The .45 Super / 11.5x22mm is a powerful

smokeless powder Finnish smokeless powder Smokeless powder is a type of propellant used in firearms and artillery that produces less smoke and less fouling when fired compared to black powder. Because of their similar use, both the original black powder formula ...

center fire Two rounds of .357 Magnum, a centerfire cartridge; notice the circular primer in the center A center-fire (or centerfire) is a type of metallic cartridge used in firearms, where the primer is located at the center of the base of its casing (i.e ...

metallic

firearm A firearm is any type of gun that uses an explosive charge and is designed to be readily carried and operated by an individual. The term is legally defined further in different countries (see legal definitions). The first firearms originate ...

cartridge developed in 1988 by

Dean Grennell Dean A. Grennell (November 1, 1923 – April 10, 2004) was an American firearms expert, writer/editor, and active science fiction fan. He was the managing editor of ''Gun World'' magazine and editor of the science fiction fanzine ''Grue''. Back ...

, a well-known writer in the firearms field as well as

managing editor A managing editor (ME) is a senior member of a publication's management team. Typically, the managing editor reports directly to the editor-in-chief and oversees all aspects of the publication. United States In the United States, a managing edi ...

of ''Gun World'' magazine."1911 Hot Rods"
''Handguns Magazine'' website. Accessed March 11, 2008.
Ace Custom .45s website Accessed March 11, 2008. It is dimensionally similar to the

.45 ACP The .45 ACP ( Automatic Colt Pistol), also known as .45 Auto, .45 Automatic, or 11.43×23mm is a rimless straight-walled handgun cartridge designed by John Moses Browning in 1904, for use in his prototype Colt semi-automatic pistol. After su ...

round but has a thicker case wall and is loaded to higher pressures, which offers an average improvement in

muzzle velocity Muzzle velocity is the speed of a projectile (bullet, pellet, slug, ball/ shots or shell) with respect to the muzzle at the moment it leaves the end of a gun's barrel (i.e. the muzzle). Firearm muzzle velocities range from approximately t ...

over the .45 ACP.".45 Super"
Everything Development Company website. Accessed March 11, 2008. The cartridge was co-developed by Tom Fergerson and Ace Hindman.

Development history

In 1988, a ''Gun World'' article detailed Grennell's efforts to update the .45 ACP for the 21st century, a difficult endeavor due to the inherent design limitations of the veteran round.
Notpurfect website. Accessed February 25, 2008. Introduced in the early 20th century, the .45 ACP has a relatively large case capacity which was dictated by the relatively low pressure powders in use at the time of its development; as a result, it operates in the modest range of 19,900–22,000

copper units of pressure Copper units of pressure or CUP, and the related lead units of pressure or LUP, are terms applied to pressure measurements used in the field of internal ballistics for the estimation of chamber pressures in firearms. These terms were adopted by con ...

(CUP). In contrast, current day cartridges using modern nitrocellulose powders generating higher pressure can produce CUP in the 28,000–39,000 range. As it was originally designed for lower pressures, the .45 ACP case has relatively thin walls and weak case head and web specifications; it cannot reliably contain increased pressures. The layout of most

M1911 pistol The Colt M1911 (also known as 1911, Colt 1911, Colt .45, or Colt Government in the case of Colt-produced models) is a single-action, recoil-operated, semi-automatic pistol chambered primarily for the .45 ACP cartridge. History Early histo ...

s' chambers presents yet another challenge in that the case head is not fully supported in the cartridge feed ramp area; pushing the envelope in this critical area with too much pressure risks a catastrophic failure, resulting in a case bursting in the chamber. To rule out such a dangerous possibility, Grennell chose to use brass formed from the stronger and more modern .451 Detonics, shortened to the overall length of the .45 ACP design. Support for the case head was also addressed by adopting a new chamber and barrel design which supports the base area of the case. Other areas of the model 1911 pistol design were also strengthened, including the addition of a heavier recoil spring and a strengthened firing pin redesigned to prevent primer material from flowing into the firing pin channel under high chamber pressures. Manufacturers such as Heckler & Koch GmbH currently offer pistols rated to fire .45 Super "out of the box". The Smith & Wesson Model 4506 and other models in the third generation 4500 series leave the factory with springs for the .45ACP, but feature full support for the .45 Super load when upgraded with a stronger spring. 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 batters the slide and almost certainly shortens the life of the pistol."Starline Product Information & Descriptions"
Starline Brass website. Accessed March 11, 2008.

.450 SMC

The .450 SMC is a .45 ACP

wildcat cartridge A wildcat cartridge, often shortened to wildcat, is a custom-made cartridge (weaponry), cartridge for which ammunition and/or firearms are not mass-produced. These cartridges are often created as experimental variants to optimize a certain ballis ...

for use in robust .45 ACP firearms that uses a modified .308 Winchester case with a small rifle primer adapted for use in modern .45 ACP firearms. Only 1911 pistols or heavier firearms with upgraded heavier springs are recommended. A small rifle primer .308 Winchester case is first cut down then resized to .45 ACP specifications, then primed with a small rifle primer as opposed to using the lower pressure pistol primer. Using the higher pressure small rifle primer with .308 Winchester brass designed to withstand higher pressure rifle charges gives this .45 ACP wildcat a safe and substantial power increase to the standard .45 ACP. It supports higher pressure due to the use of a parent case originally designed for rifle charges.

Ballistics

A number of bullet weight and velocity combinations are offered in .45 Super, including a bullet propelled at , a at and a at . as well as other weights and velocities provided by Super Express cartridges and Buffalo Bore, such as at .

Current status

Sedalia, Missouri Sedalia is a city located approximately south of the Missouri River and, as the county seat of Pettis County, Missouri, Pettis County, Missouri, United States, it is the principal city of the Sedalia Micropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 ...

–based Starline Brass company eventually began marketing factory-manufactured brass cases for the chambering, taking the round out of the obscure

realm. In addition, Ace Custom .45's Inc. of

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

, Texas, trademarked the .45 Super name in 1994 and used to market factory .45 Super pistols, as well as gunsmith adaptations of .45 ACP pistols, and .45 ACP conversion kits. Ace Custom .45's Inc has since gone out of business and their website is down. Texas Ammunition, Underwood Ammo, and Buffalo Bore offer factory loaded ammunition, which is marketed by Ace Custom and others. The Dan Wesson .460 Rowland will also chamber a .45 Super.

Applicable firearms

Heckler & Koch Mark 23 The Heckler & Koch MK 23, MK 23 MOD 0, Mark 23, or USSOCOM MARK 23 is a semi-automatic large-frame pistol chambered in .45 ACP, designed specifically to be an offensive pistol. The USSOCOM version of the MK23 came paired with a laser aiming modu ...

& USP .45 *

Glock Glock (; stylized as GLOCK) is a brand of polymer- framed, short-recoil-operated, striker-fired, locked-breech semi-automatic pistols designed and produced by Austrian manufacturer Glock Ges.m.b.H. The firearm entered Austrian military an ...

21 * Smith & Wesson Model 4506 *

Springfield Armory The Springfield Armory, more formally known as the United States Armory and Arsenal at Springfield located in the city of Springfield, Massachusetts, was the primary center for the manufacture of United States military firearms from 1777 until ...

1911 V-16 Longslide

References

{{Carbine cartridges

45 Super 45 may refer to: * 45 (number) * one of the years 45 BC, AD 45, 1945, 2045 Film *45 (2009 film), ''45'' (2009 film), directed by Peter Coster *45 (upcoming film), an upcoming Kannada-language action fantasy film *.45 (film), ''.45'' (film), direct ...