bionic218
Member
I had a different entry to hand guns than many people here. My father had guns, but to him a hand gun was useless. He only had rim fire rifles and shotguns. He enjoyed turkey shoots, clay birds, and .22 like nobody's business, but the only hand gun in the house was an old German Rohm revolver that belonged to my mother - and which was verboten for us as kids.
When I was in my early twenties, I acquired my first center fire handgun in a trade - a used Glock 22 (2nd generation). The .40S&W was a huge change from the shooting I had done; all shotguns and rim fires with a little .30-30 sprinkled in for good measure. The old Glock had two ten round magazines, and I don't think I ever even shot it more than 40-50 rounds. Being young and dumb, when a cash offer came my way, I sold it off.
But that bug for owning a nice hand gun, the peace of mind, never really left me. And as I got more and more out of the motorcycle thing, I got deeper into the gun thing, and in my early 30s, I finally bought myself another one - a Ruger P95 in 9mm, and I was hooked. In rapid succession, I bought several of the popular pieces, trying to decide, via trial and error, what it was that I really wanted out of a hand gun. Pistols like Beretta, Browning, Glock, Ruger, Sig, Taurus, and several others graced my safe over a period of just a few years. I ran the scale with everything from snub-nosed revolvers to high capacity autos, .380 mouse guns to single action cowboy guns. I tried a little of everything.
And finally, after listening to everyone tell me I needed one, I bought a .45ACP pistol. Not because I wanted one, but because everyone said it was the thing to have. 'The finger of death'. 'The man-stopper'. So being still relatively wet behind the ears in the gun world, I bought. First a Kahr CW45, and then a Springfield GI, then a Glock 21SF, and finally a Dan Wesson C-Bob. And as good as some of these were, the .45 never struck me as the end-all-be-all of hand gun calibers. (The Kahr was absolute ****, and the Glock wasn't far behind - and while I like most Glocks, the 21 and I were not cut from the same cloth). The Dan Wesson was excellent, don't misunderstand me, a really wonderful piece. But the fact was, it was so pretty it was almost blasphemy to shoot it and it weighed about 40 ounces empty - no mag.
So finally, I gave into the youthful desire for speed, moving on to lighter and faster bullets, and letting my .45s all go in either sales or trades. (This was about three years ago). I tried .357Sig, 9mm +p+, and .40 S&W with varying degrees of success, but very little understanding of what I needed the gun to actually do.
Now for collections or historical meaning or whatever, any gun caliber is a good one. But what I needed was a set method of training/practicing that would be repeatable and consistent for the guns I would carry and use to defend myself if that ever became necessary. What I decided to do for my 'serious' guns was set caliber criteria that mattered to me, and set my sights on hitting as many of those marks as I could. They are as follows:
1. Good defensive caliber for carry - tons of options -
2. Easily reloadable ammunition - this eliminates some -
3. Strong manufacturer support and following - most have this -
4. Readily available brass and/or factory ammo - tricky by todays standard -
What I came down to with those were .38 Special/.357magnum or .45ACP. Which I found funny because while I had a few .38s, I had completely divested myself of .45s.
So I started looking for a .45ACP. A friend and fellow shooter recommended a look at the HK45C. Which I looked at, and even tested a little bit at the local range. It was pretty good; but the price...my goodness. It wasn't that good. So another friend recommended looking into a Smith and Wesson M&P 45. I looked at them a bit, but decided to stick with the Glock I was used to (gen4 G23) but in the .45 caliber. I finally made a trade on my Glock and started looking for a G30SF or a G30S. That's when I ran across the M&P45C, and made my offer. I already did a review of that a week or so ago, and how it was going (it's still excellent if you're wondering).
While I was feeling this new-found interest in .45, I decided I would also like a .45 just for fun. And sure enough, on this very forum, I found it. A M&P45FS gently used in the classifieds for a very fair price. So I bought it.
I took it out today and ran all kinds of ammo through it. I imagine I shot that thing more today than it has seen total since production. And it was fantastic! The full size frame really tames the recoil, and the balance in-hand of this pistol is incredible. Accuracy was excellent where I was shooting (only 12 yards) and the extra 1/2" of sight radius was really nice for my older eyes.
While I was at the ranch, I pulled the compact version out and ran three magazines through it too, and my groups were only slightly better with the FS. Both of these pistols have performed without any issues at all. Today I ran Hornady +p 200 grn jhp, PMC Bronze 230 grn fmj, Fiocchi 230 grn fmj, and Tula 230 grn fmj steel case. Every round fired, ejected, and neither pistol ever stumbled, both accurately poking holes on target time after time, regardless of diet. Which brings me to another issue I like about .45ACP. I can actually see my shots! (I'm getting old, and things that used to be easy are now harder to see.) The strange - interesting - thing I found today is that both guns actually grouped more consistently with Tula (cheap) ammo than with other brands. Weird, right?
I'd like to personally thank the designer of the M&P45 series. That person has finally made a product that works well for me in both carry (compact) and home defense (full size) where I can have the same manual of arms, the same caliber, the same trigger, and not only are both of them very functional tools for defense...they're also a boat-load of fun! Thanks to S&W, I have rediscovered an old friend in the .45ACP, and discovered that this kind of fun doesn't have to come in a three-pound 1911 shaped package.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
When I was in my early twenties, I acquired my first center fire handgun in a trade - a used Glock 22 (2nd generation). The .40S&W was a huge change from the shooting I had done; all shotguns and rim fires with a little .30-30 sprinkled in for good measure. The old Glock had two ten round magazines, and I don't think I ever even shot it more than 40-50 rounds. Being young and dumb, when a cash offer came my way, I sold it off.
But that bug for owning a nice hand gun, the peace of mind, never really left me. And as I got more and more out of the motorcycle thing, I got deeper into the gun thing, and in my early 30s, I finally bought myself another one - a Ruger P95 in 9mm, and I was hooked. In rapid succession, I bought several of the popular pieces, trying to decide, via trial and error, what it was that I really wanted out of a hand gun. Pistols like Beretta, Browning, Glock, Ruger, Sig, Taurus, and several others graced my safe over a period of just a few years. I ran the scale with everything from snub-nosed revolvers to high capacity autos, .380 mouse guns to single action cowboy guns. I tried a little of everything.
And finally, after listening to everyone tell me I needed one, I bought a .45ACP pistol. Not because I wanted one, but because everyone said it was the thing to have. 'The finger of death'. 'The man-stopper'. So being still relatively wet behind the ears in the gun world, I bought. First a Kahr CW45, and then a Springfield GI, then a Glock 21SF, and finally a Dan Wesson C-Bob. And as good as some of these were, the .45 never struck me as the end-all-be-all of hand gun calibers. (The Kahr was absolute ****, and the Glock wasn't far behind - and while I like most Glocks, the 21 and I were not cut from the same cloth). The Dan Wesson was excellent, don't misunderstand me, a really wonderful piece. But the fact was, it was so pretty it was almost blasphemy to shoot it and it weighed about 40 ounces empty - no mag.
So finally, I gave into the youthful desire for speed, moving on to lighter and faster bullets, and letting my .45s all go in either sales or trades. (This was about three years ago). I tried .357Sig, 9mm +p+, and .40 S&W with varying degrees of success, but very little understanding of what I needed the gun to actually do.
Now for collections or historical meaning or whatever, any gun caliber is a good one. But what I needed was a set method of training/practicing that would be repeatable and consistent for the guns I would carry and use to defend myself if that ever became necessary. What I decided to do for my 'serious' guns was set caliber criteria that mattered to me, and set my sights on hitting as many of those marks as I could. They are as follows:
1. Good defensive caliber for carry - tons of options -
2. Easily reloadable ammunition - this eliminates some -
3. Strong manufacturer support and following - most have this -
4. Readily available brass and/or factory ammo - tricky by todays standard -
What I came down to with those were .38 Special/.357magnum or .45ACP. Which I found funny because while I had a few .38s, I had completely divested myself of .45s.
So I started looking for a .45ACP. A friend and fellow shooter recommended a look at the HK45C. Which I looked at, and even tested a little bit at the local range. It was pretty good; but the price...my goodness. It wasn't that good. So another friend recommended looking into a Smith and Wesson M&P 45. I looked at them a bit, but decided to stick with the Glock I was used to (gen4 G23) but in the .45 caliber. I finally made a trade on my Glock and started looking for a G30SF or a G30S. That's when I ran across the M&P45C, and made my offer. I already did a review of that a week or so ago, and how it was going (it's still excellent if you're wondering).
While I was feeling this new-found interest in .45, I decided I would also like a .45 just for fun. And sure enough, on this very forum, I found it. A M&P45FS gently used in the classifieds for a very fair price. So I bought it.
I took it out today and ran all kinds of ammo through it. I imagine I shot that thing more today than it has seen total since production. And it was fantastic! The full size frame really tames the recoil, and the balance in-hand of this pistol is incredible. Accuracy was excellent where I was shooting (only 12 yards) and the extra 1/2" of sight radius was really nice for my older eyes.
While I was at the ranch, I pulled the compact version out and ran three magazines through it too, and my groups were only slightly better with the FS. Both of these pistols have performed without any issues at all. Today I ran Hornady +p 200 grn jhp, PMC Bronze 230 grn fmj, Fiocchi 230 grn fmj, and Tula 230 grn fmj steel case. Every round fired, ejected, and neither pistol ever stumbled, both accurately poking holes on target time after time, regardless of diet. Which brings me to another issue I like about .45ACP. I can actually see my shots! (I'm getting old, and things that used to be easy are now harder to see.) The strange - interesting - thing I found today is that both guns actually grouped more consistently with Tula (cheap) ammo than with other brands. Weird, right?
I'd like to personally thank the designer of the M&P45 series. That person has finally made a product that works well for me in both carry (compact) and home defense (full size) where I can have the same manual of arms, the same caliber, the same trigger, and not only are both of them very functional tools for defense...they're also a boat-load of fun! Thanks to S&W, I have rediscovered an old friend in the .45ACP, and discovered that this kind of fun doesn't have to come in a three-pound 1911 shaped package.
Not that there's anything wrong with that.
