45 auto????????????
 

Hello, I talked to a guy on my ups route who makes gun barrels, and I feel knows alot about guns in genral, I asked about what cal to buy if I where going to buy a auto pistol, he said to buy a 45 if I m able to shoot it, ?? He went on to say say that some people have troble shooting the 45s ?? Is this common people not being able to shoot a 45, and why would it be hard to shoot one accuratly,, and if not the 45 auto then what cal in an auto that has stopping power for personal defence,, the 40, 357sig,the 9mm????????????? any comments would be great....

RE: 45 auto????????????
 

the .45 auto is a nice shooting gun. you can shoot it with one hand and be very accurate it needed.a full size frame has very little kick to. most shots for defence are 3 to 4 yards. i think the average shot is 7 yards. we practiceat 20 to 25 yards and play around alot at 50 yards with the .45's. doing this just seems to make the closer shots come easy.the thing for defenceis to practice and practice so that you never have to think about the gun if it is called apond.the biggest decisionshould beto use the gun, not how to use the gun. go for the .45 you'll will be very happy with it. those 1911 models are a ton of fun to shoot.:)

RE: 45 auto????????????
 

I think what he told you has some merit...In a very broad sense. The full size .45 does shoot alittle different than most other handguns. Learning to shoot one accurately, just like any firearm takes practice. When I was a LEO, we carried revolvers and shot them often. When in the military, we were forced to shoot the 1911's, OLD 1911's at that. It took some getting used to in order for me to shoot accurately. Now, after many years, I have little problem going from one to the other. I think if you buy a good quality 1911, you'll have loads of fun at the range and certainly have a good defense hangun as well. My only beef with mine is the weight as a carry gun compared to other handguns. It's big and it's heavy, but it's what I choose more often than not. It just feels right in my hand. Buy a good one. Everyone deserves at least one 1911 in .45.

RE: 45 auto????????????
 

If you start looking at a .45, then I suggest you take a look at the Springfield XD45 ACP. I've got an XD9 (9mm) and I love it. The XD45 is new and may be a little hard to find, however. The XD also comes in .40 cal if you decide on that.

I bought a 9mm for two reasons: 1) my wife was more comfortable shooting it over a .40, and 2) 9mm ammo is cheap (about 20-25% less than .40 and 50% less than .45) and that means I can practice more often.

You'll get a wide range of opinions on the suitability of various calibers for personal defense, but I think it all boils down to being able to practice enough to hit at what you're aiming and selecting the right ammo.

RE: 45 auto????????????
 

The manual of arms of the single action 1911 is quite a bit different than most other autochucker pistols today that tend to be DA or DA/SA and takes a bit of getting used to. For a person who learned to shoot a lever rifle or a revolver and has been taught how to use the halfcock, the 1911 seems sort of alien and scary at first. The 1911 points naturally like no other pistol, at least to me. As far as shooting accurately? I've never had problems shooting one accurately.






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RE: 45 auto????????????
 

tbuck you are either a 1911 fan or you aren't. I have been selling handguns for several years and the majority of customers I find are relatively new too handguns and for the average person the 1911 is large and not as comfortable in the hands as say a Glock, Taurus, Sig or anyother plethora of autos on the market today.John M. Browning invented the 1911 and he was well over 6' tall and slender of build. That tells me he had larger than average hands so the 1911 is what felt right too him. Likewise for me, I am 6'4"and my hands are alittle longer than averageand I LOVE the 1911s, always have and have shot many of them. But I prefer the slimmer single stack versions compared to some of the higher capacity double stack versions on the market.

I just recently purchased a Para LDA 1911. http://www.paraord.com/product/product.html?id=38 This gun is a DAO (Double Action Only) as it features a bobbed hammer. The Para has an incredible trigger that is smooth and has no firmness too it or rough spots. If you like the 1911 but don't want a SAO (Single Action Only) then I encourage you to check out the Para's. As for a SAO 1911 I LOVE Kimbers, for the money I don't think you can beat them. Even their cheapest guns are comparable to most other makers target models. For the cheapest 1911s that are still a quality piece and are closer too the original GI model Colts, look at the 1911s from Springfield. They aren't pretty, but they are tough as nails and shoot decently.

If money is no object then check out Les Baer or Wilson Combat and like guns. I have a few buddies on my local SWAT team and their choice is the Wilson Combat 1911. You can spend $2k-$3k+ on either of these makers finest guns, but one session at the range will have you understanding WHY! ;)

Ammo isn't as cheap as a 9mm for sure, but you can get some quality ball ammo for plinking around from UMC, Winchester, Remington and several other makers. I had one supplier whom I could buy 50rnds of .45 ball ammo and retail it for less than $15 a box. I can't remember the maker right now (I want to say it was a cheap line who was owned by either Remington or CCI, but can't remember when I need to as typical) but my customers love it. Several of my Kimber customers cussed the Russian Wolf ammo for it's dirtyness and claimed several jams up with their typically unfussy Kimbers. So stay away from the cheap import stuff and you should be ok.

For carry purpose stick with either the Federal HydraShok bullets or what every law enforcement officer I know ofcarries, the Golden Sabre from Remington. In fact the departments around my area require their officers to use Golden Sabre. The head of the SWAT team told me that the engineer who designed the Black Talon also designed the Golden Sabre and that the GS proved superior in all their tests when determining what the depts should issue.

Good luck and "THE" auto pistol too me is still the one that came from the man who invented the auto pistol... the 1911 rules FOREVER!!!
RA