What's wrong with people who are bashing .45's?

[Rival]

Yesterday I had yet another friend of mine asking me why I got that old piece of junk (referring to my new full size Springfield Loaded). These guys keep telling me that .45 isn't gonna hit anything past 25 yards and that I better spend money of them newer 9mm guns out there (Sig, HK, Glock and such).

***?! I have nothing against the 9mm. In fact I really like it. But these guys really piss me off each time this conversation takes place

I guess I have to take them to the range sometime...

Sorry guys, I just had to let some steam out...

 

[Dan Morris]

LOL, last time I shot one, NRA Outdoor Bullseye Matches are still shot at 50 yds and 25 yds. You see a LOT of Xrings at 50.
Dan

 

[Outlander]

I think you'll find that lots of 1911 owners feel there is no real gun except a .45 1911 and because of that attitude many people like to put them down as dinosaurs as much as possible.
BTW ... my wife just gave me a pair of stippled Nill grips for my Springfield "loaded" model ... they're beautiful, with a nice palm swell that fattens the grip so it's a real handful and VERY comfortable to shoot.

 

[10-Ring]

Trolls I tell ya, they're all trolls! I have prescribed to the big bullet, big hole theory for a while & the 45 acp has served me quite well.

 

[craigz]

Maybe these guys would like to come to my club and meet Warren, a guy who routinely hits a 12-inch gong at 200 yards with his S&W 625.

 

[Redlg155]

It's one thing for folks to talk trash at home. Another to talk it at the range.

Invite them over for a freindly shoot and see if they don't change their minds.

Good Shooting
RED

 

[ruger357]

Love mine. Colt 1991a1 and Kimber ultra carry II

 

[sm]

I grew up around 1911 style, my first handgun I bought was a Colt Combat Commander out of HS in '73.

I grew up with the 45 ACP, heck a lot of people don't grow up with any gun input nowadays. So if you don't want to show ignorance-bash. Some grew up during the wondernine years-bash. "Condemnation before investigation"-perhaps. Exposure to media...Me all the army shows, "Combat" , and John Wayne Movies.

I guess its the 'Ford vs Chevy" thing...always will be. I don't personally bash gun choices of others, gun has to fit shooter IMO

There are guns that flat don't fit me, I personally don't like, I may politely share this with an owner of said gun...but for instance, if they can save my bacon with that gun they shoot well, by all means...save my bacon. BUT remember "my antiquated slabside" might do the same for you someday.

 

[rick458]

take em to the range and shoot a little steel with them

 

[pogo2]

Originally posted by Rival
hese guys keep telling me that .45 isn't gonna hit anything past 25 yards and that I better spend money of them newer 9mm guns out there (Sig, HK, Glock and such).

These guys are just pulling your chain, and their comments are of no consequence.

As others have pointed out, the .45 will hit targets well beyond 25 yards if you allow for the drop of the bullet and don't have too much crosswind.

98% of the use of the .45 ACP is at target ranges of 25 yards or less, or in self defense where the range may be 20 feet or less. If you really wanted to shoot at the longer ranges you would probably pick a rifle instead of the .45.

 

[Fiveshooter]

Hi Rival..

We set the 4" size clay birds on the berm at our favorite informal plinking range The distance we shoot from is 60yds. The targets are no challenge for any well made 1911 style in .45 ACP providing the shooter is competent. You should do just fine with your Springfield out to and even past 50yds. I think your .45 bashing friends are pulling your chain or they don't know much about guns.

 

[guy sajer]

Talk is cheap . In the end it is only talk . I wouldn't let it get you down . People that try and talk down to you are usually trying to cover up their own inadequacy .

If you must feel the need to defend yourself , then invite them to the range for a lesson .

 

[MP-44]

The 9mm lost its appeal to me after the hi-cap ban. I hate the thought of 6 factory mags costing as much as the gun.

 

[JohnBT]

"What's wrong with people who are bashing .45's?"

They weren't raised right, or maybe they were dropped as a child.

John

 

[chaim]

I'm guessing they got that from two places.

