Musings on "What is .45 Auto Cartridge?"

I mean no disrespect, but I was taken aback by the posing of that question. Obviously a very young shooter, was my first thoughts.

When I was very, very young, boys bought solid hard rubber replicas of the ".45 Automatic," as well as fairly accurate cap-pistol copies of the pistol. The ".45 Automatic" was THE gun of gangster movies, as well as the military sidearm of the US Army. Every kid knew terms such as "Snub-nosed .38," ".38 Special", "Colt .45" and ".30-30," whether they knew what they meant or not.

And, sooner or later, they were introduced to the .45 Automatic pistol, as the M1911A1, either through high school ROTC, or being introduced to one, albeit fleetingly, after having been drafted into the Army. And, going by mail order at prices around $21.00, many soon got their hands on one.

I personally resisted the purchase of such guns, preferring to go with the revolver in .45 Colt, slightly more at $29.95. I went whole hog and bought the select model at $34.95.

Ammunition was dirt cheap as military surplus flooded the market, both American and foreign made. The foreign made stuff introduced us to Berdan primed ammunition for the first time. Some even went to great lengths to reload the Berdan stuff, why, I'll never know.

And, accurizing the old slab sided wonder was the topic of many conversations, as well as how to make it function with hjollow points or waddcutter ammunition.

My own venture with the .45 Auto came with a Colt Gold Cup that had been set up for hardball. It was a dandy gun with Winchester Silvertips, making a good crow and varmint gun out to about seventy-five yards or so. That is, if you didn't mind losing a few ejected cases during the day. Or if you didn't mind the slightly distracting habit of having a hat brim with cases rolling around, dropping off before your eyes as you squeezed off a shot.

The .45 Auto round was born in 1905, and its popularity is still going strong.

Bob Wright

The young,new, or uneducated shooter, is that really that strange of a question. Consider th .22 cal., short,long,long rifle are most common but few know of the .22 auto. the number of less than memorable calibers out there that never quite made the impact that the designer hoped for. Many collectors enjoy finding such to add to the unusual collection but a novice shooter getting a handgun from a relative of friend and doesn't understand what is meant, it isn't too bad to ask. We have been around for a year or two and learned a thing or two but I can say I still find guns and cal. that I haven't seen before or heard of, yes I chuckle at some questions I hear of read but I am glad they are asking to learn, and being safe. It is much better than reading some one bought ammo that wasn,t proper for the weapon they were using and it blew up in thier face and they are in critical condition.

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Originally Posted by tony pasley

The young,new, or uneducated shooter, is that really that strange of a question. Consider th .22 cal., short,long,long rifle are most common but few know of the .22 auto. the number of less than memorable calibers out there that never quite made the impact that the designer hoped for. Many collectors enjoy finding such to add to the unusual collection but a novice shooter getting a handgun from a relative of friend and doesn't understand what is meant, it isn't too bad to ask. We have been around for a year or two and learned a thing or two but I can say I still find guns and cal. that I haven't seen before or heard of, yes I chuckle at some questions I hear of read but I am glad they are asking to learn, and being safe. It is much better than reading some one bought ammo that wasn,t proper for the weapon they were using and it blew up in thier face and they are in critical condition.

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+1 :smt023

Hey, when I was a kid I thought all guns were .45 Glocks. :)

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Originally Posted by SuckLead

Hey, when I was a kid I thought all guns were .45 Glocks. :)

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What a terrible thought. :smt110

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Originally Posted by Snowman

What a terrible thought. :smt110

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I know. But my evil beliefs have been completely corrected! To my relief! :)

Bob Wright, my first 45acp was a like new Series 70 Colt Government and a like new Colt Ace 22 Conversion unit. I always say that these two items were made on a Monday using Friday parts. Was it that bad? YOU BETCHA! I tried and tried to get this pistol to run right but it was not going to happen.I sold the two and never looked back. Years later I bought a Norinco 1911A1 and then all was right in my world. Regards, Richard :D

Ps I perceived the violence of the slide moving to be recoil. I bought a shooting glove and soon learned this was not needed with a 1911A1.

As I said, I meant no disrespect to the poser of that question. What my comment dealt with was the fact that kids of my day were more "gun savvy" than they are today. I knew the .45 Auto and .45 ACP were the same cartridge by age nine or ten, as did most of my friends in my circle.

Much of our education came from Fred Harmon's comic strip "Red Ryder" which had a side panel in the Sunday edition with some sort of gun data or trivia. Some of our information was, in fact, misinformation, but by and large, we were "gun savvy."

Most of us had been hunting with older relatives and/or had someone in the military services. I was about seven or eight years old when I fired my first pistol, and about nine when I held the first Colt Single Action in my hand. I think I was fourteen when I bought my first revolver, a Colt New Service .45 Colt. My Dad was not a "gun person" but he never protested my thirst of knowledge of the subject. In fact, it was his intervention that allowed me to have guns in the house. And, in over fifty-five years of gun handling, I have never had an accidental discharge nor come close to any accident.

