The .45 ACP Would Like a Few Words with You Whippersnappers

Big n’ slow, baby.

Keep your 5.7, your 6.8, your 20 rounds of 9mm. I have a .45.

The .45 ACP was developed by John Moses Browning (pbuh) about 120 years ago. While it’s not the most powerful or ballistically lethal round available, nonetheless the .45 ACP has earned the reputation as being a man-stopper. Why? Its ability to deliver significant energy on target while still offering manageable recoil and accuracy.

What is it?

The .45 ACP is a straight-wall rimless cartridge with a bullet diameter of .452”. The quintessential .45 ACP load is a 230-gr. round-nose bullet with a velocity of approximately 830 feet per second (fps). That makes it the epitome of the “big and slow” school of thought when it comes to terminal ballistics.

The untold story of its birth

It all began with the American takeover of the Philippines. Some of the Filipinos—mainly the Moro tribespeople, had assumed that since they were liberated from the Spanish that they would now become independent. For the next 15 years, the Moros resisted the American takeover fiercely. They were said to wrap themselves in vegetation, creating a remarkably effective body armor. They used drugs to boost their fearlessness, too. U.S. soldiers gained a sense of awe as those tribespeople took shot after shot from their government-issued .38 revolvers and just kept on rockin’.

As a result of rather embarrassing losses U.S. troops suffered in battle with the Moros, the War Department launched the Thompson-LaGarde Tests of 1904. These tests used live cows and human cadavers to test the lethality of certain calibers. As expected, the .38 Long Colt failed miserably, confirming the reports from the Moro Rebellion. On the flip side, the War Department discovered that a .45 caliber was the minimum required power to stop a determined assailant.

Enter John Moses Browning (Peace Be Upon Him)

Interestingly, in 1904 John Moses Browning was developing a new pistol called the 1904, but it was chambered in a .41 caliber cartridge. Fresh with the results of the Thompson-LaGarde Tests and new requirements of the War Department, Browning pivoted and designed the 1905 pistol chambered in .45 caliber to meet the testing requirements. Both the pistol and .45 cartridge were tweaked and refined for the next six years by the Army.

Then in 1911, both the pistol and .45 ACP were adopted by the Army, remaining in continuous service until 1985. After 74 years both the 1911 pistol and the .45 ACP were replaced by the Beretta M9 and 9mm, which brought the U.S. in line with the other NATO countries. But the story did not end there! The 1911 and .45 ACP continued to serve specialized forces like the Marine Corps Special Operations Command (MARSOC) up until 2023.

Legends and lore:

Alvin C. York earned the Medal of Honor during World War I for his actions on October 8, 1918, in the Meuse-Argonne Offensive in France. York, a Corporal in the U.S. Army, led an attack on a German machine gun nest, killing multiple enemy soldiers and capturing 132 others. He used a rifle, a 1911 Colt pistol, and a knife during this engagement. His actions resulted in the elimination of a significant threat to his unit and the successful capture of a large number of German troops, showcasing exceptional bravery and marksmanship skills.

Audie Murphy earned the Medal of Honor during World War II for his actions on January 26, 1945, in the Colmar Pocket in France. During an intense German counterattack, Murphy ordered his men to fall back while he remained at his position and used a 1911 pistol, along with a machine gun, to hold off the advancing enemy troops. Despite being wounded and running out of ammunition, Murphy’s fearless actions helped repel the attack and saved his unit. His courage and leadership in this engagement led to him being awarded the Medal of Honor.

FBI Special Agent Charles Winstead was part of the team that tracked down and engaged notorious bank robber John Dillinger on July 22, 1934, in Chicago. During a confrontation outside the Biograph Theater, Winstead, armed with a Colt 1911 pistol, was one of the agents who fired shots at Dillinger. It was Clarence Hurt who fatally shot Dillinger, but Winstead’s use of the 1911 pistol was part of the operation that led to the criminal’s demise.

Upsides of the .45 ACP

The whole point of the .45 ACP is to throw a wide, large, heavy bullet at lower speeds to deliver a one-shot stop. The large diameter gives you the best chance at hitting something vital. While the impact of a heavy 230-gr. bullet is debilitating to the target, the lower velocity means that the recoil is relatively mild for the shooter. This makes it easier to shoot accurately, with all factors adding to the .45 ACP’s lethality potential. Competition shooters have found that with a tuned firearm, the .45 ACP is extremely accurate capable of shooting one-inch holes at 25 yards or more.

Downsides of the .45 ACP

One of the main downsides of the .45 ACP is the cartridge’s size. Some people even say it’s too beaucoup! Now most users would never even notice the size when shooting the 45 ACP in the original 1911 that was designed around it. That’s because the 1911’s single stack configuration keeps the grip circumference as small as possible. The downside is you only have an eight-round capacity. Some manufacturers do offer high capacity .45 ACP pistols, but even a 13-round pistol seems gargantuan when compared to others.

Over the years, the .45 ACP has earned a reputation for its effectiveness in self-defense, law enforcement, and military applications, embodying a sense of power and dependability that continues to captivate firearms enthusiasts worldwide. Here’s to the next hundred-twenty years!

—James the “XDMAN” Nicholas Mr. UnPewFessional Himself!