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Greatest Cartridges: The Indispensable .45 ACP
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By: Tom Turpin
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The .45 ACP cartridge was a development of necessity. It was designed in 1904 by one of our most prolific firearms geniuses, the brilliant John Moses Browning, to be used in his newly designed Colt semi-automatic pistol.
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At the time of the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines, the US Cavalry there was armed with double action handguns chambered for both the .45 Colt and .38 Long Colt cartridges, and the .30-40 Krag rifle. The Moro insurgents proved to be a formidable opponent. Both the .38 Long Colt and the .30-40 Krag cartridges proved to be largely deficient in stopping the Moro warriors effectively.
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Largely as a result of the Philippine experience and the results of the Thompson-LaGarde testing of 1904, the US Army and the US Cavalry decided that a minimum of .45 caliber would be required for any new military handgun.
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At the time, Colt and John Browning were working on a .41 caliber cartridge for Browning’s newly designed pistol. They then modified both the pistol and cartridge resulting in the Model 1905 pistol and the new .45 ACP cartridge.
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After considerable experimentation involving several different government departments and other involved American companies, they settled on a load consisting of a 230-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 850 fps.
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In 1906, the army decided to conduct a series of tests to determine the best pistol to be adopted as the military’s new sidearm, and invited the firearms industry to submit their example to be tested. Models from three manufacturers made it through the first series of tests, Colt, DWM, and Savage. One company, DWM, even though they had made the cut in the first round, withdrew, leaving a shoot-off (no pun intended) between Colt and Savage for the gold medal.
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Read More: Greatest Cartridges: The Indispensable .45 ACP | Gun Digest
.
By: Tom Turpin
.
The .45 ACP cartridge was a development of necessity. It was designed in 1904 by one of our most prolific firearms geniuses, the brilliant John Moses Browning, to be used in his newly designed Colt semi-automatic pistol.
.
At the time of the Moro Rebellion in the Philippines, the US Cavalry there was armed with double action handguns chambered for both the .45 Colt and .38 Long Colt cartridges, and the .30-40 Krag rifle. The Moro insurgents proved to be a formidable opponent. Both the .38 Long Colt and the .30-40 Krag cartridges proved to be largely deficient in stopping the Moro warriors effectively.
.
Largely as a result of the Philippine experience and the results of the Thompson-LaGarde testing of 1904, the US Army and the US Cavalry decided that a minimum of .45 caliber would be required for any new military handgun.
.
At the time, Colt and John Browning were working on a .41 caliber cartridge for Browning’s newly designed pistol. They then modified both the pistol and cartridge resulting in the Model 1905 pistol and the new .45 ACP cartridge.
.
After considerable experimentation involving several different government departments and other involved American companies, they settled on a load consisting of a 230-grain bullet with a muzzle velocity of 850 fps.
.
In 1906, the army decided to conduct a series of tests to determine the best pistol to be adopted as the military’s new sidearm, and invited the firearms industry to submit their example to be tested. Models from three manufacturers made it through the first series of tests, Colt, DWM, and Savage. One company, DWM, even though they had made the cut in the first round, withdrew, leaving a shoot-off (no pun intended) between Colt and Savage for the gold medal.
.
Read More: Greatest Cartridges: The Indispensable .45 ACP | Gun Digest