In general, the conventional wisdom seems to be that 25yds is the maximum effective range for any combat gun, but what does this mean? It means that you are using any typical example (not one tricked out). It means the guy behind the trigger is an average police or military recruit who often never touched a gun until he got there and only has that (limited) training and experience the police or military gave him/her. It means that person and that gun should be able to consistently hit a man sized target out to 25yds. Thing is, just about every service type pistol and revolver in just about all calibers would meet this definition- it isn't anything one can hold against a .45acp generally or a 1911 specifically. I think the reason people tend to feel this way is that the 1911 (a .45acp platform obviously) was the military sidearm for so long so people just took it as gospel that the 25yd effective combat range was all this gun and cartridge are capable of. Yet in capable hands just about any decent factory gun is capable of more (get a custom or semi-custom and look out).

The other reason is that the 1911 was the military sidearm for so long. Most of those that were in service when it was dropped by the military were made during (or sometimes before) WWII. These were really old guns that in many cases had simply been shot out (keep in mind that military guns can see a lot of use and tend to be somewhat abused). Since for so many shooters their military experience in the 60's, 70's or 80's was their only experience with either a 1911 or a .45acp they formed their opinions of it from that.

Remember, today you are seeing something similar with the newer Beretta 92. The M92 hasn't been around for the accuracy to suffer that much from military abuse. However, what by all accounts is one of the most reliable guns in existance is often seen as a dog by those in the military because their issue sidearm is a POC due to the abuse it gets from military use.

 

[45Badger]

I'm with JohnBT! Something is very, very wrong with those folks.

I've tried to broaden my horizons, but keep coming back to big, fat, slow bullets. Nothing compares to the nice boom of my 1911s in .45. Those snappy little kalibers are as annoying as mosquitoes!

 

[Kevlarman]

Most of the shooters I know use 9mm because they can carry a lot more ammo. Of course, with California's highcap ban, their point is moot. They have 10 rounds of 9mm, I have 10 rounds of .45.

 

[Blackhawk]

What's wrong with people who are bashing .45's?

Same thing that's wrong with anybody who bashes something they don't own, understand, or appreciate. That goes for 9mm bashers, Glock bashers, SmartCarry bashers, Ford bashers, etc.

Bashing anything or anybody just ain't fittin'...!

As me ol' Mammy said "If you don't have anything nice to say, ****!"

 

[Wakal]

Insecurity.

If there was a better design in the whole wide world, then you can bet that the ubershooters of the IPSC would be using it. At least when talking about a combination of absolute reliablilty, accuracy, and consistency goes.

The heat of real competition separates the slag from the base metal. Oddly enough, the same basic design the old guard started with, way back in the day, is still used thirty years later. Weird. Must be a Browning thing :b



Alex

 

[Gmac]

teevee

They've been watching too much tv!!! Both my EAA Witneess & my Ruger Bisley are much more accurate than I am . Ask them if they'd rather be hit by a tackhammer or an 8lb. sledge,that should open their eyes.

 

[Double Naught Spy]

Well, at least you didn't get the stupid story about how the .45 acp is antiquated and that you should be using a modern round like the 9 mm Luger round...which is actually more antiquated than the .45 acp.

 

[Wildalaska]

Whats wrong with people who are bashing 9mms?

Yesterday I had yet another friend of mine asking me why I got that old piece of junk (referring to my custom Hi Power). These guys keep telling me that 9mm isn't kill anything past 25inches and that I better spend money of them newer 45 guns out there (Valtro, HK, Glock and such).

***?! I have nothing against the 45. In fact I really like it. But these guys really piss me off each time this conversation takes place

I guess I have to take them to the range sometime...

Sorry guys, I just had to let some steam out...

 

[Shmackey]

The funny thing is that Bullseye shooters not only shoot .45ACP, they shoot a light-loaded target cartridge. At 50 yards.

Better still is the fact that they can use any centerfire they want for the centerfire round, and most still use their .45s. The ones who don't use their .45s will usually use something far less potent, like .38spl or even .32.

The .45 Super loads you can shoot in a 625 or a properly prepared 1911 would probably knock your friends on their butts.

 

[voilsb]

they're confused. I only own a single handgun, a beretta 92fs. But I love the 1911 platform, and *will* get one. just not until I'm a little more financially secure.

I also plan on getting something in .40SW and probably 10mm, too. I'll probably also go .357 (both mag and sig), and maybe even down to a .32.

besides, even if it *were* true that the .45 was only good to 25yds, how far away is the baddie going to be when he dies from two .45 holes instead of 5 9mm holes? 7 yards is the number I heard most often.

 

[quantico]

Most of my guns are 45acp and I have a good number of 357 sig as well. The 9mm is the base acceptable defense round, but I prefer to start with a bigger hole in the target. The 9mm may expand... but the 45 will not shrink.