow covers our range...so then I have to wait for Spring, and try to be the first one there when it melts.

Same here I didn't realize they used our range because they have their own "tactical" range just down the road but I didn't check the club calendar earlier in the year and happened out at the range on one of the two days they use ours. Asked when they would be done and showed back up to collect a LOT of .223 and 45 ACP brass.

[Kevin Rohrer]

yet it has probably accounted for more human deaths than any other caliber....

Only in the inner-cities.

[onelight]

When 9mm is cheap I shoot a lot of factory loads , and a often don't pick it up. I always pick up my 45 brass.

[AZ Pete]

Only in the inner-cities.

and every battlefield in the 20th and 21st centuries

[gnappi]

yet it has probably accounted for more human deaths than any other caliber....

By virtue of sheer numbers of launching platforms in the population, your comment though while "probably" factual is like saying knives cause more wounds than garden clippers.

Things to consider (facts or fallacies depending on your biases) ...

1. A .40 or .45 make a larger hole. An unmistakable advantage for wound channel or target scoring.

2. Statistically, (I have read various anecdotal accounts / sources none confirmed) according to FBI stats which (are reasonable to accept as an axiom) say the average gunfight includes three rounds fired over three seconds from a distance of 3 yards. 9mm capacity advantage = zero that is unless you miss a lot. These stats are of likely averaged from one shot stops and PD's emptying hi cap 9's at perps and hitting air. Also if a gunfight ends in many multiple gunshots (as in say a drug deal gone bad) as might be expected saying "it has probably accounted for more human deaths" becomes a weighted "fact". The old crap on the wall sticking makes sense. Throw enough and invariably something sticks.

3. As far as the "caliber" goes, there are and have been superior cartridges on paper and in ballistic gel than the 9 para, but "diminutive" shooters object to the recoil. I have no issue with the caliber. In fact, I'm "diminutive" by male standards, and have no issue with carrying a .40 or .45 exclusively.

4. Also (anecdotally) no single typical defensive cartridge or caliber (excluding .380,.22, .25 etc which at earlobe range are as lethal as any) can claim superior stopping power in gunfights. All this postulating means nothing when confidence in what a man carries matters most be it capacity or caliber.

[AZ Pete]

I have made no claim about "greater magazine capacity", "diminutive shooter" or wound diameter. Dead is dead. The 9mm has been in service for a very long time and has been deemed acceptable by many armies, police departments and other armed forces for many, many decades.

Just because you prefer something larger, does not make it better for self defense or service use....unless you are fighting Grizzlies of course

[MUSTANG]

Shootem once with a .45 or multiple times with a 38/9mm. The reason why the US Army went to the .45 Colt & .45 Schofield and the .45 ACP moth than 100 years ago.

[10-x]

Amen Mustang. Carry a .45 cause they dont make a .46.

[VariableRecall]

Amen Mustang. Carry a .45 cause they dont make a .46.

So much for the "They Don't make a .46" when .50 Action Express exists....
That is, if you want to go down the Desert Eagle hole.

I suppose if you love huge handgun calibers, .500S&W would work if you want to be less of a tool.

[VariableRecall]

Also, in terms of you seeing .45 ACP drying up, perhaps it could be the case that people are likely just hoarding .45 ACP much like 9mm and other handgun calibers.

[AZ Pete]

Shootem once with a .45 or multiple times with a 38/9mm. The reason why the US Army went to the .45 Colt & .45 Schofield and the .45 ACP moth than 100 years ago.

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cavalry got the .45 Colt because it could bring down a horse.

[Kosh75287]

It's never fallen out of favor with ME! I shoot it by the BUCKET-load, time and money allowing! Although the round and its first platform were intended for short-range dispatch of bad guys and nothing more, both of them proved versatile enough to be favored for precision match shooting, action shooting, and more. With the advent of better-formulated propellants and the "+P" rating, a stock .45 ACP can even be loaded into a fully adequate (VERY) short-range white-tail getter, without straining anything inside.
In days when I could see better, I made a shot under time pressure on a man-sized steel silhouette at 131 yards with my competition pistol (I won the match, but not the tournament, sigh, alas). But the .45s flexibility in reloading was a big factor in making that hit. I was shooting a load that clocked just over 1000 f/s with a 200 gr. RNFP, which flattened the trajectory somewhat, and allowed me to connect. If I'd been running ball ammo (230 gr. FMJRN @ 830 f/s), I might STILL be trying to hear a "clang" from that silhouette.
I suspect the absence of spent brass laying around may owe to the apprehension of shooters regular shooters who may be picking it up for use in the near future. It's going to be a rough 4 years (at minimum) for gun owners, and I see a lot of people stocking up in ways I'd never considered likely.

[elmacgyver0]

I love the 45 acp just like I love every other caliber I own.

[Winger Ed.]

I seem to remember reading somewhere that the cavalry got the .45 Colt because it could bring down a horse.

There was something I'd read years ago about the Army had armed Officers & NCO's with Colts in .38 Long.
Then in the Philippines, (1899-1902) revolutionaries all high on dope would take a few mortal wounding hits with them,
and still be able to cut ya in half with a hatchet before they 'expired'.
Then they went to the New Service revolver in .45 Long Colt.