Posted: 3/4/2007 11:29:23 AM EDT
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i was at this little gun shop in WY a feww weeks ago talking to this old timer who was the gunsmith. i told him i had just gotten my first .45 and so on. he told me i should convert it into a "super .45". he said he could do it for around $130. he mentioned it could handle a more powerful round or something. Can someone explain this to me and is it a common modification? he said it comes in handy in shooting grizley bears if your out camping... 
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| The .45 Super cartridge has been around for a while. Springfield had a factory longslide gun chambered for .45 ACP/.45 Super a few years back. You changed the recoil spring to a stronger unit to shoot Supers in. I don't remember who makes ammo for it these days. |
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Twice the speed and ft/lbs of energy for many more times the pressure, extra wear, and sacrafice of controllability, not to mention ammo ($47/ 50 rounds). I was obsessed with it when I was younger and learning about handguns over a decade ago. I wouldn't rule it out as a fun project, but it's basically all the joys and headaches of 10mm with the added advantage of chambering .45ACP. |
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Here is a post of mine from the HS2000/XD forums about the 45 Super "OK I tried it. I have about 100 rounds left from my late unlamented 45 Super 1911 phase. 45 Super info The load is a Laser Cast 225gr TC bullet and lots of Power Pistol. I have two loads. 1100fps and 1050fps. I had a tough time getting this to function in a Colt 1991A1. Never got the right recoil spring in. It was too much spring or not enough. When I got the right spring, it needed really stiff mag springs. When it did work, muzzle blast and recoil was too much for a handgun recoil weenie like me. I ended up using the cases and downloading to 1000fps. That combo works fine. I tried a few of the weaker 45 Super loads I still have in a XD45 Service. Runs about five rounds then jams. Stovepipes and FTFs abound. It is accurate enough but not really suited to the 4" XD45. I think that with the right recoil spring I could make a go of it with a XD45 Tactical. I have a Dons prototype GR that takes 1911 springs. I think a 26 or 28lb spring would work OK. At least well enough to use up the remaining 45 Super ammo I still have on hand. FWIW. THe 45 Super is a best a curiosity. If you want that kind of power level, go to a Roland or better yet a Magnumb revolver. It's not practical in a 1911 platform or the XD platform for that matter. I do plan to use the remaining 45 Super cases I have on hand (about 450) to make a +P loading using the 225gr hard cast bullet and Power Pistol to get to 950-1000 fps. This would be for hiking and general outdoor use. This is my opinion. Your opinion may vary." ZM |
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You MUST use 45 super brass, available from Starline brass. click here Wolff 24lb recoil spring with a CP buffer should serve you well. click here EGW firepin stop. click here They say it hard on your trigger group as the extra pounding takes it toll. I think your smith is stroking you, you could easily do the conversion for under 50.00 |
Yep. It can be done on the cheap. It will make your dick hard for a few minutes. Then the muzzle blast, recoil and controllability issues will show up. New stiffer mag springs are a must too. It's a hard round to tune in a gun that wasn't designed for it. I tried the Sprinco recoil reducer with several spring combinations. The 45 Super experiment just wasn't dead solid reliable in any combination. I certainly wouldn't trust my life with it. It will batter your gun if you feed it a steady diet of 45 Super. I found out that I wasn't up to a steady diet of 45 Super. I made up a few rounds at 1000 fps. 225gr cast bullets and some Power Pistol. Those rounds work fine. Any more and it's counterproductive. Buffalo Bore makes ammo for the 45 Super. It's sold through Midway USA. $40 a box. This is my opinion. Your opinion may vary. ZM |
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There is also a round called the 460Rowland. This is a slightly longer 45ACP case with increased pressure. The barrel has a comp on it (to aid in not beating the hell out of the 1911) along with a 24 pound recoil spring. The barrels are made to "drop in" to many 1911's on the market today by Clark Custom Guns. Since I carry a 1911 almost daily and am a hunter, when I stumbled onto this round, I knew I had to try it out! Ammo is expensive (Georgia Arms), so I rolled my own. Brass is available from Starline, so I worked up a load on the bottom end of the available data throwing a 230 grain Hornady XTP at around 1220 fps (max is around 1340 or so). I've never been an XTP fan for self-defense, but given the increase in velocity and my desire to use it hunting, I thought this would be a good bullet to use. So far I've been very impressed with the gun / ammo. I was hoping to do some chronoing of my own along with some "water jug testing" just to see what expansion and penetration looked like...then I hope to use it hunting this year. In fact, I'm going to Texas for 3 months this summer and was hoping I might find something to "try it out on" before coming back home for deer season. And, if things work out, I'm hoping to try it out on small black bear either this year or next. Would I use it for self-defense? Yeah, if I was out hunting and that's all I had on me. Otherwise, I like my 1911 in good ol' 45ACP for a workin' gun. |