.45 GAP

olcop

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I recently noticed that the FHP has gone to another caliber, anyone know what happened to their supply of .45 GAP ammo?
I've been looking for a while for some.
Thanks
John
 
I asked at GT distributors if there was any 45gap ammo. They said they had very little and was offering it for those who bought one of the 45gap Glocks. Supposedly a lot of troopers bought their old duty weapons so the ammo was probably gifted to troopers.
 
Here's an off-the-wall question. Can .45 GAP ammo be used in moon clip fed revolvers like Model 25s and 625s? I can't find the dimensions of the shells compared to .45 ACP.
 
That is why I bought some of this. I also have some .45HP one of the guys gave me a heads up on here. It is a round that had a 1mm shorter case than .45acp. J&G had some a few years ago, for cheap. Less than components even in cheap times...........
 
Yes, the GAP will work in revolvers using moons.

Right, but it will not work in ACP revolvers without using moon clips. Both headspace on the front end of the case, and the GAP case is shorter than the ACP case, so it must have the moon clip to headspace on.
 
Folks have learned from past mistakes during ammo shortages that it's good to have at least one firearm chambered in an off-cartridge, so a lot of folks bought firearms chambered in things like 9x18 Makarov, .357 SIG, or .45 GAP as an alternative during ammo shortages.

Problem is, high profile YouTubers kept on suggesting that everyone do it, so now those alternative cartridges are all gone too.
 
This is just my own theory, but anyone who currently owns a 45GAP should stock up on ammo, components and magazines because I truly don't see a healthy future for the caliber.

Anyone who is considering buying one, would truly be much better off buying a 45 acp which will be here for a long long time. I see no advantage and lots of disadvantages with the GAP caliber. Just my opinion and YMMV.
 
The Gold Dots are cheaper to shoot in the 625 than ball Ammo in 45acp.

The TMJ rounds are cheaper than components, currently.
 
The GAP is really a nice shooting round approximating 45 ACP ballistics in a 9mm size frame...easy to reload with 45 ACP components...it should have been more popular but like the 357 SIG, it has been eclipsed by “9mm Mania”.
 
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I shoot 45gap in my 625-2. I know the drawbacks as far as carbon and powder build-up, etc. My question is this: From purely a ballistics standpoint, is 45gap safe to shoot in a model of 1950 (pre-26) and model of 1955 (pre-25). I know the pressure is a little higher in the 45gap vs.45acp. Not that it matters, but I only shoot standard velocity in these guns, no +P.
 
This is just my own theory, but anyone who currently owns a 45GAP should stock up on ammo, components and magazines because I truly don't see a healthy future for the caliber.

Anyone who is considering buying one, would truly be much better off buying a 45 acp which will be here for a long long time. I see no advantage and lots of disadvantages with the GAP caliber. Just my opinion and YMMV.


The caliber has been unhealthy for a long time. It's a fairly pointless caliber. Imo 357 sig is also pointless, but it does have its fans. I've never seen a 45 gap fan. For anyone that actually plans on doing any shooting its a bad proposition. During "normal" times trade in gap guns usually only seem to be about $50 cheaper than trade in 40s&w guns. After just a few box's of ammo you will have shot up that price difference.
 
I shoot 45gap in my 625-2. I know the drawbacks as far as carbon and powder build-up, etc. My question is this: From purely a ballistics standpoint, is 45gap safe to shoot in a model of 1950 (pre-26) and model of 1955 (pre-25). I know the pressure is a little higher in the 45gap vs.45acp. Not that it matters, but I only shoot standard velocity in these guns, no +P.
That’s a hard one to know for sure. Most 45Gap does come across a little hotter than 45acp. However, with very similar 25s made from the same metal chambered in 45Colt I think it will be fine. Just think of some of the hotter 45colt loads shot through pre model 25s.
 
