Anybody have a .45 ACP carbine and hunt with it?

[Butzbach]

The old marlin camp carbine uses 1911 mags. The TNZ uses glock mags.
Steve

Thanks for the intel. So for the TNZ, either Glock 21 or 41 mags?

[jcren]

I found a guy that makes a mag catch conversion to use 1911 mags in my hi-point. Pretty cheap and can't see any difference in feed reliability.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

I converted a Yugo Mauser to .45acp about 20 years ago. Darn accurate and quiet as a .22. Rhinelander kit.

[Cast10]

Check out MechTech Systems for an ‘upper’ that attaches to a 1911 or Glock frame. I have one in 10mm for my Glock. 180gr XTP at 1180 fps will kill a hog out to 100 yards easily. Just begun casting and PC and haven’t tagged a hog yet with boolits. They are fun. They make them in 45ACP. 16” barrel.

BTW - 1180 fps comes from the G20; The MechTech is about 350 fps faster.

[EMC45]

I've hit the woods with my Marlin Camp45 with HydraShok HPs in the past when I lived in GA. Never saw any deer.....

[dverna]

Check out MechTech Systems for an ‘upper’ that attaches to a 1911 or Glock frame. I have one in 10mm for my Glock. 180gr XTP at 1180 fps will kill a hog out to 100 yards easily. Just begun casting and PC and haven’t tagged a hog yet with boolits. They are fun. They make them in 45ACP. 16” barrel.

Those are neat. When I was starting to prep I thought they would be ideal and got one. They are surprisingly accurate. Sold it after a couple of years as I realized there were better options for when the SHTF.

[PositiveCaster]

I’ve had my M45 Camp Carbine for well over 20 years and have taken a few deer and small hogs with it. I loaded the Hornady 200XTP using a published 21,000 cup load of AA-7 for 1208 fps in my barrel. This bullet is not as soft as some might think, as none were recovered from deer and only one from a hog. This load comes pretty close to a factory .44-40 rifle load and performs well with good expansion and resulting wound channel.

I did replace the recoil spring with a heavy one, but this load doesn’t beat up the little M45. Today I might use the Hornady Critical Defense ammunition which uses the same bullet, only slightly slower. I do consider this rig to be a 50 yard max rifle - but that was just fine where I hunted with it.



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[koger]

Mech Tec makes a upper, for a 1911 for around $400. You take the slide and barrel of your 1911, drop their upper on it. I have a buddy who has one and he really likes it.

[herian67]

Check out Macon Armory.He has both direct impingement and blow back models.I have his DI upper for a few years now.Accurate and very quiet even with no can.Only shot one hog with it,cast 230 grain went right through it at 20 yards.

[NavyGuns45]

I just finished working up a load for my bolt action .45 ACP I built on a Lee Enfield No.4 action with a 24" barrel. I wanted an accurate hunting load to shoot suppressed. I am using the Speer .451" 260 grain J-word loaded to 1.248" COAL with standard Winchester brass. If the moderators strip my load data, I understand - I worked it up for MY RIFLE and you should work up a safe load for YOUR RIFLE. I would NEVER try this in a blow-back firearm, my rifle fully supports the case and is bolt action! Got it? Good. I wasn't getting the consistency I wanted with Unique or Herco. Blue Dot is a great candidate except for it's so dirty (someone once called it "flaming dirt") and I didn't want that much residue in my can. I may come back to this for my Lee 452-255-RF boolit that will be powder coated and not sent through my can. With the Speer + Blue Dot I laddered up past the 8.3 grains max published (Lee manual) and got to 10.0 grains which gave me 5 shots @ 1100 fps AVE with 25.0 spread and 10.0 standard deviation. Soooo... I switched over to Longshot for which I had no published .45 ACP data. I found some .45 Super load data for heavy bullets posted on a Glock forum and backed off what they had to start. I stopped at 7.8 grains of Longshot with the 260 grain Speer at 1.248" which gave me a very accurate 10-shot group averaging 1084.5 fps, 32 ES, 8.6 SD. If I took the one low (1063) round out, the ES was 14 and SD only 4.3 fps. Nice and clean, and should still stay subsonic in colder air.

