[NYH1]

My 45 ACP is a full size S&W SW1911. Between my wife and I, We've fire right around 1500 rds. through it, will no problems at all.

We use the magazines that came with it. I bought 3 more Wilson Combat mags. too. I'm 6' and a very slimely 260 LBS. so concealment not really an issure.

[stimpy]

Para ord Para carry 6+1 LDA , http://www.para-usa.com/new/product_pistol.php?id=14 can cock and lock with the hammer down , and its a nice smooth sa style shot for the first one , and balanced too , polished ramp feeds corbons with the FBI Style 185 JHP+p ( trunicated hollow point ) and Ranger SXT+p with no Jams and and its a bull barrel with a cone so no bushing to snag on clothes or holster , 3" placement at 50' right out of the box and ramp style fixed sights paid $750 several years ago( replaced the oems with trijcon tritiums for night ) and buffered it for the heavy loads to save the frame , in a galco shiloette its hardly noticable as the barrel only sits out a inch or so, should be a little over a G note but worth it ,

otherwise I would say Lda 14-45 but I have big mits and at 6'4" its easy to conceal with a jackass rig or sob , but with the extra magazines it makes your back hurt from the weight of 43 230gr rounds ( as they say cannot bring enough freinds )

and if your a LEO , go to the website and request a LEO package , I think it contains some discounts .( they used to offer them

[sixgunsblazing]

You're a Glock guy, like me, so you should at least try the SF Glocks.
Have you played with a G36? Single stack compact 45. Fits the hand really well

I also have and love the XD45, Great gun, accurate and easy shooting.

[Jim Zeek]

I have a Glock 21 and ammo for sale in the garage sale section

[Jim Scites]

I have a Colt Series 70 Gold Cup, a series 80 Government stainless with some work done to it, a Ruger P345, a Taurus 24/7, a Springfield Ultra Carry and I just got a Colt Defender for Christmas. The first 2 are kind of big to try to conceal, the Ruger is light and concealable but I don't like DA 45s because of the long trigger travel in DA. The 24/7 is small, it actually belongs to my daughter, and I was completely surprised when I shot the gun. It fed everything I threw at it and was way more accurate thatn I would have imagined. It's light and comes with a 10+1 magazine and a 12+1 magazine with a spacer, I really like this gun. The ultra carry has some trigger and slide work and is an amazingly accurate pistol to shoot although there is quite a bit of muzzle flip with the gun and it is quite heavy being all stainless. I haven't shot the Colt Defender yet but it is light and fits my hands nicely. It is covered in drool since I fondle it most every night but I haven't had the time to shoot it, which I hope to take care of one afternoon next week.
Happy New Year everyone.

[Tonyqt]

I have a Para-Ordnance P10-45 as my primary carry weapon. It's a stacked magazine so it can hold the 10=1 rounds, but I found I like the fatter grip. Size wise it's SMALL, but that's what I wanted in concealed carry. Full size guns are just to big for me and drawing a short barrel is faster and there is less chance to get caught on anything. The long barrel is more accurate in long shots, but in a close confrontation barrel size doesn't matter. Fire power and capacity does! I've had this gun for quite some time now and it has never given me a problem, and I have 100's of rounds through it.
When it all comes down to it you need to find one that fits your hand and does what you need it to do.

[MikeCio1]

Come on AMERICA , show us your GUNS!

[jwcfbd]

I really like my Sig P220 but I am looking at adding a Kimber 1911 to the collection.

[70ram4]

I like the way this going, keep it up , some great ideas and directions I never thought of.

[Region Warrior]

Why switch?
.40 gives up very little power vs the .45 with the accuracy of a 9mm.

[Stu Norman]

If you just want a sturdy weapon that fires 45. you can't go wrong with most of the 1911 clones.

The Springfield XD in .45 ACP holds 14 +1.

[sixgunsblazing]

Originally Posted by MikeCio1

Come on AMERICA , show us your GUNS!

Guns are icky..

[Lonster]

Check out the Kahrs...

Best DAO trigger out there, like ball bearings on glass
I own Steel K9 (somewhat heavy) and a P9 (very light). Never had a issue. Truly concealable (eight years of experience talking). Great customer service (buying "custom parts"). Made in USA. Might be second to Glock in reliability, more likely-better... Very tight out of the box. Must have 100-200 rounds pushed through to be broken in and carried.

http://www.kahr.com/

P45...
Caliber: .45 ACP
Capacity: 6+1
Operation: Trigger cocking DAO; lock breech; "Browning - type" recoil lug; passive striker block; no magazine disconnect
Barrel: 3.64", polygonal rifling, 1 - 16.38 right-hand twist
Length O/A: 6.07"
Height: 4.8"
Slide Width: 1.01"
Weight: Pistol 18.5 oz., Magazine 2 oz.
Grips: Textured polymer
Sights: Drift adjustable, white bar-dot combat sights
Finish: Black polymer frame, matte stainless steel slide
Magazines: 2 - 6 rd, Stainless

[1FAST GTO]

Sig Sauer is worth checking out, http://sigsauer.com/ . They have 14 variations of 1911 models. And 30 variations of P220. It boils down to being the most comfortable with what gun you have in your hand. I shoot my Glock more than my Sig, but I favor my Sig over my Glock. If I had to use one it would be the Sig. I just have not gotten use to the Glock. You can check out the Sig forum to get some valuable information: http://sigforum.com/eve/ubb.x?a=cfrm&s=674608412

[69goatboy]

Originally Posted by MikeCio1

Come on AMERICA , show us your GUNS!