The caliber has been unhealthy for a long time. It's a fairly pointless caliber. Imo 357 sig is also pointless, but it does have its fans. I've never seen a 45 gap fan. For anyone that actually plans on doing any shooting its a bad proposition. During "normal" times trade in gap guns usually only seem to be about $50 cheaper than trade in 40s&w guns. After just a few box's of ammo you will have shot up that price difference.
I believe Glock killed the 45gap success from the beginning by making the slide 1.125” thick instead of 1”. The prototypes had a 1” slide and even magazine writers were provided and wrote that the slide was 1” thick. Glock made the 36 with a 1” slide.

I have known one person that was a 45gap fan. He had also put more dirtbags in the grave than any cop I ever met. However, I don’t believe he ever shot anyone with anything other than 38 or 9mm.
 
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This is just my own theory, but anyone who currently owns a 45GAP should stock up on ammo, components and magazines because I truly don't see a healthy future for the caliber.

Anyone who is considering buying one, would truly be much better off buying a 45 acp which will be here for a long long time. I see no advantage and lots of disadvantages with the GAP caliber. Just my opinion and YMMV.

Realistically speaking, this is not a valid concern. Ammo manufacturers continue to do limited production runs of cartridges which have long since fallen out of use such as 7.62 Mauser and even obscure cartridges which never achieved any sort of widespread use such as 9x18 Ultra/Police, so .45 GAP will most likely remain in production for decades to come.

The GAP is really a nice shooting round approximating 45 ACP ballistics in a 9mm size frame...easy to reload with 45 ACP components...it should have been more popular but like the 357 SIG, it has been eclipsed by “9mm Mania”.

FYI: Firearms chambered in .45 GAP are NOT 9mm size firearms in terms of overall dimensions, they tend to be significantly thicker in the slide, as you would imagine since you cannot very well mill out a slide designed to house a 9mm bullet to accommodate an 11.5mm bullet and be left with enough material for the firearm to be structurally sound.

Folks complain about how the Glock 22/23 Gen 5 have a thicker slide than previous generations eventhough they're really only a bit thicker and the thickness actually serves a purpose because after all these years Glock has finally gotten with the program and accepted that you cannot simply bore out a slide designed to house a 9mm bullet to accommodate a 10mm bullet and expect it to hold up well to regular use.
Yeah, you know all that stuff folks like James Yeager are always saying about .40 S&W tearing guns apart? That's what happens when firearms manufacturers lazily rechamber 9mm pistols for .40 S&W. It's also why Smith & Wesson's pistols tend to have overall thicker slides than other brands, because they design their firearms specifically for .40 S&W, then bore their .40cal slides out for 9mm.

Fortunately, Glock couldn't physically bore out a 9mm slide for .45 GAP, so they had no choice but to design a slide specifically for .45 GAP.

TL;DR -- If you line up a Glock 17 side-by-side with a Glock 37, you'll find that it is significantly thicker than the Glock 17. They are by no means identical in overall dimensions.
 
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Realistically speaking, this is not a valid concern. Ammo manufacturers continue to do limited production runs of cartridges which have long since fallen out of use such as 7.62 Mauser and even obscure cartridges which never achieved any sort of widespread use such as 9x18 Ultra/Police, so .45 GAP will most likely remain in production for decades to come.

It's a very valid concern. If this cartridge is like others that aren't very popular, it may be years between production runs. As its minimal popularilty further decreases, even the limited production runs may be phased out. With companies like Starline that are very receptive to shooter's wants and needs, the situation could be different, but no guarantees.

Best to stock up on ammo and/or components when and if they become available.
 
hi folks,
i guess some here, never owned or shot a gap. yes the grip is like a 17, 19. fits small hands well. some state hwy patrols issued the gap. problem was, ammo cost more, so that was a big factor. now that the fbi, went to 9, most will follow, it is cheaper in cost, and easier to train with. nothing wrong with the gap round, 15.00 for a box is a steal. be safe....dan
 
I don’t know why I didn’t think about it’s viability in my 45 acp revolvers - brain fart. I’ll be keeping an eye for orphaned GAP ammo. However, I haven’t seen any for the better part of the year.
 
