The Indispensable .45 ACP

Over the past 100 years, the .45 ACP has become one of the most iconic American pistol cartridges every devised.

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.

The second trial was held in 1910, with the Browning designed Colt handily coming out on top. It was then adopted as the Model 1911, now an icon among handguns. From that time until 1985, the 1911, and the modification of it, the 1911 A1, chambered for the .45 ACP, was the standard firearm of the US military, a very long time, attesting to the success of the handgun for military applications. It was eventually replaced by the Beretta M9 9mm, although some units retained the 1911A1 as their primary sidearm.

The 1911 pistol is one of the main reasons why the .45 ACP grew in popularity. After 74 years of service as the U.S. Military’s sidearm, the pistol and its cartridge more than proved they were battle ready.

As a youngster, surplus 1911A1s were common items in gun shops, pawnshops and at gun shows. They were not very expensive and surplus .45ACP ammo was plentiful and cheap. The first one I can remember that came my way in a trade was a surplus 1911A1 that someone had chrome plated and fitted with simulated stag grips.

I got the pistol and 100 rounds of surplus military ammo for something like $25.00. That would have been in the late 1950s I believe. At the time, I thought the combination was the cat’s meow. In retrospect, it was pretty hideous although it shot well and would have served its purpose admirably if needed.

The ballistics of the .45 ACP is pretty anemic by today’s standards. Even though the standard military load of a 230‑grain FMJ bullet at 830 fps is, by most assessments, formidable, ammo manufacturers are continually tinkering with the round.

The SAAMI max pressure is set at 21,000 psi. Higher and higher velocities seems to be the holy grail of loading ammo these days, and consequently, SAAMI approved a pressure increase to 23,000 psi for .45 ACP +P ammo. Why, I can’t say.

For home defense and self defense purposes, it has done very nicely without the increased pressure. It seems to me that the increased pressure and therefore velocity, is a solution to a nonexistent problem.

Added to that opinion, there is a downside to adding pressure to the cartridge. While the standard military .45 ACP cartridge, fired in a Colt 1911A1 or one of the many, many equivalent clones, is by no means a horrifically recoiling combination, it does require training to master. Add to the recoil, and one must also add to the training.

The most common complaint that I heard during my military career when on the pistol range with the 1911A1 firing standard ball ammo, was that it kicked too hard.

Chapter 5

The .30 WCF, Better Known as the .30‑30

For many years, the .30–30 was the most popular cartridge in North America. In part, this acclaim grew due to the cartridge’s usefulness in deer hunting.

Introduced to the public in 1895 and mated up with the Winchester Model 94 lever action rifle, this duo was the most popular rifle and cartridge in North America for a long time. They are both still quite popular today.

The Model 94 was the first commercial rifle specifically developed for use with smokeless powder. Last count I had, more than 7.5 million had been produced and sold, the vast majority of which were chambered for the .30–30.

Other manufacturers have also manufactured rifles chambered for the cartridge. Two other lever action rifles, ones made by Marlin and the Savage Model 99 were available in .30–30. Mossberg also made a few lever action models for the cartridge.

Some single shot rifles have also been available in .30–30, most notably those made by Thompson‑Center, and I believe that I’ve seen a Stevens and Savage single shot rifle so chambered.

Very few bolt‑action rifles have been made for the .30–30 as the cartridge uses a rimmed case which is generally unsuited for bolt actions. A few did make their way to market though.

Early on, Winchester chambered its Model 54 bolt‑action rifle for the .30–30, but it did poorly in the marketplace. Stevens and Savage produced a bolt‑action model or two for the cartridge and the Remington Model 788 was also available for the .30–30.

The cartridge got its name from the fact that it had a bullet diameter of 30 caliber, and its original loading used 30 grains of smokeless powder. Although it has been factory loaded for an assortment of bullet weights from 110 grain to 170 grains, plus an assortment of cast bullet weights are available for it, the 150‑grain and 170‑grain factory loads are the most popular.

Until the introduction by Hornady of the Leverevolution bullet, all bullets intended for the cartridge were either flat‑nosed or round‑nosed in design and construction. This was caused by safety concerns with the tubular magazines of the Winchester and Marlin lever action rifles.

It has been a very popular round for deer hunting in the eastern US, and equally popular in the western US as a saddle gun/pickup truck gun. Lever action Winchester model 92s and 94s were popularized in Hollywood western movies, which, I suspect, had much to do with its overwhelming acceptance. The compactness, lightweight, and very modest recoil, of most rifles chambered for the .30–30 also had a great deal to do with its popularity.

Like so many American cartridges, the .30–30 has a somewhat confusing name. The .30 connotes the cartridge is a 30 caliber, the other 30, however, is less intuitive. It comes from the cartridges original loading using 30 grains of smokeless powder.

Even though the cartridge is loaded to modest velocities, these days the 150 grain around 2,400 fps, the 160 grain around 2,300 fps, and the 170 grain at 2,200 fps, it is perfectly adequate for moderate range hunting for animals the size of deer and black bear.

I would estimate that Canadian hunters have taken a ton of moose and caribou with it. It is difficult to make a satisfactory argument with success, although I wouldn’t personally take one on a moose hunt unless it was all that I had. There are better choices.

