The first picture is of my Bullseye and ISSF tools including a SW 41 Long Slide (22 cal); Model 52-2, 38 cal); Model 952-2, 9mm cal and Model 945-1, 45 cal. The testing of my 952-2 was reported on a previous post on this forum. I shot a SW 745 for quite some time and decided to go with the 945 because I find this model fits my hand and body type (i.e. short neck) better. The 945 is basically a 1911 from the frame rails down and a Third Generation pistol from the frame rails up. The bore axis is lower than a 1911 and the literature is full of discussions concerning this one difference (supposedly the lower the bore of a weapon relative to its grip, the lesser the effects of recoil with respect to pulling the gun off target. Most shotgun manufacturers try to get the bore down as low to the grip as possible for skeet guns (e.g., Browning’s Cynergy line).
The 945 comes fitted with a beavertail grip safety, a standard 1911-looking ambidextrous thumb safety and an oversized magazine release button. The 945 is considered mainly a target pistol and is single action, weighs ~40 oz and has a fitted barrel bushing and rails. The fit is tight with no rattles anywhere and the barrel ramp, the entire outer skin of the hand-fitted barrel and portions of the inner slide are all hand-polished. The trigger is crisp and breaks 3.5 – 4.0 pounds and is extremely smooth. Other features include stainless steel, scalloped slide serrations, two-tone finish, checkered front and rear grips, checkered wood panel grips, dovetail black front and adjustable black rear sight, target trigger and bobbed hammer. The grip panels have slotted screws versus the hexagonal on my 952. When the owner’s manual says 945 magazines only it is true. My SW 745 magazines will not interchange and so keeping track of them is critical. No 1911 parts will interchange and the 945 parts are proprietary which can lead to higher costs for replacement. The handgun comes with two springs one for full house loads and one for target. I installed the target spring for testing. The handgun fits like a glove and the balance is superb. Very easy to align the sites and hold on target.
The same barrel method for the 952 was used to determine the OAL which consists of inserting a blank resized case into the chamber, observe its depth on the hood; then place a bullet in the case and seat until it matches the blank case depth.
Winchester brass and large pistol primers were used in all testing. For the SW 945 two pictures are provided showing the case in the barrel chamber without any bullet and then the case with a bullet matching the depth on the hood. Oregon Trail 180 gr. laser cast semi wadcutter cast bullets (LSWC) were used and an OAL of 1.248 was determined using the barrel method. A range of 0.468 to 0.472 has been reported in various manuals for crimp and I selected 0.470 as my starting point.
All testing was done at 40 yards which is the maximum distance at my range from a simple rest. A tiered approach for powder selection was used by first starting with those powders listed for cast bullets; the second tier consisted of selecting those powders that were obtainable locally and the third tier was choosing those powders that have at least a 0.5 gr. difference between min and max load. Based on these tiers Hodgdon HP38, Universal Clays and Titegroup and Winchester Auto Comp were selected.
The best accuracy for my SW 945 was 5.6 gr. Universal Clays (see target picture- center-to-center 1.75 inches) followed by 4.8 gr Hp-38 with center-to-center 2.5 inches). I have triple checked these numbers but review your sources before trying these yourself. The last picture was fired off hand at 20 yards in a simulated slow fire event. A total of 15 shots were taken.
Metering of Universal Clays was a challenge. I started with the Lee adjustable charge bar and found it would not throw reproducible results - Lee mentions that flake powders may not meter well. I assume because of the oblong shape of the charge opening. I ended up using the Lee charge bars and I had to ream out a 0.49 hole 1/64th at a time to produce a diameter that would throw a consistent 5.6 gr of powder.
To date I have not tried any match grade target ammunition like the Federal 185 gr semi wadcutter.
The 945 comes fitted with a beavertail grip safety, a standard 1911-looking ambidextrous thumb safety and an oversized magazine release button. The 945 is considered mainly a target pistol and is single action, weighs ~40 oz and has a fitted barrel bushing and rails. The fit is tight with no rattles anywhere and the barrel ramp, the entire outer skin of the hand-fitted barrel and portions of the inner slide are all hand-polished. The trigger is crisp and breaks 3.5 – 4.0 pounds and is extremely smooth. Other features include stainless steel, scalloped slide serrations, two-tone finish, checkered front and rear grips, checkered wood panel grips, dovetail black front and adjustable black rear sight, target trigger and bobbed hammer. The grip panels have slotted screws versus the hexagonal on my 952. When the owner’s manual says 945 magazines only it is true. My SW 745 magazines will not interchange and so keeping track of them is critical. No 1911 parts will interchange and the 945 parts are proprietary which can lead to higher costs for replacement. The handgun comes with two springs one for full house loads and one for target. I installed the target spring for testing. The handgun fits like a glove and the balance is superb. Very easy to align the sites and hold on target.
The same barrel method for the 952 was used to determine the OAL which consists of inserting a blank resized case into the chamber, observe its depth on the hood; then place a bullet in the case and seat until it matches the blank case depth.
Winchester brass and large pistol primers were used in all testing. For the SW 945 two pictures are provided showing the case in the barrel chamber without any bullet and then the case with a bullet matching the depth on the hood. Oregon Trail 180 gr. laser cast semi wadcutter cast bullets (LSWC) were used and an OAL of 1.248 was determined using the barrel method. A range of 0.468 to 0.472 has been reported in various manuals for crimp and I selected 0.470 as my starting point.
All testing was done at 40 yards which is the maximum distance at my range from a simple rest. A tiered approach for powder selection was used by first starting with those powders listed for cast bullets; the second tier consisted of selecting those powders that were obtainable locally and the third tier was choosing those powders that have at least a 0.5 gr. difference between min and max load. Based on these tiers Hodgdon HP38, Universal Clays and Titegroup and Winchester Auto Comp were selected.
The best accuracy for my SW 945 was 5.6 gr. Universal Clays (see target picture- center-to-center 1.75 inches) followed by 4.8 gr Hp-38 with center-to-center 2.5 inches). I have triple checked these numbers but review your sources before trying these yourself. The last picture was fired off hand at 20 yards in a simulated slow fire event. A total of 15 shots were taken.
Metering of Universal Clays was a challenge. I started with the Lee adjustable charge bar and found it would not throw reproducible results - Lee mentions that flake powders may not meter well. I assume because of the oblong shape of the charge opening. I ended up using the Lee charge bars and I had to ream out a 0.49 hole 1/64th at a time to produce a diameter that would throw a consistent 5.6 gr of powder.
To date I have not tried any match grade target ammunition like the Federal 185 gr semi wadcutter.
