Thread: .45 ACP vs. 10mm in Dan Wesson 1911 Commander?

Another buddy of mine always likes to point out that when god gave John Moses Browning the design for the 1911, it was in .45 ACP. Hard to argue with that.

Good choice of pistols.

I'd have to go with the .45 ACP.

Not owning a gun yet I refer to a quote from something that I heard a local range master say to me when we were discussing conceal and carry.

He said, bullets, no matter the size do not work, you have to keep firing until you find one that works.

In other words, if you fire a .50 cal then you might find that it is the second or third bullet that works, a .45 well you might find the 4th or 5th bullet and so on down the line.

Point is, find a caliber that you are happy with, and then hope and pray you never have to find a bullet that works. Which is why I will probably go with a 40 cause I am little and will have a hard time concealing much else.

I am now 63 years old. I fired my first Colt 1911 .45 acp when I was 15 years old. Since that time I have never been very far out of reach of a 1911.

When the Colt Delta 10 MM came out a Colt rep. came out to our range.
I shot it all day.

My conclusion is that it had one advantage over the .45 - flatter
trajectory. This was with the origional hot 10 load.

I would go with the .45 acp.

As my Grandfather use to say, "Hold it level and it will kill the Devil"..

really, it all boils down to what you enjoy to shoot, but really you cant beat a .45 acp for a good cheap easily acessable round, you could shoot all day for minamal expenses, and as you said the stoping power of a .45, particularly with a hydro shock round, is very nice. you cant get anymore stopping power without having to worry about what its going to land in 9 blocks away

Originally Posted by jdurango

until I started reading about the 10mm round. It seems that you can get the "!0mm Light" or "10mm FBI" rounds (not .40 s&w) that feel similar to the recoil PUNCH of a .45 ACP (as opposed to the CRACK! of a 9mm and full-load 10mm rounds)

So watcha think??? Go with the 10mm, or stick with the trusty .45 ACP?

See the part in blue that is where you gave it away, to what you should buy....
If the thought even crossed your mind to buy Light or Down loaded 10mm's then why bother buying that weapon...

I own both, in fact a few of them....

If I was sitting in the house and needed a goto weapon I would love to wrap my hand around the grip of any 1911 or clone....

On the flip side if I were out in the big wide world and wanted a weapon that would handle more targets and situations I would rather have the 10mm on my side...

My view is somewhat slanted to harder hitting weapons with more penetration in the last 7 years since we moved to Idaho...(the nearest neighbor is 1/2 mile away)

Up here the threat is more animal then human, and any human target here will be "meth-o-lated" so you would need more power anyway to make sure they are well vent-o-lated....
So add that grain of salt to my opinion....

Hi,

Before pistols were banned in the UK, I was definitely a 0.45ACP man.

The only full power 10mm I have shot was a Bren Ten; shooting it with full-house loads made using a 4" 0.44Mag revolver seem like a walk in the park

Best regards

Russ

.45 ACP, because shooting twice is silly!

well glen you do get around on this forum dont you?
you bring up a good point in your position i would certainly worry less about a back stop, i live in a minor city well within the subs, so its something ive thought of in a different manner, offcourse i also feel i out to put in that if i thought i had a decent chance of running into some sort of animal that a good hydro shock 45 wouldnt put down... i dont think id feel much safer with the 10 mm i will admit my experience with them has been minimal though it was a rather nice solid feeling round the times i have shot it, put me in mind of the 45 magnums you find sometimes

Originally Posted by captainboog

Another buddy of mine always likes to point out that when god gave John Moses Browning the design for the 1911, it was in .45 ACP. Hard to argue with that.

Haha....amen! I think this argument alone pretty much settles the issue.... .45 ACP it is!!!

Thanks for all the awesome replies! I guess the only reason I was considering the 10mm is because it seems to be a very versatile, accurate and powerful round....but on the other hand, like many of you mention, the .45 ACP has arguably better stopping power against "humans" (criminals), makes a bigger hole, is less succeptible to over-penetration in an urban environment (ie. Seattle, WA), is a VERY FUN caliber to shoot, arguably has cheaper/more available ammo and is easier to control (recoil-wise) with less muzzleblast....and then of course, the argument that really settles the issue: It is God's will that the 1911 be chambered in .45 ACP!!!! =)

Sounds like the 10mm would be a better round for someone who can actually UTILIZE the versatility, accuracy and penetration of the round....perhaps someone like gsixgun who lives in a more rural environment with less human population and more big scary animal population...btw, Seattle (especially the rural outskirts) has been overwhelmed with tweakers and meth labs...I'm quite certain if I ever have to use my pistol for defense (God forbid) it will be a tweaker or crackhead on the recieving end of a shiny .45 HST round.

Anyway, thanks again for helping me decide!!!