ButchA

Hey there...

I went to the local gun show in town and brought along my Taurus 85 .38spl snubnose revolver. I was thinking of maybe just selling it or maybe trading it in. It's a nice little handgun and perfect for concealed carry, but the accuracy is horrible. That's why I think people called snubnose revolvers "belly guns".

Anyway, long story short, Iwent from this:
Taurus 85, .38spl snubnose

To this...
Para-Ordinance P13, .45APC (1911 Colt Commander copy)


The weight and beefy-ness of the .45ACP is incredible compared to the .38spl. It is definitely going to pack a wallop way more than the Taurus 85, that is for sure.

Anyone else shoot a .45 ACP? I remember qualifiying on the Colt 1911 .45ACP way back in bootcamp in the USCG. The .45 ACP is a legendary handgun and comes in all varieties (Kimber, Springfield,Ruger, Para Ordinance, and even a cheap version called Llama).

Charley

My ususal carry gun is a Para P-12, in a Don Hume IWB holster. Works fine.
My carry gun for when I am not carrying a gun is a S&W M36, which the Taurus resembles. No reason the shorties are not as mechanicly accurate as a longer barrel, but practical accuracy is a bit toughter. Did you ever bench the Tausrus? Pretty surprising just what those "belly guns" will do.

ButchA

Yes, I have sat at a bench at an indoor shooting range with the Taurus and it is accurate out to 5 yards. The best investment I made was getting rid of the ridiculous wooden, thin, grips on the Taurus, and getting a nice beefy, finger grooved Pachmeyer grip for it.

My brother-in-law is an armed security guard and has shot the Taurus 85 with me at the range. He also agreed that it is best suited for close in, personal defense. (i.e.... image this scenario.... you're laying in bed late at night and someone breaks in. You reach for the .38spl snubnose. You sit tight and wait for them to enter the bedroom. You still sit tight while they approach your bed while weilding a switchblade.) Then, the true range and power of a snubnose .38 will become the best manner of defense. At least, that is what I was always told.

When shooting the snubnose .38 at the range at 5 yards, I can get pretty decent groups, but not anything like I would with a semi-auto, like my brother-in-law's Glock that he carries on the job. If I strung a target all the way out to 25 yards at the indoor range, I would end up getting 18" groups or worse.... [&o]

Bulzeye

45s are hard to beat unless you want a smaller gun.

Watch the rear sight and grip safety on that one. That style tends to eat up clothing when it snags. A decent holster should be able to cover the sight pretty well, and the safety can be changed to a smoother beaver tail style if you wish.

Enjoy the new gun.

BTW, snubbies can indeed be fairly accurate, they are just hard to use, and require a lot of practice. The short sight radius, small sights,tiny grip, and light weight are what make them difficult to shoot accurately, not the barrel length.

Rebel Hog

Butch, I have hadthis Rossi 971"Compitition" .357magfor over 10yrs now and it is veryaccurate up to 30-35yds.

mauser06

my dad has 2 Kimber 1911s. ive shot alot of diffrent pistols. but nothing compares to the pack a 45acp packs IMHO. and them Kimbers are smooth, flawless and accurate. ill be turning 21 in a year and a half and will be getting my carry permit, (most people look forward to drinking at 21, i look forward to buying me a sweet pistol. id LOVE to have a Kimber like dads compact, but id have to sell the truck to afford one!! im trying to con him into buying me my pistol. i once owned my very own sig 226, but he needed cash, or i needed cash to fix my truck or something, but i didnt get to shoot it too much because i cant take it to shoot alone yet, so we parted with it, so he said he owes me one! im looking at a Glock 30...its a 45 with a 9 or 10rd mag and its made for concealed carry. i want to see one and play with it in person before buying one though. although the looks and feel of a good 1911 are hard to beat i think the small glock would be better for me to carry till i settle down a bit. i do alot of running around here and there in and out of the truck etc. i think a glock would be a better choice. even most compact 1911s are pretty decint sized and heavier. id like to know how the he!! they got 9rds of 45 in a compact mag.......

ButchA

Wow, nice piece you have there Rebel Hog! I like the full size grips you have on it. The ones I had were rubber grips, but still they were a bit small for my hands. I guess the Taurus 85 is viewed as a small compact .38 snubby and excellent for concealed carry. It does take a lot of practice to get decent groups with it, but for close range "in your face" type of home defense, it will do the job.

I took the new Para Ordinance .45ACP to the indoor range yesterday afternoon. All I can say is WOW! This definitely is NOT a small .38 snubby! [&:][8D] The kick wasn't bad from what I was expecting either. It was very smooth,excellent feel, but a little heavy (compared to a .38 spl snubby), and it just ate up all the round ball 230gr FMJ rounds! I was able to totally obliterate the bullseye at 10 yards, with a few random fliers out to the 8 ring.

Shooting the .45ACP (1911 copy) rekindles so many memories of military bootcamp. Also there are so many aftermarket accessories and doodads out there, to really trick up a .45ACP, it's incredible! [8D]

Bulzeye

Rebel Hog, that looks like a 3" medium frame rather than a 2" snubbie, but I can't tell for sure.

I'd expect that gun to shoot plenty well with the ported barrel, target sights, red insert, and the large grip. I don't think it's quite fair to compare to an 85, but it's a very nice piece.

ButchA

Here it is guys.... I snapped a photo of my new .45 ACP in its original box with a spare 10 round mag. Totally stock, excellent condition Para Ordinance P13.

The guy at the gunshow booth gave me $175 for the small Taurus 85 snubby (I didn't argue...) and this used Para P13 was $399. I just had to pay the difference. What a bargain!!!!

bowhuntr09

Hey Butch,

I recently picked up a 1911 also. I went with a Springfield Loaded Champion and got a Milt Sparks VM-2 holster to go along with it. Where do you shoot? I am a member at Black Creek if you want to get together and shoot sometime.

Here is a pic of mine: