Good evening everyone:
I'm a new poster here, and will start off with a question I hope someone can help me with. I've been a big .45 auto fan since the early 80's when I got my first AMT Longside. Wow,I did love that pistol, but I'm off topic. Anyway, I have been doing a lot of T/C shooting and have fallen in love with the platform, picking up different barrels here and there. I recently saw a long 14" contender barrel in .45 auto for sale. Well, being a .45, it just pushed one of my buttons and I'm quite interested in the idea of picking it up, but in reality, I can't think of a reason the cartridge would benefit from the length of the barrel. I know it will pick up something in the way of performance, but will it pick up THAT much to be noticable? I understand that with the T/C, I'll be able to load a bit heavier...I've seen one manual with a 260 gr load, so that should be interesting, and maybe even give the cartridge some hunting charactoristics, I'm not sure. Has anyone had any experience with one of these in .45? Any thoughts would be appreciated.

It will surprise you what you can do with the .45 ACP in a T/C. It has been almost 20 years since I had a Tender barrel in .45 ACP but I do remember it was fun, one of my friends took a Whitetail doe with his .45 ACP Tender(10 or 12 inch I believe) first shot put a hole through her right ear about an inch from the end He shot at her while she was still running broadside at about 45 yds., she then turned and ran straight for him and stopped at about 10 yds and looked around at that time he put a 200 gr SWC through her lungs. He said he was aiming at her head on the first shot but I kinda don't think he was quite truthful on that. Like I said it is a fun round to play with in the T/C's.

Steve E.......

If you really want a 45 TC barrel I Have a 14 inch tc barrel in 45 win mag blued sites in very good shape I'am going to put it up for sale PM me if interisted. Well push any 45 bullet a lot faster then a 45 acp well.

Thanks Steve for the comments, and also for the offer Mr. Shooter. If I don't get the results I think I'll get, I'll send you a note.

Been searching this like crazy, but finding no real hard data, other than like you said Steve, most people just enjoy the aspect of shooting/plinking with it because it adds another dimension to the T/C.

I'll have to do some of the work myself, which is probably best anyhow, so I purchased the barrel, and I'll try some loads with my Chrony and see what happens. Hopefully I'll find out something interesting and positive. If so, I'll post the results.

quote:

Originally posted by Steve E.:
It will surprise you what you can do with the .45 ACP in a T/C. it is a fun round to play with in the T/C's.

Steve E.......

Well, Steve, You were absolutely correct. I have been playing with loads, and seeing what I could get away with. I finally happened on a combination that seems to be very nice on several fronts. This past Wed., I tried the followig combination:
230 Gr. Hornady HP/XTP
7.75 Gr. Unique
CCI Standard Primer
1.20 O.A.L.

The results of this combination for 20 Rounds @ 50 Meters. 1.0 Inch Avg. groups with 5 Rounds per group. Average velocity with Chrony @ 10' was 1180 FPS. I plugged this into the Calc., and the results are pretty impressive. Here's what I got:
Velocity @ Muzzle = 1180; @ 25 = 1132; @ 50 = 1091
Energy @ Muzzle = 711; @ 25 = 655; @ 50 = 608
Trajectory was relatively flat out to 75M. After that it dropped like a rock.

Anyway, what a fun round to shoot. The milder loads were OK, but the hotter I loaded, the better the thing shot. I'm reluctant to try anything too much hotter, especially when these numbers look so good. The best way I could describe the felt recoil is that it reminded both me and a shooting companion of a 6" .357 revolver. Shooting a stiff load out of the T/C really adds another dimension to my .45, and gives it some attractive hunting characteristics. Good,clean,fun!

I bet you would be able to shoot the .45 Super in your T/C.

This, from Wikipedia

The .45 Super is a smokeless powder center fire metallic firearm cartridge developed in 1988 by Dean Grennell, a well known writer in the firearms field as well as managing editor of Gun World magazine.[2][3] Born of a desire to update and improve the 1906 era .45 ACP, the .45 Super cartridge is dimensionally identical with the older .45 round, but offers an average 300 foot per second (ft/s) improvement in muzzle velocity.[4]
........ Manufacturers such as Heckler & Koch (USP and HK45), and Springfield Armory, Inc. currently offer pistols rated to fire .45 Super ‘out of the box’.[1] Although they will chamber, the firing of .45 Super rounds in non-rated standard .45 ACP automatics is not recommended, as doing so risks a case failure in the unsupported chamber and at the very least would batter the slide and almost certainly shorten the life of the pistol.[1][5]

Althought the exterior dimensions are the same as 45 ACP, the brass is heavier-duty, so it is not advisable to load 45 Super pressures in anything but cases made for it.

Good luck, good shooting

Yes, that might be in interesting twist. I wouild not want to ask too much of the contender receiver though. Maybe an encore frame for that application would be a bit more appropriate.
I'm not showing any pressure signs in this current load, and for what it is delivering, recoil is very mild. I'm not sure if I need anything more. Should I stumble on some brass though...