.45 Super

[colorado]

Bigger holes, prettier gun

 

[colorado]

Less recoil in my V16 and much better trigger too!

 

[ChrisG]

Never had a .45 super before…. Are they anything like 10mm or 9?

The .45 Super and the 10mm are pretty neck and neck energy-wise. As far as hitting power, I would give the edge to the .45 super as it is larger and capable of using heavier bullets.

My .45 super now also wears a ported barrel which slows the slide down significantly. I simply use light .460 Rowland starting loads and the slide is still so slow that it drops the cases about 5 feet to my right when they are fired. It definitely doesn't kick like a .45ACP anymore! The fireball it throws up in front of your face is pretty impressive too.

I believe, given the right setup, you can load .45 super right up to .460 Rowland (its not really necessary but you could). The brass is the same, it is just shorter than Rowland brass.

The cool thing is, even with that set up, It shoots standard .45ACP without a hiccup. But they really feel like powder puff loads from the gun now because of the heavy springs.

Still a 225 grain hard cast bullet at 1,250fps is no joke! That, and you can dump a dozen of them relatively quickly if you needed to.

 

[colorado]

Agree. My Springfield V16 kicks like a Beretta M9 (heavy 9mm pistol) with buffalo bore 255g hard cast lead at 1100 fps. Shooting factory 230g hardball it barely has any recoil at all. As far as reliability goes, I guess the 1911 worked pretty well in WWII and Korea. Never had any fails to function and it's accurate as hell.

 

[colorado]

P.S. Sent my Springfield V16 into the Springfield Custom shop today. It came with tritium sights and I decided I liked them better than than fiberoptic sights Dawson put on. The Dawson's are great for the range, but not as good a Tritium at night and I thought more delicate as well. So Springfield is putting the original sights back on. The main reason I sent it in was to have the front strap checkered. Once I bought my Springfield Pro I felt I just need to have that done. I'll post some pictures when it comes back.

 

[colorado]

P.S. Sent my Springfield V16 into the Springfield Custom shop today. It came with tritium sights and I decided I liked them better than than fiberoptic sights Dawson put on. The Dawson's are great for the range, but not as good a Tritium at night and I thought more delicate as well. So Springfield is putting the original sights back on. The main reason I sent it in was to have the front strap checkered. Once I bought my Springfield Pro I felt I just need to have that done. I'll post some pictures when it comes back.

Front and back strap checkering, Tritum sights, came out nice

 

[fsrmg1]

For those Sig lovers, I have a P220 ST that I wanted to turn into a 45 Super. I figured it would be a good candidate since it has the stainless steel frame and good chamber support. I did switch out the hollow recoil spring guide pin with a solid one and bought extra heavy recoil springs (22 and 24 lbs) from Wolff.

Careful testing revealed the following to me:
- The pistol continued to feed and fire all standard level 45 ACP ammo with absolute reliability after switching from the factory 20 lb to the 24 lb recoil spring.
- Ejection was 6-8' for Std, 10-12' for +P level.
- Loads shot about 40 fps less with the 4.4" barrel vs the 5".
- A hint of battering started as I approached 45 Super level (230 gr, 1050 fps), so I stopped and replaced the spring. The spring was starting to bottom out under recoil.
- Top Loads in my 4.4" barrel that didn't show signs of battering were: 200 gr, 1060 fps and 230 gr, 970 fps. Good +P level performance, but in a slightly shorter barrel.

Conclusion: Even with the heaviest recoil spring, the P220 is only an honest +P level pistol. Perhaps an extra 50 fps used as a tradeoff to offset the shorter barrel.

Sig does make a 10mm version of the P220, but it has a 5" barrel. This allows for a heavier slide, plus a little extra room for the slide to recoil before it binds the spring. They probably also use a heavier recoil spring in the 10mm as well. If they ever make a 5" P220 in .45, perhaps I'll reexamine, but for now I'm happy.

 

[ChrisG]

For those Sig lovers, I have a P220 ST that I wanted to turn into a 45 Super. I figured it would be a good candidate since it has the stainless steel frame and good chamber support. I did switch out the hollow recoil spring guide pin with a solid one and bought extra heavy recoil springs (22 and 24 lbs) from Wolff.