[HollowPoint]

I understand the reservations some might have about using the 45 ACP round for deer hunting due to the ballistics but at the same time I really can't fault those who do hunt with the 45 ACP cartridge.

I think it's because I've hunted deer, coyote, rabbits, fox and a few other critters with a bow and arrow with good success. Also hunted with a 45 caliber SamYang air rifle. The ballistics of an arrow shot out of your typical traditional recurve bow pale in comparison to the ballistics of a 45 caliber bullet shot at the same ranges.

Just my two cents worth of opinion, which I admit -due to inflation- isn't even worth two cents now days.

HollowPoint

[Ickisrulz]

Not to hyjack this thread, but hoping that those who responded here might know. Are there any .45 carbine / pistol combos that share magazines?

Check out Stern Defense. They make uppers in pistol calibers for the AR15. You use one of their adapters for that use M&P pistol magazines.

https://getstern.com/conversion-kits/kits-45acp/

[Larry Gibson]

I just finished working up a load for my bolt action .45 ACP I built on a Lee Enfield No.4 action with a 24" barrel. I wanted an accurate hunting load to shoot suppressed. I am using the Speer .451" 260 grain J-word loaded to 1.248" COAL with standard Winchester brass. If the moderators strip my load data, I understand - I worked it up for MY RIFLE and you should work up a safe load for YOUR RIFLE. I would NEVER try this in a blow-back firearm, my rifle fully supports the case and is bolt action! Got it? Good. I wasn't getting the consistency I wanted with Unique or Herco. Blue Dot is a great candidate except for it's so dirty (someone once called it "flaming dirt") and I didn't want that much residue in my can. I may come back to this for my Lee 452-255-RF boolit that will be powder coated and not sent through my can. With the Speer + Blue Dot I laddered up past the 8.3 grains max published (Lee manual) and got to 10.0 grains which gave me 5 shots @ 1100 fps AVE with 25.0 spread and 10.0 standard deviation. Soooo... I switched over to Longshot for which I had no published .45 ACP data. I found some .45 Super load data for heavy bullets posted on a Glock forum and backed off what they had to start. I stopped at 7.8 grains of Longshot with the 260 grain Speer at 1.248" which gave me a very accurate 10-shot group averaging 1084.5 fps, 32 ES, 8.6 SD. If I took the one low (1063) round out, the ES was 14 and SD only 4.3 fps. Nice and clean, and should still stay subsonic in colder air.

I also have a bolt action rifle chambered for 45 ACP (M98 with Rhineland conversion) in which I have worked up 45 ACP +P+P+P loads which, as NavyGuns45 states "SHOULD NEVER EVER BE USED IN ANY BLOW BACK OR EVEN SEMI-AUTO INTENDED FOR STANDARD 45 acp LOADS."

I have, in the past, pushed a 245 gr GC'd cast bullet upwards of 1400 fps but that bullet seated deeply limiting powder capacity and didn't feed that well so I didn't work further with it. Recently I picked up, from a member her, a Pat marlin 45 can PB check maker. I found checks made with .006 beer can fit nicely on Lee's 452-230-TC. That is my standard bullet for use in the 45 ACP rifle and over 5 gr bullseye runs right at 1010 fps and is very quiet when suppressed. I had some already cast, sized and lubed so I put the GCs on them. They weigh 235 gr fully dressed. I initially worked with BlueDot, 2400, H110, IMR4227, Lil'Gun. All but IMR4227 pushed 1350 - 1450 fps at 100% load density with very good accuracy (sub 2" at 50 yards with 10 shots). I then tried HS-6 and hit real pay dirt, so to speak. At 12 gr I was chronographing (Oehler M35P) the GC'd TC bullet at 1600 fps with 3" ten shot group at 100 yards

I will now load some of the 2400, H110, Lil'Gun and HS-6 loads and actually pressure test them. Another member here (Bjorn) ran the first loads thru QL and none exceeded 40,000 psi. The WLP primers were just beginning to flatten with the HS-6 load.


Again, these loads are safe in bolt actions such as mine and NavyGuns45 and probably in custom breakopen single shots (if those actions are made for CF rifle cartridges also) only. I may just hunt some pigs and perhaps deer over Texas way and wouldn't hesitate to use this load. I do mark the primers and bullet tips with a red permanent marker to differentiate them from my standard 45 ACP loads. I also would only load enough for hunting with the M98 and then shoot up the remaining after the hunt so none would be sitting around to be inadvertently used by anyone else.

