Ammunition Selection: Heavy and Slow or Light and Fast

[CDR]

The CorBon 230 gr JHP +P has been my carry round for about 2 years now and out of my Nighthawk, is easily the most accurate round I have ever fired.  The only range target I have ever kept in my life....1 box of 20 CorBon rounds the first week I got my Nighthawk shot at 15 yards offhand made one ragged hole the size of a half dollar about 1 inch low left of dead center...only one flyer, my first shot, about 4 inches away.   I always finish off a range session with a magazine of the CorBon load and it always proves far more accurate than the Blazer Brass, American Eagle or Winchester White Box that I practice with.  Out of a government sized 1911, the recoil of the CorBon 230 gr. JHP +P is not bad either.

Great decision Michael to go with the bigger loads.  I find myself carrying the 45 more and more with occasionally my 686 S&W with 357 magnum JHP...just gives greater peace of mind than my .380 PPK.  Finally decided to get a Glock and waiting for it to arrive...a 30 SF so I can stick with the CorBon 45s.  Just couldn't go with a 9 mm and being in New York with the ridiculous 10 round magazine capacity rule, why not carry 10 + 1 rounds of 45 instead of the same number of rounds in 9mm.  The Glock 30 SF fits the bill perfectly for those living in restrictive states, IMHO.

I've been carrying a 9mm for years now, usually loaded with Corbon screamers. Maybe I'm getting old, or maybe times are getting wierder, but the .45 in the semi and .44 Special in the wheel gun are looking better and better to me. On my last road trip, I carried a .44 Special revolver most of the time loaded with 200-gr SilverTips. I have always carried 230-gr when I carried .45s. Corbon has a 230-gr JHP +P, but it's pretty snappy to shoot.

All in all, I'm leaning toward going back to the .45 across the board...an FNP45 replacing the SIG226 as the bedside gun

Michael B

[Kid Shelleen]

Was Allan Jones at the Dallas Crime lab when you were in Dallas ? would you have run into him, he was their bullet match guy.

Tom,
I just saw the street cops in the E.D. I did not have an in with the P.D. other than the deep regard and respect that I had for the street cops doing a tough job in a sometimes very tough city. I considered several of the cops to be "friends at work" and wished that I didn't have a need to see them so often.

[tombogan03884]

 Oh, He has a column in Shooting times about ballistics and thing he learned from examining spent bullets, like how an out tell if your revolver is out of time, that kind of thing.

[Ping]

Excellent choice CDR and have been pondering on whether to purchase one myself. I love .45 ACP. But after attending a Glock Armorer Class this week I was informed of the ballistics of the .45 GAP. I am re-considering whether I should purchase one in that caliber? 

[fightingquaker13]

Excellent choice CDR and have been pondering on whether to purchase one myself. I love .45 ACP. But after attending a Glock Armorer Class this week I was informed of the ballistics of the .45 GAP. I am re-considering whether I should purchase one in that caliber? 

I love glocks, so I can reccomend the pistol. The .45 GAP looks great on paper as well. But do you really want an expensive exotic round? Your call, but if I wanted a 40 cal Glock I would with .40 S@W or .45 ACP. The rounds are proven, cheaper and a lot easier to find.
FQ13

[Sponsor]

[r_w]

big and slow.....just like me

[tombogan03884]

 Wow, I think we have a new record, 5 pages and still on topic  

[CDR]

Interesting on the 45 GAP.  I looked at that as well but figured such a round would be virtually impossible to find and if found, as expensive as hell.  I think if I was going to move away from 45 ACP, which I won't be, but didn't mind paying for the exotic round price differential, then I would probably select the 10mm Glock.  Tremendous ballistics IMHO.

[Ping]

That is the draw back cause 10mm and .45 GAP ammo is hard to find and the cost is a bit more.  I do agree with the .40 and .45 for Glocks FQ13 and that is what I mainly carry.

[1911 Junkie]

The .45 GAP has about the same velocities for a given bullet weight as a .45 ACP. This does not include .45 ACP+p loads, just standard pressure.
The bullet diameters and the bullets themselves are the same as those used by .45 ACP cartridges.
Because the cartridge length is shorter, the .45 GAP has less space for additional powder. The increases in pressure could be bad.

So, given the same bullets and velocities, terminal effect would be the same. It then comes down to price and availability. Not everybody makes guns in .45 GAP so you would be complicating your ammo pile while losing versatility. I just don't see it as worthwhile.

The only benefit I see to GAP is if you have small, childlike, completely un-manly hands and can't grip a real gun.