I don't want to see anyone's GUNS.

I'll take a gander at their weapons though.

This little diddy explains the difference.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4kU0XCVey_U

[Nomadac]

I have a Colt Govt. Mdl. MK IV Series 70, Colt Combat Commander Series 70 and a Colt Lt. Wt. Ofc. Mdl. Series 80. I have carried all of them as CCW at different times. I currently carry the Ofc. Lt. Wt. model most frequently when I want a .45 acp. If I were in the market for a new(plastic pistol) .45 acp I would look at the Springfield XDm model

[Tripower455]

As a Glock guy, I'll bet you'd like the 30. I hate the full sized .45/10mm etc, but the 30 is the best shooting Glock I've tried. I've got one as well as a 27. The 27 has been my main carry weapon for 10 years or so.

The H&Ks are very nice too. Like a slightly more refined Glock. My "work" gun is a USP40C LEM. It's got well over 10k rounds through it with nary a hitch. Very accurate as well. I shot a fist sized group at requal today, in spite of the ridiculous 8lb trigger! It's a great weapon. The 45 is only a little bigger.

That said, I am a died in the wool 1911 guy........

[tempest455]

You might be able to find the Kimber Bill is talking about on Gunbroker. If you can't find it there, you won't find it anywhere.

http://www.gunbroker.com/

[1stGen Brawler]

70ram4,

There is not much to add to all that has been said. There are some experienced shooters weighing in and some very good recommendations have been made.

But, I'll throw in my 2 cents anyway. Rob Leatham doesn't get scarred when I walk onto the range but I am an NRA certified Range Safety Officer and have handled my share of different handguns.

If you read back through the previous posts one thing becomes very clear. Almost every type of .45 pistol currently in production has been recommended by someone. What does this tell you? That this is a [I]very[I] subjective issue. Every pistol is unique. Grip angles differ, sight radius will differ, magazine capacity will change, weight, felt recoil, concealability and on and on and on. You must analyze each of these aspects, and more, and decide what combination of them best meets your stated needs and then find the pistol which comes the closest to matching them. Best method is to shoot 'em all, or as many as you can. But this is all pretty obvious anyway.

Quality is more objective and certainly a concern but if you buy from a premier manufacturer (Kimber, Glock, H&K, Sig, Kahr, Smith and Wesson, Ruger, Springfield, etc) maintain the weapon and don't shoot crappy ammo, function and reliability should not be an issue.

My real question was regarding your desire to switch from .40 to .45. Don't misunderstand. I happen to own a 1911 and I'm a fan of the round. "Why do you carry a .45?" "Because they don't make a .46"
But .40 does provide some excellent ballistics and in many configurations will provide additional rounds in the mag. For instance, if you use CorBon as a benchmark (one of the most trusted defense ammo companies I know of) the most dynamic round offered in .45 generates 573 ft/lbs of energy at about 1250 fps. Their top .40 round is about 526 ft/lbs and 1350 fps. But the .40 was in a 4 inch test barrel, the .45 was in a 5 inch barrel. Fire the .40 out of the same barrel and you will have nearly identical energy and even greater velocity.

Larger bore size ( .45 > .40 ) an advantage? Maybe....but here is something to consider via Chuck Hawks.

----The stopping power of any handgun bullet turns out to be a function of its ability to disrupt vital bodily functions, not the diameter or weight or initial shape of the bullet that strikes the victim. For example, the difference in the size of the entrance hole made by a .451" bullet compared to that made by a .355" bullet in an elastic (semi-self sealing) material like skin turns out to be largely irrelevant to stopping power. The idea (which I have heard expressed) that a bigger bullet makes a bigger hole to "bleed out" a man or an animal is faintly ridiculous.

The principle method of both stopping and killing with any firearm, whether rifle or pistol or shotgun, is the disruption of vital bodily functions. Fatally damage any animal's heart, liver, lungs, or central nervous system (including Homo sapiens) and it is not going to live long enough to bleed out. Fail to put your bullet in a vital spot and you are very likely to have a problem with a man or an animal. That is not to say that some bullet placements might not eventually cause death by loss of blood, or infection, or some other mechanism, but that is never the goal of any hunter OR gunfighter who wants an immediate one shot stop.

Readers who have done some deer hunting have probably observed that often the entrance wound from a modern expanding rifle bullet (like a 100 grain .243, 130 grain .270, or 150 grain .308) seems minimal, with almost no external blood loss at all. In addition, there may be no exit wound--the bullet is often found just under the hide on the off side. But if the shot was true the deer's lungs probably look like they went through a blender, and the animal was down in seconds. That is an illustration of nearly perfect stopping power and it has little or nothing to do with the relatively small caliber of the bullet involved.----

Full article here
http://www.chuckhawks.com/beginners_stopping_power.htm

Okay, this is getting long. Just some thoughts I had regarding the caliber choice more than the pistol choice. Whatever you choose, have fun doing it. Great chance to make your friends let you shoot their stuff!

-Curtis

[marxjunk]

Originally Posted by tempest455

You might be able to find the Kimber Bill is talking about on Gunbroker. If you can't find it there, you won't find it anywhere.

http://www.gunbroker.com/

I looked at a Kimber yesterday at Bass Pro...had a few in stock