#.45Auto

Each day a different image from the world of firearms. We call this POTD, short for Photo Of The Day, and it is our daily article series where we go to great lengths trying to find the most interesting pictures for you out there. Here we have some .45 Auto for you, in a world where everything seems to circle around the 9x19mm nowadays. The Heckler & Koch Mark 23 had to pass several tests to get the final approvals from the U.S. Army Special Operations Command, including for instance a 30,000 round endurance firing test, extreme temperatures, a 96-hour salt spray test plus various sand, dust and mud tests.

When it comes to 1911s, most of us tend to believe that we have seen it all, but once in a while, we can be refreshingly surprised by something new and unique. That definitely holds true with Springfield Armory’s newest offering in the 1911 Emissary. Springfield Armory has unveiled their new 1911 Emissary chambered in .45 Auto that has Custom Shop quality features and looks with an attainable price-point.

In addition to their many excellent pistols and rifles, SIG Sauer produces a robust array of complimentary product offerings. From optics to ammo and more, SIG does quite a bit more than just guns. One of these supplemental lines is their own collection of suppressors. SIG cans come in a baker’s dozen versions, suited for a broad spectrum of calibers from rifles to handguns, and one rimfire silencer. The newest addition to this suppressor series is the MODX-45, of which we first got a glimpse at SHOT Show 2019. SIG’s 9mm version of this modular, 3D-printed design released late last year. On the heels of its 9mm little brother, this .45-caliber can is now ready. SIG announced its availability with the following April 29th press release.

Winchester Ammunition has announced the release of a new defensive handgun ammunition line called  USA Ready Defense. Compared to the USA Ready training and practice ammunition that uses flat nose FMJ bullets, the USA Ready Defense ammo is loaded with jacketed hollow-point projectiles that have a design similar to the bullets used in Winchester Ranger One LE ammunition.

SIG Sauer just announced that the newest member of the LEGION line of pistols, P220 LEGION Carry SAO chambered in .45 Auto, is now available. This limited edition pistol is an enhanced, everyday carry version of the original P220. The pistol has a custom flat trigger, black G10 grips, Cerakoted slide and frame (Elite Legion Gray color) and it comes with three 8-round magazines.

Vista Outdoor has announced a huge amount of new products for 2020. The most significant ones we’ll cover separately and tomorrow we’ll also publish an article telling about the rest of the new products by Federal Premium Ammunition, CCI, Speer and Alliant Powder. In this article, we’ll take a look at the new Federal defensive handgun ammunition line called Punch.

Wilson Combat has released a new line of 1911 pistols called American Combat Pistol (ACP). The idea behind this new series is to offer the same top-notch Wilson Combat quality at a more affordable price point. How is that possible? The company reduced the number of options that the customers can select thus making the manufacturing of ACP pistols a faster and more streamlined process. Particularly, the options are limited to finish, sights and grip color choice.

Federal Premium turned a lot of heads in the ammunition industry when they came out with their original Syntech round. Those “lipstick” bullets as people called them caught a lot of eyes, and it was even more impressive once you shot them. You experience significantly less splash back when shooting steel targets, your firearm’s barrel stays cleaner, and it essentially extends your firearm’s barrel life because of the less metal-on-metal friction occurring. Now Federal Premium has taken all of those positive principles and applied it to a NEW Syntech Training Match series.

Federal Premium has expanded out their line of Hydra Shok Deep to now include .40 S&W and .45 ACP for those who rely on those cartridges for carry and protection. This bolstering of the Hydra Shok Deep line of ammunition occurred recently in the middle of February and firearm retailers are now seeing shipments of the cartridges arrive for sale to shooters.

Ruger has announced a new pistol into their fold and it is very fitting considering the timing. With only one more day to the celebration of our independence, Ruger has paid homage to John Moses Browning with another iteration of the iconic model 1911. Their newest offering is what they are calling an SR1911 Officer-Style. It does not receive the straight-up name of Officer because it features a 3.6″ barrel as opposed to the classic 3″ size.

Winchester has a new label of ammunition to catch the wave of silencer popularity. It is called Super Suppressed and it is tailored to make your suppressor experience more fun than ever. It is going to be initially offered in 6 calibers with the potential for more to come.

This year marks the 75th Anniversary of World War II and to honor those firearms of old Winchester has some new throwback ammunition. With packaging appropriate for the time period as well as correct grain weights, pressures and components they are now proudly announcing their WWII Victory Series.

Taurus has had radio silence in regards to announcing new products leading up to SHOT Show 2018 thus far. It’s almost industry protocol nowadays to leak, if not publicly announce, your new wares before letting the media and public fondle them at SHOT. In a very non-theatrical manner, Taurus announced today that they will have a NEW 1911 Commander chambered for .45 ACP coming out at SHOT Show.

As much as the curmudgeons favor it, .45 Auto has a dirty little secret: its typically low velocity often causes it to perform poorly in heavy clothing. Some bullets do perform well, but many fail to expand when fired through heavy clothing. Calibers such as 9mm Parabellum benefit from higher muzzle velocity when fired from a service pistol length barrel and that can somewhat make up for less than optimal bullet design.

Take a look at our test of Speer’s .45 Auto 230 Gold Dot. The Gold Dot is not technically a bonded bullet, but rather a plated one. Nevertheless, it tends to perform like bonded bullets and the plated construction is essentially the same as a bonded bullet in that core and “jacket” are chemically bonded to each other, resulting in high weight retention. This bullet lives up to its reputation as one of the very best defense loads by expanding well and penetrating perfectly in both bare gel and when fired through heavy clothing. The moderate velocity of approximately 830 fps proved adequate to initiate expansion and the bullet was able to perform properly even when fired through four layers of denim. The IWBA standard of four layers of denim is a more difficult protocol to pass than the more realistic FBI heavy clothing standard. The IWBA heavy clothing test is not intended to simulate real world clothing, but rather to present a worst case scenario of many, closely packed, dense fibers which can clog the cavity of some hollow point ammunition, preventing expansion. Having performed well even in this worst case scenario, the Gold Dot proves to be an outstanding choice for personal defense and the more rounded nose tends to feed better in unmodified 1911A1 pistols than some other hollow point designs. Not only was the bullet able to expand adequately in adverse conditions, it was also able to penetrate to an appropriate depth. The variation in penetration depth was also extremely consistent, with only a small difference between bare gel and heavy clothing. Retained weight was also 100% for every bullet and expansion measurements varied little from bullet to bullet. This highly consistent performance indicates excellent quality and speaks to superior performance across a range of other conditions not evaluated in this test.
Avg velocity: 834 fps
Avg penetration: 14.6″
Avg retained weight: 229.6 gr
Avg max expansion: 0.695″
Avg min expansion: 0.601″