The thicker slide of the models for 45GAP meant that they would actually work if one wanted a .40 Glock that would reliably function. There is a forum member here (who does not show up often) who was well known as the guru of glock gremlins, and he made a functional .40 out of a 45gap.

I have neither a .40 or nor a .45GAP as they serve no purpose for me. I'd have a glock 10mm first, and get an extra barrel in 40 if I wanted one. If I were to buy a dedicated .40, it would almost certainly be an M&P.
 
The thicker slide of the models for 45GAP meant that they would actually work if one wanted a .40 Glock that would reliably function. There is a forum member here (who does not show up often) who was well known as the guru of glock gremlins, and he made a functional .40 out of a 45gap.

I have neither a .40 or nor a .45GAP as they serve no purpose for me. I'd have a glock 10mm first, and get an extra barrel in 40 if I wanted one. If I were to buy a dedicated .40, it would almost certainly be an M&P.

All of my .40s are made by S&W. They aren't the only company that makes reliable firearms designed specifically for the cartridge, but they're among the best despite generally being priced a bit cheaper than the competition, so it's a win-win for me.
 
Gap fan here

Someone might as well chime in on the virtues of the caliber.

This summer I bought a glock 39 because I wanted to check the 45 caliber box. I already carried glock 26 and S&W 649.

I looked at the glock 45 acp offerings in G36 and G30, but both were too big to fit in my pocket. I'm pretty much limited to pocket carry and I wasn't interested in a range queen, therefore those options were rejected.

Three IDPA matches, 600 rounds and 8 months of daily carry later and I am absolutely in love with this gun. It fits in a standard 9mm frame and carries well once you get used to the chunk. The heavy slide makes it a soft shooter, even my wife handles it well.

As far as the "fate" of the cartridge, there are threads going back to 2011 expounding on how it was unnecessary, obsolete, an answer to a made up problem, and will surely be gone in 5-10 years.

While I will concede that if you are limited to buying factory ammo that it is not as easy to find as traditional 9/40/45acp. However, I am not limited to factory ammo.

Reloading the cartridge is a breeze. In a few months I have easily accumulated a few thousand pieces of brass. Starline and Hornady make new brass at a going rate of around $.30, but used can be found for .15-.20 each. Used magazines typically run $20, cheaper than other glock mags.

The best part about shooting GAP is that picking up your brass during a match is easy, since it can be separated from the ACP that isn't mine. In addition, most of the other folks know that I shoot Gap and my missed brass usually finds it way back to me.

The GAP has been a great gun to me, and I plan on using it for a long time to come, including in a TDI Ohio course and maybe a Tom Givens class or two.
 
Folks tend to be overly dramatic when it comes to firearms which have fallen out of common use, often labeling them as "obsolete" or "dead" complete with proclamations of their impending discontinuation by all major ammo manufacturers, regardless of how well the ammunition continues to sell, or even whether firearms chambered in the cartridge are still in production.

.45 GAP is a lot like .40 S&W, both cartridges were designed around the same principle of shortening the case of a larger cartridge in order to make it fit in smaller framed firearms while maintaining a level of performance that would appeal towards Law Enforcement, and both cartridges get hate on incessantly by diehard fans of 9mm Luger and .45 ACP who make a lot of generic statements like; "It's a solution to a problem that didn't exist!" regardless of the fact that the FBI clearly disagreed at the time and apparently so did mainstream Law Enforcement.
Meanwhile, .40 S&W and yes, even .45 GAP are still in use by Law Enforcement, albeit in reduced capacity, and evidently are still in use by civilians for self-defense, but nevermind that because folks who know zilch about economics says that ammo manufacturers will abandon both cartridges entirely regardless of whether or not there's still money to be made on them just because they sell a smaller volume of said ammo than they do more popular cartridges.
 
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