THE LOADS DESCRIBED SHOULD NEVER EVER BE USED IN ANY BLOW BACK OR EVEN SEMI-AUTO INTENDED FOR STANDARD 45 acp LOADS."

[405grain]

Larry: I agree with you about HS-6. I don't push my 45acp carbine loads quite as hot as you, but have found that in a rifle HS-6 gives me the best accuracy. NavyGuns45 description of Blue Dot as "flaming dirt" was hilarious and way too true. In my experience Blue Dot can get slightly higher velocities, but is no where near as accurate as either HS-6 or Unique, and only starts to burning clean at the higher (and less accurate) load levels. It will be interesting to hear Larry's report, but I'm going to make a prediction on H110. I don't think H110 will get to the pressure levels that will allow it to burn efficiently in this cartridge. I'm going to take a wild guess and say that I think that H110's slower burn rate will mean that the bullet will be farther down the bore, and the area that the powder gas has to expand into will be greater, so that it may not be possible to get enough powder into that small case to develop the pressure for an efficient burn. That's just a guess; when Larry does the testing the truth will come out.
I only reload, and haven't bought a a factory round of ammo since 1982 (except 22lr). No matter what the load level I mark all my 45acp loads as "For carbine use only. Not for pistol use." I know what I've got, but moochers might not. This helps keep things safe.

[HumptyDumpty]

I just purchased a Turkish Mauser project gun, for the express purpose of building it into a 45 Super carbine. My intention is to push 200 grain projectiles as fast as possible, using 460 Rowland data as my upper-limit. I have reason to believe that velocities in excess of 1500 fps may be possible.

[NavyGuns45]

Humpty - you should have no problem doing that, I've put 230 grain Lee TC boolets out at 1,550 in standard .45 ACP cases with my bolt action, same load got 1,500 with 230 Hornady XTP. It was a very stout charge of Blue Dot and I did not record my OAL. Can't say what the accuracy was, didn't check!

[HumptyDumpty]

Humpty - you should have no problem doing that, I've put 230 grain Lee TC boolets out at 1,550 in standard .45 ACP cases with my bolt action, same load got 1,500 with 230 Hornady XTP. It was a very stout charge of Blue Dot and I did not record my OAL. Can't say what the accuracy was, didn't check!

Well that is encouraging. I'm using Power Pistol for my 45 Super at the moment, which is giving me just just over 1100 FPS, with a 230 grain bullet, from a 5 inch 1911. Going back and forth between 45 Super data/anecdotes and official 460 Rowland data, and considering the strength/safety of the Mauser action, I'm excited to see just what is actually possible. It won't be ready in time for this deer season, but next year will (hopefully) see the carbine in the field. And of course, all manner of pinking shall otherwise be engaged in.

[cwlongshot]

Even tho I was told at the time... (99$ Mauser conversions) I never bought one. But in 1999 I did buy a Marlin CC in 45!

What a great gun!! I took it one day for a walk in the woods with a friend/land owner as he showed me his land boundary's no side. As he was telling me "directly beyond that marshy area... OOH LOOK at the rack on that deer!!! Shoot him if ya wa... BANG.. nt to. " The 230g Gondrn saber separated the vertebra at the base of his neck @ 35-40 yards.

I took a couple pigs with HC FP bullets and one other doe another bang flop this time with a Speer 200g Flying ash tray bullet.

Its a close range thing but has worked 100% for me inside 100yards. I doubt Id push it past 75/80 but it would work.

CW

[TyGuy]

Check out Macon Armory.He has both direct impingement and blow back models.I have his DI upper for a few years now.Accurate and very quiet even with no can.Only shot one hog with it,cast 230 grain went right through it at 20 yards.

I second this! Rudy at Macon Armory makes what I believe to be the best PCC uppers out there. His direct impingement .45ACP is a smooth and easy shooting as a .22. I have a DI 7.62x25 upper on order with him that I can’t wait to get my hands on. He’s also just a great guy. I just chatted with him at Knob Creek on Saturday. Check him out

[Tracy]

Yep, Rudy is a great guy. Sorry I didn't get to make it to the Creek this time.