Best Compact .45

[Cellar Hound]

Seeking recommendations on the best compact .45 ACP for concealed carry. I’m open to all options including DA/SA, Striker, 1911, etc.... It needs to be small and have a minimum capacity of 6+1. Thanks for your input.

 

[Amp]

Best I have is the Shield 45

 

[Protected One]

The Smith & Wesson Shield 45 is a wonderful concealed carry gun, however my personal recommendation would be a commander size 1911.

 

[shell627]

Colt Defender or shield 45.

 

[Cellar Hound]

Thanks

The Smith & Wesson Shield 45 is a wonderful concealed carry gun, however my personal recommendation would be a commander size 1911.

I currently have a Colt Combat Commander XSE. However, I am looking for something lighter and with a shorter barrel.

 

[Univibe]

The best carry .45 is one in 9mm.

More ammo, cheaper practice, less recoil, works just as well.

 

[jwk]

Springfield Compact. Officers size frame. 4 inch slide. Alloy frame. If you go shorter than 4" on slide reliability suffers on 1911 pattern pistols. Magazines easy to find. Wilson makes good ones.

 

[IraIII]

Sig P245 or P220 compact or S&W CS45

 

[EdinDenver]

Do a Google Search on CCO pistols. Mine is a Dan Wesson CCO and I absolutely love it. Sig C3 is another option. Basically Commander Slide with Officer Frame. Fun to shoot, accurate, comfortable.

 

[18DAI]

S&W 4513TSW, the early variant without the tacked on rail. Or a CS45. Bet your life reliable and well made accurate pistols.

If you are on a budget, the 457 is a lot of compact 45 for the money. But slightly larger than its siblings.

Should you like the striker fired tupperware guns, the XDs mod 2 45 appears to perform adequately. But is over priced for what it is. And the flush fit mag only holds 5 rounds. Good luck and good hunting! Regards 18DAI

 

[pharmer]

HK USPc is just a tad larger than the 6906 I carry. Owners manual says +P is OK. Best I got. Joe

 

[M29since14]

The “best” depends on what you are comfortable with. I like having a manual safety. The little XDS is a decent gun, but without a safety lock, I gradually moved away from it. Same for the Kahrs. The 3rd Generation S&Ws are nice guns, too, but are big and heavy, and if you use the hammer dropper as a safety, the fact that it’s slide-mounted may not appeal. The Shield .45s seem to have been very successful, right from the start. I like mine, which does have a manual safety that I find about ideal in size and shape. I have more trouble shooting it accurately at extended range than I do a Commander. So, if you want a safety, you’re going to be looking at some guns and not at others. You may have other criteria, plastic or metal, how the gun feels in your hand, accuracy expectations, etc. For my own use, I’ve always been quite happy with a Commander. Nowadays, maybe a Shield would do just as well, and it’s certainly smaller and lighter.

 

[jimmyj]

GLOCK MODEL 30 45acp (10 rounds magazine plus one in the chamber=11 rounds)

 

[Echo40]

M&P Shield .45, H&K USP .45 if you prefer DA/hammer-fired.

The best carry .45 is one in 9mm.

More ammo, cheaper practice, less recoil, works just as well.

Look, it's cool if you like 9mm Luger, it most certainly has its advantages, and it's plenty powerful enough to get the job done, but when you start using the whole "just as effective" shtick, you only make it seem like you're compensating.

Sure, 9mm Luger may appear deceptively equal to .40 S&W and .45 ACP in ballistics gel testing/statistics, but in real life applications it's still a smaller, lighter, projectile which cannot match the energy transfer of larger, heaver projectiles which simply have greater momentum.
And if you're going to base the effectiveness of a cartridge on the results of ballistics gel tests/statistics, then you might as well drop the 9mm Luger for .380 ACP because it comes in smaller, lighter, less expensive, easier to carry firearms, has less recoil than 9mm Luger, and works just as well.

That being said, if the TC wanted a 9mm pistol then he would have asked for suggestions on a 9mm pistol. Your post was unnecessary, unhelpful, inaccurate, and just comes off as though you felt the need to chime in pushing 9mm because you're insecure about the cartridge you're carrying.

 

[78bagger]

Colt CCO. .45 cal, Commander slide, Officer's alloy frame, 7+1. Took the place of my Sig 938 for most days.

 

[Zebra War Wagon]

As others have suggested, "Best" is very subjective....I have a SA Range Officer LW Compact with the Officers sized frame and 4" slide/barrel and it has been absolutely reliable, accurate and easy to carry. I do have the Shield 45 which is a bit easier to carry and lighter to boot. So, if I were to make a recommendation as to the best, it would be up to you depending on what feels the best in your hand and what you feel comfortable with......

 

[Kanewpadle]

Depends on what you call compact.

Glock 30S is a good choice. Any smaller and the recoil can be brutal.

 

[4T5GUY]

Interesting question, “what is the best compact .45 ?” There are going to be many opinions for that question which is what’s needed. The answer is so very subjected though.

I have some of the ones that people have mentioned, but believe it or not, my Kahr PM 45 w/night sights is the one that goes with me the most. It is incredibly accurate with the Karl Lothar polygonal match grade barrel. It has been totally reliable, except when I shot my favorite hand loaded hard casts. Bad idea. I knew that I shouldn’t try it but..... It went back to Kahr and returned with a SA trigger pull under 3 lbs. They went through everything and it came back better than broken in new. For free.

Jim

 

[armorer951]

I carried a Glock model 36 on duty for several years. The gun was one of the options available to investigators who opted not to carry full sized model 21's. You may want to consider this gun as it meets your basic requirement of 6+1 rounds. Weight is 22.4 oz with empty magazine. Barrel length approx 3.75 inches.

Recoil is what you would expect from a small "subcompact" .45acp pistol. The pistol carries, conceals, and shoots very well. My particular gun is an early production example, and proved to be very reliable. Shortly after purchase, the useless plastic sights were replaced with tritium sights.

The original magazines supplied with the gun were the only exception to the gun's reliability. At one point, I began to have an occasional feeding issue with the original supplied magazines. (after approx 3 years) Once the magazines were replaced the pistol's reliability returned.

 

[Philadelphia Patriot]

Glock 30 or Shield 45. I wouldn’t consider anything else but that’s just me.