[gmor]

For the life of me I can't believe this cartridge is still around other than that it is a matter of Glock pride in thier creation. Apparently no other mfg still chambers this round as the public favors the variety and availability of the legendary .45 ACP cartridge. Initially it had a limited following with some large police agencies but I think that is waning. It has decent ballistics but it was the answer to a question few we're asking. Basically many other companies found that putting .45 ACP into a slim gripped pistol was little problem. Take the FNX 45 for example with 15+1 in a grip diameter similar to a G19. Anyway, do you know anybody that owns a G37/38/39?

Edited by gmor, Feb. 07 2018 - 12:03 AM.

[gshayd]

the 10mm was once a waning cartridge too.....

[gmor]

the 10mm was once a waning cartridge too.....

But it offers a ballistic advantage. The 45 GAP is solely to make for a smaller grip in Glock pistols.

[Pepper]

the 10mm was once a waning cartridge too.....

It still is. 

 

I gotta go with gmor on this one. While I'm sure that there will always be commercially loaded ammo for it, and maybe they'll continue to build guns in the caliber, but there's really no reason for it to exist anymore. At least the 10mm has something going for it, the GAP was a gimmick from the beginning, and has no real world benefits. If this were 1980, and caliber meant everything, they might. But it's not, and it doesn't, so it's deader than the dodo bird. 

[Hammurabi]

My thought when I saw the title of this thread, "does that even exist anymore?"

[gmor]

My thought when I saw the title of this thread, "does that even exist anymore?"

It seems that in addition to Glock, Springfield and Bond Arms also chambered pistols for it, with Springfield discontinuing it in their XD model years ago. It had State Police/Highway Patrol adoption in NY, FL, GA and SC with the latter two abandoning it in favor of the G17. I have to think that "civilian" sales is extremely slow but Glock does not release sales figures on their models. 

[gshayd]

It still is. 

 

I gotta go with gmor on this one. While I'm sure that there will always be commercially loaded ammo for it, and maybe they'll continue to build guns in the caliber, but there's really no reason for it to exist anymore. At least the 10mm has something going for it, the GAP was a gimmick from the beginning, and has no real world benefits. If this were 1980, and caliber meant everything, they might. But it's not, and it doesn't, so it's deader than the dodo bird. 

Really?  It isn't where I live and SIG and Glock and even Remington not too long ago announced nice 10mm pistols along with other companies and there is plenty of 10mm ammo sitting on the shelves around here.

[gmor]

Really?  It isn't where I live and SIG and Glock and even Remington not too long ago announced nice 10mm pistols along with other companies and there is plenty of 10mm ammo sitting on the shelves around here.

I think you misread Peppers comment.

[Pepper]

Really?  It isn't where I live and SIG and Glock and even Remington not too long ago announced nice 10mm pistols along with other companies and there is plenty of 10mm ammo sitting on the shelves around here.

Maybe that didn't come across as I intended. The 10mm has been for a while now, a niche caliber. It's not ever going to see widespread use because of the same things that make it a great hunting cartridge. It's got a LOT of snort, and recoil adverse shooters aren't going to honey up to it. It's stuck in a .45 size frame in most guns, making it difficult for some shooters to handle. The ammunition is rather expensive compared to everything except .357mag, with only handloaders really able to shoot it a bunch at a reasonable price. I'm not saying that the caliber is useless, because it's not. It's far from a mainstream caliber, but it will continue to live on for as long as i'm alive, of that I'm certain. Like the 10mm, the .357Sig is a great round, but has fallen into a niche market. 

 

The .45GAP is dying if not dead already. I can go to just about any place that sells ammo, and pick up a box of 10mm. It may not be exactly what someone wants, but I can find ammo pretty easily. GAP? Ha! I haven't seen GAP ammo on the shelves in several years, and even then, it was never as available as even the 10mm. It's the answer to a question no one asked, and still aren't asking. It does nothing that the .45ACP or .40S&W can't do better. They introduced it in hopes that they could get the .45 into a smaller frame gun, but they didn't see enough into the future to realize that defensive ammunition in 9mm, .40S&W, and .45ACP was going to turn out to be pretty much all on par with terminal performance, giving the advantage to the round that will allow the highest capacity. Also given that not every manufacturer wanted to jump on a cartridge with a competitor's name on it when other options were already available, and the GAP has turned into a has-been, without any new guns, development, or future. I see it finding a place on the obsolete caliber shelf next to the .357 Maximum, only with less utility. 

[gshayd]

Even Remington has a 10mm now.

