From .45 To .40, And Back Again?

For many years my sidearm was a government issue 1911 in .45 acp. Then the constant gibberings of NATO persuaded the armed services to switch to a 9 mm, and to sweeten the deal with Italy for various amenities, Beretta was chosen as the manufacturer. By that time, I had become senior enough to parade around with the horrid excuse for a weapon, but to carry what I wanted when it was shit hit the fan time. I never saw a man stand up to a high torso hit from a .45, but experienced more than one occassion where a 9 mm flat out didn't work in ending a disagreement then and there. The Beretta was and remains terrible to maintain in adverse conditions, and Desert's Shield and Storm were enough to convince many senior NCO's to "find" suitable small arms for the men who needed them.

Now remember, this was the dark ages as far as bullet design went. You had a choice of FMJ or an exotic offering from Super Vel or Hi Vel, or any number of boutique cartridge manufacturers, but getting the rounds in quantity was difficult at best, and the quality control ranged from barely adequate to most hideous.

Fast forward to around the time I decided that old men should garden rather than run with the kids, and the 10 mm, .40 caliber ammunitions were being developed for law enforcement. Officers the country over were handing in service revolvers for bottom feeders, and there were really only two rounds to consider after the dust had settled... 9 mm or .40.

Not wanting to relive the drama of firing to slide lock and awaiting the sooner-or-later demise of an intended target, I dismissed the thought of a 9, gave up my love affair with the .45, and switched to .40 for personal use, for there were far more bullets to choose from because that's where the research dollars were being spent. But times are changing yet again.

The revival of the .45 semi-automatic has been something to behold. Target shooters as well as those interested in self defense weapons began clamoring for 1911's and even plastic guns chambered in the big bore, and it took a while but the ammunition manufacturers shook off the duh's and got serious about making modern versions of the grand old round. But to tote a .45 meant holstering a 5" barrel, and while many were purchased few were carried for very long.

Then came the shorty barrels, and the lighter bullets that could generate the velocity necessary to expand modern hollowpoints. But the duh's soon set in once again. Why arm yourself with a 165 grain bullet in .45 caliber when that niche was overflowing with .40's that went as fast if not faster, and shared the terminal ballistics to the nth degree. Especially when the .40's were lighter, with larger magazine capacities.

Then along came Speer with a new Gold Dot designed for lower velocities, and after exhaustive research and millions of dollars spent with various marketting guru's, they decided upon the name of...Gold Dot LV. Not wanting to rest upon such august laurels, Federal/Speer kept working on the short barrel problem and came up with the HST round in .45 +P, and these rounds expand to over an inch in ballistic gelatin, and can be quite the bees knees in tubes of at least 3.5 inches or thereabouts.

Now cometh the quandry. Switching from .45 to .40 was difficult, and contemplating the switch back even more so. Reems of data strongly suggest that the best overall carry round is the modern .40. The new .45's on the block aren't in very many law enforcement hands, and while the military maintains many such guns there's been scant information regarding the terminal effects with new munitions. I don't like making another change in my carry weapon based upon little more than anecdotal reports, or gut feelings, but the feelings are strong. I'm not dumb enough to think that I can live in Florida and try to conceal a massive 1911 on a daily basis, and changing calibers means tons of practice but I like to practice. Switching platforms would exacerbate the dilemma, so I'm thinking of giving the Glock 30 a look.

Just a look, mind you. I've shot these little guns before and was impressed with the accuracy and am convinced the design is of sound mind, but always shied away because a 3.8" barrel was just too short to fling 230 grain hollowpoints with any real authority.

Not any more. I'm going to call upon Crazy Jay to do some chrono work, and while he doesn't own a G-30 he knows of those that do, so the wheels will at least have been set in motion for a serious look at a modern .45 with modern fodder.

I could always buy one just because, but the siren call of carrying a new gun would be strong indeed, and I'd like the i's dotted and the t's crossed before taking such a step. There's always the chance that Florida would legislate open-carry and that would help a great deal, but the thought of all of those Cubans in Miami...well, you get the picture. We do so love the 2nd Amendment, but we ain't crazy.