Glock 38 and 39

[Guest dprovons]

Anyone have any experience with the compact and subcompact Glocks chambered in .45 GAP? Or with the .45 GAP round in general? I have been hearing this caliber is gaining fans and I have seen that ammo can be had in roughly the same price range as the .45 ACP but I have never shot it before. My understanding is that the Glocks are making the case for the caliber so I was curious if anyone has experience they'd care to share.

[JReedEsq]

I asked about the caliber a while back because some of the pistols were available at tempting prices. The general consensus was that the round will probably be gone in a few years. I've since noticed that Glock has released 4th Generation .45 GAP models so maybe the naysayers were wrong. Maybe I'll regret passing on them.

[KOM2]

I've seriously thought about this caliber as well and was also afraid of the ammo becoming impossible to acquire. In the most recent issue of the Glock Autopistols magazine, it shows several large departments have switched to it since they get similar ballistics of 45acp and the pistols are more easily handled by those with smaller hands. I think at least one of those departments is a Sheriff's dept in Florida. Someone may be able to confirm. This combined with the 4th Gen models, I think the naysayers might have been wrong....I know Bud's had these for sale for like $375 shipped last year.

[Guest dprovons]

My favorite target ammo is Remington UMC and CheaperThanDirt.com has the .45 GAP for similar money as the the .45 ACP: 15939 - Ammo .45 GAP Remington UMC Metal Case 230 Grain 880 fps 50 Round Box It just has me curious because I could carry the subcompact Glock 39 with the same number of rounds as my Sig holds, but would be able to jump up from 9mm to .45... Is Glock the only company making pistols for this caliber currently?

[leroy]

All:______________

A bit of "food for thought":

Why would a bunch like Glock (...who i think are some of the smartest guys out there in the firearms design business..) build a "new" 45 auto cartridge?

My guess is that they were working to solve a "real" problem on two fronts. The first is the "reliability" problem with subcompact 45 ACP caliber semiautos; ala Glock 36 and 3 inch 1911's (..popular, thought they may be...). One approach was to refine the gun (...the Glock 36...); the other was to design a 45 cartridge that they thought would work better in the subcompact pistols. The 45 gap solves the second problem.

You never hear of "reliability" problems with the GAP handguns (...the GAP cartridge is shorter than the ACP...). I think the GAP probably IS a typically great Glock solution to "reliability" with the 45 caliber semiauto (...and a good one, i might add...). I could also have no problems imagining that Glock is banking on another "handgun revolution" in some big market sector (...think the police sector here...) in the future. The GAP would be a great contender (...remember, big military and police customers like to spend money, they are political animals...). The european military and police market may need a 45 caliber handgun; who knows!!?

The GAP may never be a "caliber of major porportions in the USA" , principally (...again in my opinion...) because of the near idolatrous worship of the 45 ACP by us americans; but it could well become a good seller elsewhere. If i wuz goin to fool with a GAP, i would start handloading for it. Gather up a couple of thousand rounds of brass and go to work. Ya can always find the bullets. I think they are a great (...abeit a bit unpopular...) idea.

leroy

[Patton]

I dont think the round will ever go the way of the Dodo bird, and I even like the idea of the round. My complaint is the heavy slide making it feel like it's going to fall out of your hand all the time and not the grip. I like the Glock 36's feel. Why couldn't glock have used the 36's slide on the GAPS?

[Guest BungieCord]

I've always loved the .45 but the G21 was too mucho pistola for my girlie-sized hands, so I have a 37 and a 38. The 38 is my EDC when it's cool enough for a light jacket.

BTW, the G38 allegedly has an 8-rd magazine but almost all will hold nine. I have six mags and all six will hold (and function flawlessly) with nine. Which means my basic load is 10 rounds, including the hot one up the spout.

I think the cartridge's major hurdle is, as leroy puts it, .45 ACP worship. I doubt most .45 owners ever would miss what extra capability the +P ACP loads give, so the GAP should be perfectly adequate. And I remain convinced that if he'd had modern engineering and smokeless powders, JMB would have designed his ACP's cartridge closer to the GAP's length to begin with. And there's no doubt the shorter cartridge is more utilitarian.

Another reason for the cartridge is that some countries forbid civilians to own anything chambered in .45 ACP, not by caliber but by name. That was exactly the rationale behind the .45 HP cartridge. Italians can't own a .45 ACP so Hirtenberger-Patronen shortened the cartridge by 1mm, renamed it and, voilà, it's Italy-legal. I think it was Springfield who showed a .45 GAP EMP at the SHOT Show but AFAIK no one but Glock has ever brought a GAP to the market.

But I reload so I also bought a lifetime supply of brass, ...just in case.

Edited April 9, 2011 by BungieCord

[I_Like_Pie]

It is actually a decent cartridge, but as mentioned it has not picked up in popularity and will be known forever as a "reloaders cartridge"