#.45ACP

Federal has announced two different component bullets now available for handloaders within the last week. The 2nd one being their unique Syntech bullet that is encapsulated in polymer. Could this be a trend towards Federal attacking the reloading bullets market?… Time will definitely tell. For now, we will take a look at the Syntech bullet now available as a component for reloaders.

Ed Brown Products Inc. announced the latest 1911 style pistol called the Special Forces SR Commander. This new Commander type handgun is part of the company’s Special Forces SR line up.

Aeroknox has released a new 1911 slide which they call AX // 01. Actually, they don’t ship it yet, but they’ve added the slide to their website with a “coming soon” status and pre-ordering possibility. Although being made for an over a century-old pistol design, this slide is not anything classic looking, but rather modern and futuristic. It really changes the way 1911 pistol looks making it more like a handgun from a science fiction movie.

Remington Arms Company announced another 1911 style handgun. This one is called the Model 1911 R1 Ultralight Commander.

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″

Many of us 1911 fanatics affectionately remember Para Ordnance for their high-quality, affordable pistol offerings. They satisfied a weak segment within the 1911 culture by making double-stack 1911s in multiple calibers that were not only aesthetic and cool-looking, but they flat out worked!

All of you guys and gals out there that think that all defensive calibers start with a four and end with a five can rejoice because Smith & Wesson is now shipping M&P45 M2.0 pistols! The evolution of the original M&P45 is now hitting stores in both the flat dark earth color as well as the classic black.

Pistol caliber AR carbines have become very popular in recent years. In the majority of circumstances, “pistol caliber AR” has been synonymous with “straight blowback 9mm carbine.” CMMG is now offering an alternative platform that changes this paradigm. It is called the MkG45 Guard.

Chip McCormick of CMC Mags has been designing 1911 pistol magazines for decades. His latest development of the 1911 magazine is pretty interesting. What makes these mags different is the design of the feed lips. As you can see in the images, the metal in feed lip area is folded inward making it a stronger construction. The magazines with this folded feed lips are called Railed Power Mags (RPM).

I love it when Ian over at Forgotten Weapons falls off the actual “forgotten” weapons and delves into well-known and respected designs. His brain housing group is replete with an encyclopedia of facts and history on weapons and when applied to even well-known guns, I personally come away learning more.                 In this case, Ian takes a look at the M3 submachine gun fielded by the United States in World War 2 and slightly beyond. The M3, knick-named the “grease gun” for its external resemblance to

Russian “ Nezavisimaya Gazeta” newspaper has recently released an interview with Alexey Sorokin, the director of Russian firearms manufacturing plant called TsKIB SOO. Among other subjects discussed they also talked about a new pistol, which is in development. In fact, they’ve released a computer mockup image of the pistol. The new gun is called OTs-122 (ОЦ-122) and it will be chambered in .45 ACP. So far only this image is available:

Patriot Ballistics is a new company (established in 2016) located in Analomink, PA. They load pretty unique ammunition called FLAK .45. That cartridge (or rather load) is essentially a .45ACP with a special projectile. The projectile consists of a Sierra hollow point bullet (185 gr) sitting on a sort of fine birdshot. That shot is what actually called FLAK. It is a  proprietary Italian-made material, which is denser than lead. The FLAK shot is separated from powder by a gas check. The latter also has a terminal effect on the target. Here is the diagram of the cartridge from Patriot Ballistics website:

Following on the heels of the Ruger American Pistol Compact in 9mm Luger comes the Ruger American Pistol Compact in John Moses Browning’s own caliber, .45 ACP. It only makes sense if you consider when Ruger announced the Ruger American Pistol the initial calibers were, and continue to be, 9mm Luger and .45 Automatic Colt Pistol.

New Frontier Armory is expected show its new C-45 lowers at the 2017 SHOT Show. These new lowers are said to be machined from a single block of 7075-T6 aluminum and will be available in both black anodized and unfinished (or raw.)

Building on the successes of the DP shotguns and STD rifles, Standard Manufacturing Company is expected to release a 1911-style pistol at the 2017 SHOT Show in January.