.45 GAP

[sw dan]

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

 

[CH4]

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.

 

[Doug M.]

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.

 

[ddixie884]

The Gold Dots are cheaper to shoot in the 625 than ball Ammo in 45acp.

The TMJ rounds are cheaper than components, currently.

All too true............

 

[Echo40]

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.

 

[SquarePizza]

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.

 

[Echo40]

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.