Bob Wright

Yes, some kids been doing calculus since they were 7, while others wrote their first concerto when they were 7...

For a kid to made those comments is forgivable, otherwise for a grown man to make those comment deserve no disrespect.

The 2nd amendment is a sensitive subject with powerful figures such as Hilary Clinton and the like on the opposition. Any accident prevented is a momentum gain to the right to bear arm. Any mean of getting more people to enjoy the shooting sport and stop arming the opposition is appreciated by gun owners.

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Originally Posted by coolguy

Yes, some kids been doing calculus since they were 7, while others wrote their first concerto when they were 7...

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The kids you mention were exceptional. The fact remains most young boys my age were more gun savvy, at least in my area.

Again, I'm not putting the man down for posing the question, in fact, admire him for it, given the atmosphere here.

I was merely emphasizing the "generation gap." Nothing more.

Bob Wright

Dude, you didn't answer/contribute to the question the that thread.
You were "taken aback by the posing of that question."
You distance yourself with the poser of the question, by starting a new thread.
You then b!tching on and on and on and on and on about how you were so great with guns and the related.
You threw out a bunch of terms many people don't understand.
You sympathized with others who were gun savvy.
You summarized everything to ' "generation gap." ' in double quotes.

I don't know what your generation call it, but people my generation call that NICE unfriendly gestures. Hey make sure you notice I wrote nice in big letters. I reckon the next lnice thing a nice fellow like you would do is remove this thread, if that's not possible, please request the mod to remove this thread.

Coolguy... I'm not sure what the problem is. I'm sorry U are upset.

Your original question was answered by myself and several other people. Bob likes to post about historical info, and it can be interesting reading sometimes.

I went up and down this post a few times to see what got U so upset. Being the original poster of the question on the other thread, I can only assume U didn't like being singled out with another thread. But I don't think Bob meant anything by it.

I enjoyed reading Bob's comments. Seems to me that his thoughts and subsequent comments were presented an entirely appropriate and civil manner, despite the somewhat acrid tone of his critic.

Just the impression of another reader...

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Originally Posted by SuckLead

Hey, when I was a kid I thought all guns were .45 Glocks. :)

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When I was a kid, I thought all guns were either revolvers, or 1911s...

Of course, at the time, I had no idea that 1911 was the name for that style of gun. It was just the standard slide activated semi-auto...and for me, all were the same.

It wasn't until about a month ago that I realized that the 1911 is a type of gun...and that there are variants on the semi-auto with a slide...

BTW, do all 1911s have to be .45 ACP? Is that part of the definition of a 1911? Could you have a 9mm 1911?

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Originally Posted by Bob Wright

As I said, I meant no disrespect to the poser of that question. What my comment dealt with was the fact that kids of my day were more "gun savvy" than they are today. I knew the .45 Auto and .45 ACP were the same cartridge by age nine or ten, as did most of my friends in my circle.
Bob Wright

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Originally Posted by coolguy

For a kid to made those comments is forgivable, otherwise for a grown man to make those comment deserve no disrespect.

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Originally Posted by Bob Wright

The fact remains most young boys my age were more gun savvy, at least in my area.

Bob Wright

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Originally Posted by coolguy

Dude, you didn't answer/contribute to the question the that thread.

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Coolguy, Bob gets verbose when he's pontificating.

Here's a bright spot for you, in his own words

"Handgunner that I am, I am often in the dark regarding the cryptic numbers often posted here abouts. I really don't know what an H&K USP nor a Walther P-499 looks like, nor even what caliber they might be.

Those more familiar with such things rattle off the numbers so glibly expecting the rest of the world to know. We don't.

Bob Wright"

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Originally Posted by bangbang

BTW, do all 1911s have to be .45 ACP? Is that part of the definition of a 1911? Could you have a 9mm 1911?

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1911's come in 22 LR, 9mm, 38 Super, 40 S&W, 10mm, 45 GAP, 45 ACP and 50 GI.

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Originally Posted by 2400

1911's come in 22 LR, 9mm, 38 Super, 40 S&W, 10mm, 45 GAP, 45 ACP and 50 GI.

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Does any single manufacturer make all of those options? If so, they likely have a STRONG understanding of how the 1911 works, which in turn implies that theirs is a GREAT product...

Also, who made the first 1911...is that a Colt gun?

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Originally Posted by bangbang

Does any single manufacturer make all of those options? If so, they likely have a STRONG understanding of how the 1911 works, which in turn implies that theirs is a GREAT product...

Also, who made the first 1911...is that a Colt gun?

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Colt made the first 1911. Look at the Colt,
Springfield, Kimber, Para web sites to get more inof on what they have.

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Originally Posted by 2400

Coolguy, Bob gets verbose when he's pontificating.

Here's a bright spot for you, in his own words

"Handgunner that I am, I am often in the dark regarding the cryptic numbers often posted here abouts. I really don't know what an H&K USP nor a Walther P-499 looks like, nor even what caliber they might be.

Those more familiar with such things rattle off the numbers so glibly expecting the rest of the world to know. We don't.

Bob Wright"

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:smt082 :smt082 :smt082