I have two friends of mine that have Thompson Center handguns chambered for the .30–30, and they are superbly accurate. They use handloaded ammunition with pointed boat‑tail bullets in their single shot TCs, and they are as scary accurate as any rifle I’ve come across, and more so than most.

One of these days when I have nothing better to do and a few extra bucks in my pocket, I’ll pick up a TC Contender rifle chambered for the .30–30 just to see how well I can make it shoot. I’d almost bet that groups in the .2s are achievable. It’ll be fun to find out.

I don’t have a lot of experience with TC rifles, having owned but one, but the seem to be exceptionally accurate. The two that my friends own chambered for the .30–30, and my rifle chambered for the .338 Federal, are all capable of teeny tiny groups.

Chapter 6

O’Connor’s Baby, the .270 Winchester

The .270 Winchester has become one of the most celebrated hunting cartridges. Famed outdoor writer Jack O’Connor couldn’t say enough good things about the cartridge.

One of my favorite cartridges, and the one I’ve personally used more than any other in a lifetime of hunting, is the .270 Winchester.

I was turned on to the cartridge by reading Jack O’Connor’s magazine articles and books. I grew up reading O’Connor’s prose when he was the Arms & Ammunition Editor of Outdoor Life magazine, and arguably the most influential outdoor writer ever.

Winchester engineers developed the cartridge in 1923, and introduced it to the shooting public in their new Model 54 rifle in 1925. The hype accompanying the introduction advertised it as delivering a velocity of 3,160 feet‑per‑second using a 130‑grain bullet. That got O’Connor’s attention and he ordered one with a Lyman 48 receiver sight. It proved to be a lifelong partnership between O’Connor and the cartridge.

In the December 1943 issue of Outdoor Life, he wrote, “Assuming that a cartridge can make its way on merit alone, that cartridge is the .270 W.C.F. In its early years it sat in the corner, dressed in sackcloth and covered with ashes, while few riflemen suspected that underneath it had a figger like Miss America, a disposition like an angel, and that it could bake pies like Mother used to make.”

O’Connor used the cartridge all over the world and wrote reams of material about how well it performed in the hunting fields.

I got my first .270 chambered rifle in about 1963 or so. I’ve not been without at least one rifle in that chambering since. I presently have five in my battery. Several others have passed through my safe during that time.

All together, I’ve probably owned fifteen or twenty rifles, perhaps more, chambered for the .270, and all I’ve owned, except one, were superbly accurate. That one rifle had a nagging problem of putting the first shot through a cold barrel some 12 inches higher that the second and subsequent shots. After that first shot, it too placed the rest of its shots in very tiny groups.

The .270 Winchester (right) compared to the .32–40 Ballard (center) and .223 Remington (left).

The rifle was a very lightweight Husqvarna Mauser with a pencil thin 22" barrel, and stocked to the muzzle `ala Mannlicher. I sold it to a fellow that was going to have it custom stocked and he was sure that would solve the problem. I never found out if it did or not. All the rest that have come my way have been trouble free and deadly accurate.

My favorite and the one that I’ve used the most by far, is my old David Miller Co. custom that I’ve owned since the mid‑1980s. David started with a Mauser actioned Browning factory Safari Grade rifle. Before starting on the project, he took it to the range and found it was very accurate, shooting under MOA groups, so he retained the factory barrel. He went through the action inside and out, built a fine custom stock from English walnut, and sent it on its way to a client. Whether he cut the factory barrel or not I can’t say and I never asked.

When I got the rifle, the barrel was 22". I suspect that in its factory guise, it was probably 24" but can’t say for sure.

A couple years later, the owner of the rifle got seriously into competitive shotgun shooting, and traded the rifle in on a high‑grade shotgun. David found out about it, and bought the rifle from the dealer and offered it to me for a reasonable price (for a Miller rifle).

I’ve used it for most of my hunting since. My handload for it consists of 59.5 grains of H4831 pushing any good 130‑grain bullet. That gives me 3130 fps through the 22" barrel, and that load has taken everything from a 50–60 pound roe deer up to and including a 1500 pound Alaska‑Yukon moose, and about everything in between those extremes. If there is a better killer of animals in those ranges, I’ve yet to find it.

O’Connor wrote of loading his .270s a bit hotter than I do. His load was 62 grains of H4831 pushing a 130‑grain bullet at about 3,200 fps. He must have used a super drop tube for those loads as that has to be a really compressed load.

I loaded a few rounds at 60 grains, but they weren’t as accurate as my 59.5‑grain loads, so I standardized on that load. It has worked exceedingly well in all of my .270 rifles except one. I have a Heym SR‑20 rifle that must have a tighter chamber or tighter bore as my load is a bit warm in that rifle. I dropped back to 58.0 grains in that rifle, which works just fine, and I lose very little velocity for some reason.

As an aside that some might find interesting, the parent case for the .270 is most often thought to be the .30–06 case. However, Winchester, when developing the cartridge, did not use the .30–06 as the parent case, but rather the earlier, and slightly longer, 30–03 case. Why they did so is a mystery to me. Whatever the reason, the .270 has worked very nicely for almost nine decades now, and is still going strong.

At my age, I’m sure I could keep one of my .270s, and get rid of everything else, and use but that one rifle for the remainder of my hunting that I have ahead of me. That, and my AYA Nr. 2 28 bore, would cover the waterfront. Hmmm, that’s a thought!

Chapter 7