Careful testing revealed the following to me:
- The pistol continued to feed and fire all standard level 45 ACP ammo with absolute reliability after switching from the factory 20 lb to the 24 lb recoil spring.
- Ejection was 6-8' for Std, 10-12' for +P level.
- Loads shot about 40 fps less with the 4.4" barrel vs the 5".
- A hint of battering started as I approached 45 Super level (230 gr, 1050 fps), so I stopped and replaced the spring. The spring was starting to bottom out under recoil.
- Top Loads in my 4.4" barrel that didn't show signs of battering were: 200 gr, 1060 fps and 230 gr, 970 fps. Good +P level performance, but in a slightly shorter barrel.

Conclusion: Even with the heaviest recoil spring, the P220 is only an honest +P level pistol. Perhaps an extra 50 fps used as a tradeoff to offset the shorter barrel.

Sig does make a 10mm version of the P220, but it has a 5" barrel. This allows for a heavier slide, plus a little extra room for the slide to recoil before it binds the spring. They probably also use a heavier recoil spring in the 10mm as well. If they ever make a 5" P220 in .45, perhaps I'll reexamine, but for now I'm happy.

A Ported barrel (or compensator) would solve this issue. The porting will slow the slide down by about 30%. This is what I did on my Springfield XD and it now drops 45acp about 3-4 ft to my right, and full house supers only go about 8-10 ft. (200 grains at 1,250fps)

 

[colorado]

I used to handload for my 45 Super but these days I shoot 230g stock hardball for practice and Buffalo Bore 255g hardcast at 1100 fps for effect.

 

[colorado]

WY: .45 Super Stops Grizzly Bear Attack

Tev Kelley, was accompanying a friend, hunting elk, in Wyoming on October 6th, 2017. His friend, Scott Smith, shot a nice bull from 32...

gunwatch.blogspot.com

Just sayin ...

 

[fsrmg1]

I think that I'll get an H&K model HK45C Compact. It was developed for the US Navy Seals and is called the Mark 24. They developed it for extensive use of +P and +P+ ammo, and had Winchester developed special purpose 185 gr FMJ at 1250 fps and a 230 HP (Black Talon?) at 1080 fps. These velocities are likely out of their full sized H&K Mark 23, with the ~6" barrel. Not quite Super velocities, but fairly close. The slightly shorter ~4" barrel on the Mark 24 would likely give about ~1150 fps for the 185 gr, and ~1000 fps for the 230 gr. I plan to stay within this for the HK45C.

 

[colorado]

Sounds like a great plan

 

[SaintPanzer]

I think that I'll get an H&K model HK45C Compact. It was developed for the US Navy Seals and is called the Mark 24. They developed it for extensive use of +P and +P+ ammo, and had Winchester developed special purpose 185 gr FMJ at 1250 fps and a 230 HP (Black Talon?) at 1080 fps. These velocities are likely out of their full sized H&K Mark 23, with the ~6" barrel. Not quite Super velocities, but fairly close. The slightly shorter ~4" barrel on the Mark 24 would likely give about ~1150 fps for the 185 gr, and ~1000 fps for the 230 gr. I plan to stay within this for the HK45C.

I did not know the 45C was developed for +P and more ammo, but now I'm really glad I bought one when I had the chance! Thanks for that.

 

[Alaska]

Hi all,

I have converted my Springfield XD 5" .45 ACP to shoot .45 super. This is the gun that is going to be in my chest holster for following up Black Bear. What I can't find is much load data for the round. Does anyone load a 250 grain bullet in this cartridge and what powders do you recommend. Currently I have Blue Dot and a little bit of Power pistol. Should I be looking for faster powders?

Longshot and Power Pistol
240 XTP / 250 XTP for Black Bear

 

[Paul Homsy]

I agree with the choice of powders. I'd personally stay away from hollowpoints and use instead 240 grains to 255 grains hard cast lead bullets for maximum penetration, either for reloading or commercial ammunition.
Underwood and Buffalo Bore as well as a couple of others make very potent loads with hard cast.