Watch That .45 Gap Brass!

[Chills1994]

Hi again everyone,

Just wondering what would happen if you loaded a .45 ACP pistola with .45 GAP by mistake.

Arrgghh, crap! More stupid brass I have to pick through to find the "good stuff"

Why can't they just annodize brass of different calibers different colors, you know like the Mag flash lights you see at Lowe's or Home Depot? That would be sweet!

Could it be that Glock wanted to leave a legacy behind and have their very own caliber named after themselves, mmmnn.....kinda like Ruger?

Chills

[TriggerT]

If you accidently load a .45 GAP into a .45ACP you aren't paying very close attention to what you ate doing. The GAP brass really sticks out as being a lot shorter, so I just never pick the crap up off the range. The NT stuff is another story. I actually like the NT since I am the only person I know who reloads it. I get it from some of the local cops, reload it once, and thats it. It is great for ranges where I know getting my brass back is next to impossible.

[spook]

I'm glad that they have used a different primer size on the GAP brass. That will save you from actually loading a gun with an ACP load in GAP brass, as you will have problems priming ithe GAP brass on the press.

[Chills1994]

OK, cool, I didn't look that closely at GAP brass the other night to realize they went with a small primer.

"Mmmnn..... this case is a little hard to deprime/resize. Let me put a little more a$$ behind. Oh sh___! Broke the decapping pin/ rod assembly and/or the machine is locked up. Better call Dillon."

But, the GAP into an ACP sounds like it could happen, since I've read the stories "Funny things that happened on the range" thread up in the humor section.

People have actually loaded their .45's with 9's and 40's. And 40's with 9's. They have had the whole round come flying out the end of the barrel or drop right out the muzzle when they went to holster after LAMR

All the more reason to buy those blue plastic ammo holders. With the bullets pointing down, the headstamps should all be the same level.

One more safety check I do, is to run my index finger over the headstamps while they're pointing down in the blue ammo box. Checking for high primers.

Then I come back with a Marks-Alot marker to stripe the headstamp.

Takes longer to describe than actually do.

Insert rant about common sense not being all that common anymore.

Did like the thread about the guy loading his .38's with 2 bullets each. Ahhh..... too funny.

Chills

[Carmoney]

I tried shooting a couple mags full of .45 GAP through one of my 1911s, and it fed and functioned perfectly fine.

Which is exactly what I expected, because despite what many people think, the 1911 headspaces the cartridge on the extractor hook, not the case mouth.

Mike

[Alan Meek]

umm Mike, no on the headspace. The 1911 does headspace on the Case mouth. Now if you should happen to insert a 45 GAP the extractor will hold the case against the breechface. This will allow the firing pin to strike with sufficient force to ignite the primer.

Alan

[Nolan]

45 Gap in a 45 ACP gun is about the same as shooting 38 Special in a .357 Mag. or .40 S&W in a 10mm.

What was really funny was watching a guy at the public range shooting 357 Sig out of a Glock chambered in .40 S&W. POP! #$%^& rack the slide, POP! *&^%$# rack the slide, POP! Finally he figured out he had the wrong gun and very sheepishly bagged the .40 and got out the correct Glock.

Why the heck don't they color code the guns? You know pink for .22, yellow for 38 Special, green for 9mm, blue for .357, red for .44, etc...

Nolan

Skilled, but otherwise unremarkable.

[mcb]

Yah but even if its safe to shoot 45GAP is a 45ACP why would you. Shooting 40S&W in a 10mm, 38Special in a 357 Magnum, 458Win in a 458Lott at least it saves you some money and/or reduces recoil. 45GAP is a lot more expensive than 45ACP in most cases and about the same ballisticly in all but heavy bullets. Good to now if the crap hits the fan but that’s about it. Am I missing something?

mcb

[Carmoney]

umm Mike,  no on the headspace.  The 1911 does headspace on the Case mouth.  Now if you should happen to insert a 45 GAP the extractor will hold the case against the breechface. This will allow the firing pin to strike with sufficient force to ignite the primer.

Alan

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Headspace is simply the distance between the breechface and the cartridge when the gun is in battery. In different types of guns, headspace is controlled by different mechanisms. In a rifle, the cartridge can headspace on the shoulder of the cartridge, by the rim, or by a case belt. Shotguns generally headspace on the rim. Revolvers headspace on the rim, on a moonclip, or on the case mouth. Pistols headspace on a rim, cartridge shoulder, or case mouth.

1911 chambers have to be generous enough to accommodate brass of varying dimensions and quality, otherwise you'd have a malfunction every time a piece of longer brass cycled up and in. And a different type of malfunction from every round that was crimped too tightly.

What happens most of the time with a 1911, even with regular ACP ammo, is that the cartridge is held against the breechface by the extractor hook. The fact that .45 Gap ammo functions just fine in a 1911 simply provides a good illustration of this fact. Obviously, there is a chamber step in the barrel that will stop the cartridge from moving forward if the extractor is broken or missing. Most of the time, though, the case mouth does not quite reach that step.

[DougCarden]

But Mike, I want to know how the Gaps reload in moon clips?

[Gun Geek]

Why can't they just annodize brass of different calibers different colors, you know like the Mag flash lights you see at Lowe's or Home Depot?  That would be sweet!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Easy, $$$$. Costs more to anodize and only a very small percent of the market cares about identifying the caliber of the brass after it has been fired. No return for the extra cost.

Could it be that Glock wanted to leave a legacy behind and have their very own caliber named after themselves,  mmmnn.....kinda like Ruger?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure:

45 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol

40S&W Smith & Wesson

Remington 223

308 Winchester

338 Weatherby

Everyone had it but Glock

Ever notice that glock pistols NEVER have the coorect name of the cartidge? 45 ACP is 45 Auto, 40 S&W is just 40 or 40 Auto (forgot the detail, but I've confirmed it).

It is all about marketing...

[MikeFoley]

Why can't they just annodize brass of different calibers different colors, you know like the Mag flash lights you see at Lowe's or Home Depot?  That would be sweet!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Easy, $$$$. Costs more to anodize and only a very small percent of the market cares about identifying the caliber of the brass after it has been fired. No return for the extra cost.

Could it be that Glock wanted to leave a legacy behind and have their very own caliber named after themselves,  mmmnn.....kinda like Ruger?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Sure:

45 ACP Automatic Colt Pistol

40S&W Smith & Wesson

Remington 223

308 Winchester

338 Weatherby

Everyone had it but Glock

Ever notice that glock pistols NEVER have the coorect name of the cartidge? 45 ACP is 45 Auto, 40 S&W is just 40 or 40 Auto (forgot the detail, but I've confirmed it).

It is all about marketing...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

They used to say 40SW or 357Sig, but they dropped that with gen 3 guns to simply read .40 and .357.

[rhyrlik]

umm Mike, no on the headspace. The 1911 does headspace on the Case mouth. Now if you should happen to insert a 45 GAP the extractor will hold the case against the breechface. This will allow the firing pin to strike with sufficient force to ignite the primer.

Alan

They are supposed to headspace on the case mouth, as do the 9mm and 357 Sig, but in reality they headspace on the extractor. In 9mm, for example, most factory cases measure around .747" and the chamber is .765" long. If you removed the extractor and tried to fire the gun, most rolunds would not fire. The 45 is the same way. The 357 headspaces on the shoulder, at least in my experience and definittely with all reloads.