45acp With Comp

[TBF]

I have been wondering just how much a comp would help in 45acp.

I'm sure not nearly as much as with a higher pressure round, but how much?

I'd hate to experiment with the cost of a comped barrel to find the answer is " not much "

Any experiments from the golden years of IPSC, when 45 was the norm?

I realize any comparisons would be subjective, but what do you think?

Thanks in advance.

Travis F.

[benos]

A comp on a 45 totally helps, although not as much as on higher pressure calibers. But where or in what competition would you use this device?

be

[Patrick Sweeney]

A comp can be made to work on any firearm, in any caliber. But as Brian asked, where can you run it? It has been a long time since a single stack comped .45 was competitive in IPSC. They are still viable in bowling pins, but anywhere else you go, they are either disallowed or shoved into Open.

That said, do what makes you happy, and have fun.

[Carlos]

As a relative newcomer to 1911s (my 1st 1911 was an STI Edge bought used in 2000), I was fascinated by a friend's once "state of the art" open .45 IPSC gun & talked him into bringing out his pride and joy for me to relive the old days of IPSC & nsee what it must have been like. Man, this gun was tricked out! It was a hand fit Caspian single stack and the cone comp had not one, but TWO big ports! It had a mag-well (tiny compared to today's wells) and the safety? Well it worked on both sides (ambi). THere was a real commander hammer with a hole in it and a special extended grip safety so this beasty would not bite you (beavertail). The mags held not 7, not 8, but 10 rounds of .45. I made some special ammo to try out his gun - 185s loaded w/ the slowest powder I had back then - N350 - enough for real 175+ powerfactor; and, it kicked like hell. Accurate though. The comp reduced flip maybe 20% over a non-comped 1911 on hand for comparison.

Funny thing was, the non-IPSC shooting 1911 fans at the range that day really did think this gun was super-trick; they had little understanding or interest in current STI or SV guns. They were/are content w/ their Kimbers and Springfields built much like all quality single stack .45s over the last 80 years or so. Old single stacks are cool; I think there are better mousetraps out there these days.

The trick to making the old .45 comps work was light bullets - 152 National SWCs or the inexpensive Zinc bullets at about 140grns - these would work the comp more - but no where near the level of current Super 9mm guns/ comps (which really do shoot nearly flat). Why do you want a comped .45?

[L9X25]

During the "old days" many .45s were converted to open class comp/dot guns with good success. My load of choice was the 152gr SWC over Winchester Action Pistol. The guns were very soft and pretty darn flat. The guns had 4 chamber comps that were basically identical to what you would run on a .38 Super with the baffles cut out to .468. You can even use worn .38 super comps and ream the bore to .468 with great results. The biggest handicap is still the capacity issue.

Leo

[TBF]

Thanks for the replies, yeah it's for pins.

Just call me a pinslayer, sacrificer of innocent little bowling pins that never hurt no one.

It was just a thought, as one of the guys who shoots pins with us has one, looks like it works OK.

It's something to consider if I decide to build a pin-specific gun.

Thanks again,

Travis F.