[gshayd]

I think you misread Peppers comment.

waning:the drawing to a close of life, an era, a period, etc.  Words are important.  I can't look up your arse and read your mind. There is no anal optical reflex. 

Edited by gshayd, Feb. 08 2018 - 02:49 AM.

[hkriflenut]

Does Glock even still make the GAP guns? I have never seen a gen 4 in that caliber. I've only seen a handful of GAP guns in gun shops over the years. Never seen one in the wild. GAP ammo, no, I've not seen that on shelves in years. 

 

Aside from Glock, Springfield chambered it in the XD, and maybe an EMP 1911 IIRC - I don't remember ever seeing any other gun in .45GAP. 

 

And once Springfield showed Glock that they could stuff the .45ACP into a gun of the same grip circumference as a 9mm (with albeit a longer grip length) the whole point of the .45GAP ceased to exist.  With the FNX45, the M&P 45, HK45... there's just not a point for GAP to exist at all. They couldn't even pull off G21 capacity in the G37. The G38 was probably the best gun out of the GAP line - just because it was the best concealment size, and an 8+1 .45 is acceptable, especially if you pretend it's not a Glock. 

 

10mm is seeing a resurgence, in it's niche. I think it's going to stick around as a high performance round, one of the highest performance rounds available in common semi autos. I don't know many guys who tote a 10 for social work, but lots shoot it for fun, or for woodsy carry for those times when a 9mm or .45 won't cut it, and you don't want to go to a magnum wheel gun. 

 

.357Sig - Sportsman's Warehouse still has a small selection of that ammo - but don't see much of it anymore either. The special rounds proved to be, not so special. Seems more police agencies are going back to .45ACP or 9mm, and even ditching the .40

[NONEYA]

I had to Google Glock to see if they even had the .45 Gap in the catalog.

[MontanaLon]

They still make them but I have never stocked them or the ammo for them. In fact when I started there were a few boxes out in the stores and last I looked they are still right where they were when I started. Glock had a good idea in putting a .45 cartridge inside the same grip frame as their 9mm and if Glock were the only maker of guns they would still be selling them and the ammo would be more popular. But the fact is Glock isn't the only maker of guns and we have had .45 in guns with frames suited to normal sized hands since 1911. 

 

Even in polymer framed guns you can get a double stack .45 in a grip smaller than a Glock 19 as long as you don't buy a Glock. 

 

And the truth as I see it is that Glock could make their frames slimmer and less like a 2x2 board but to do so they would have to step beyond 1970's technology and materials.

[gmor]

I had to Google Glock to see if they even had the .45 Gap in the catalog.

It's the Glock caliber and to stop making them is too admit they were wrong. You know"Glock Perfection" and all of that corporate ego crap!

[akpls]

I have a Glock 37.  It was an LEO trade-in that looks like it never went out in the field....no holster wear, very little wear from shooting. I initially bought it because I'm a sucker for oddball stuff like that and it fit the hole in my ever expanding Glock collection.  Since my LGS had several boxes of ammo I decided to give it a try at the range and found it to be a very accurate and pleasant shooting caliber out of the 37.  I have a rather small hand and find the Glock 45 ACP's to be too big to grip comfortably.  I have not yet compared it side-by-side to my 1911, but want to do so here soon.  The LGS says he can still get as much ammo as I want from Federal and Speer, and I also picked up the dies for it so I'm not too worried about running out anytime soon.  Maybe I'll look around for a 38 and 39 now!

[gshayd]

It is still available for purchase 1000 rounds for $279.00 that's about 27 cents a round. I found it for sale a low as $13.99 a box. Glock is still making them.

 

https://www.outdoorl...Code=ae45gacase

[Rampy]

I've never seen one, never seen the ammo for it and do not know anybody that has one.....

 

Know 1 person that has a 10mm and wants to sell it as it's a beotch to shoot he says.....he only carries it when camping/4 wheeling as a bear gun......

[TomJefferson]

Let me put it to you this way.  I somehow got a box of that shat and been waiting to run into someone who uses it.  Maybe in the next life.

 

Tj

[akpls]

Yesterday I took a trip to a gun show in a small town about 90 miles from me. While there I also stopped by the only gun shop in town and lo and behold he had 45 GAP on the shelf... Speer Gold Dot in both 185 and 200 grain loadings. Also told me that there were a couple of other guys that came in for it every once in a while and since the shop was just getting into custom ammo manufacturing he would have the capability to load batches for us if we took at least 500 rounds at a time. Guess the word of the GAP's demise hasn't made it to Alaska yet.

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk