NationStates Jolt Archive

I have a question for some educated gun nuts out there and it would be really useful to me. Okay, when a 45 caliber round is fired how much pressure is behind it (in pounds)?

Depends on the bullet being used really. They make high pressure bullets. There are a couple factors really and maybe others can shed some light. However it depends partly on the bullet construction and the grain being used. As measured in fps I would say 1100-1300 range is probably max for most .45 caliber guns in good condition.

Edit: Found a link that talks about what I just said. This may shed some light for you.

http://www.chuckhawks.com/high-pressure45.htm

I have a question for some educated gun nuts out there and it would be really useful to me. Okay, when a 45 caliber round is fired how much pressure is behind it (in pounds)?

What specific .45 cartridge? .45 ACP, .45 Gap, or .45 Long Colt? And do you mean PSI? Foot/Pounds? Standard load, or +P?

We need more info.

Use this link to get the info you need:

http://www.federalcartridge.com/ballistics/

I believe SAAMI publishes standards for this stuff.

.45 Colt Revolver by Grain

200 grain XTP 1,032 ft/s 473 ft·lbf
230 grain XTP 969 ft/s 480 ft·lbf
250 grain XTP 929 ft/s 479 ft·lbf
255 grain Lead SWC 961 ft/s 523 ft·lbf

.45 ACP by Grain

165 grain JHP 1,060 ft/s 412 ft·lbf
185 grain JHP 950 ft/s 371 ft·lbf
230 grain JHP 850 ft/s 369 ft·lbf
230 grain Hydra-Shok JHP 900 ft/s 414 ft·lbf

ft/s = Feet Per Second
ft·lbf = Foot Pounds (Pounds per foot)

.45 Colt Revolver by Grain

200 grain XTP 1,032 ft/s 473 ft·lbf
230 grain XTP 969 ft/s 480 ft·lbf
250 grain XTP 929 ft/s 479 ft·lbf
255 grain Lead SWC 961 ft/s 523 ft·lbf

.45 ACP by Grain

165 grain JHP 1,060 ft/s 412 ft·lbf
185 grain JHP 950 ft/s 371 ft·lbf
230 grain JHP 850 ft/s 369 ft·lbf
230 grain Hydra-Shok JHP 900 ft/s 414 ft·lbf

ft/s = Feet Per Second
ft·lbf = Foot Pounds (Pounds per foot)


Thank you SaintB this is what I needed I think.

Minor nitpick; "gun nut" is a perjorative term. People who like guns are not crazy. Gun expert or gun afficianado or gun hobbyist is probably a better descriptive title.

I note most have confused bullet velocity/energy with pressure.

Minor nitpick; "gun nut" is a perjorative term. People who like guns are not crazy. Gun expert or gun afficianado or gun hobbyist is probably a better descriptive title.

I didn't mean crazy I meant really into guns. If your not American you wouldn't understand.

I note most have confused bullet velocity/energy with pressure.

Huh?

aside from some hand loaded cartridges these other posts look spot on,
when hand loading stuff you can all kinds of crazy things...
My friends Dad many years ago hand loaded some .45 peace maker rounds
( replica not an original ) which came into his son's possession when the
old man died.
My friend John, who'd never really used them, nor knew anything about guns
asked us to take them out.
So we did,
his old man had loaded them so hot that they split the casings in the cylinder
when they were fired!
And caused a great deal of excitement for anyone around the person shooting.
We guessed that they were atleast +25 % or better over the safe powder charge.

So it comes down to what are you doing with the load?
Is it for your military?
Or something in real life?
You can get away with specially high powder loads as one man ( or woman )
and when you can take alot of care,
but it isn't advisable for combat conditions.
Hot loads can exceed the gun's specs, and then EXPLODE! which I've
only ever seen on video thankfully. But my family had one close call.
So just something to think about.

Thank you SaintB this is what I needed I think.

Well I was wrong, This is what I was meaning to ask:

When the most powerful form of a .45 caliber hit a specific point how many pounds of force will it hit that point with? and also does it depend on what it is fired by?

I'm not sure if I'm even asking about the right round, what comes just before the .50 caliber in terms of stopping power? Because thats the round i'm asking about. (is it the .45? god I hate not knowing about shit)

I didn't mean crazy I meant really into guns. If your not American you wouldn't understand.

I see. So in America do they also have abortion nuts and free speech nuts?

Well I was wrong, This is what I was meaning to ask:

When the most powerful form of a .45 caliber hit a specific point how many pounds of force will it hit that point with? and also does it depend on what it is fired by?

I'm not sure if I'm even asking about the right round, what comes just before the .50 caliber in terms of stopping power? Because thats the round i'm asking about. (is it the .45? god I hate not knowing about shit)

Well, you could try looking up the .45-70 Government, the .338 Magnum, the .454 Casull, etc. Depends on if you're dealing with handguns or rifles as well.

In handguns, .44 Mag, .454 Casull, etc.

In rifles, look at sniper rifle cartridges. I think .50 BMG is about the biggest.

I see. So in America do they also have abortion nuts and free speech nuts?

Yes, they do. I've heard the second phrase used before, and the first also makes sense.

I see. So in America do they also have abortion nuts and free speech nuts?

Sure do, were a bunch of nuts about one thing or another. Me personally i'm more like a pot seed.

Huh?

The OP asked for the pressure of the 45.

Pressure refers to the internal pressure generated by the burning propellant, and can be up to 60,000 lbs psi for high-powered magnum rifles. I recall (but could be wrong, I am a little out of date on this) that handgun generally generate around 30,000 lbs psi.

People are posting the velocity/energy of the projectile, which is a different, but related measurement.

The OP asked for the pressure of the 45.

Pressure refers to the internal pressure generated by the burning propellant, and can be up to 60,000 lbs psi for high-powered magnum rifles. I recall (but could be wrong, I am a little out of date on this) that handgun generally generate around 30,000 lbs psi.

People are posting the velocity/energy of the projectile, which is a different, but related measurement.


That is exactly what I needed, thank you, thank you, thank you :)

Can anybody confirm this?

That is exactly what I needed, thank you, thank you, thank you :)

Can anybody confirm this?

You're welcome.:) Heres a link to the wiki article on internal ballistics: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Internal_ballistics

Edit: And the wiki on the 45 acp, which does contain pressure info: 45 ACP (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/45_ACP)

Minor nitpick; "gun nut" is a perjorative term. People who like guns are not crazy. Gun expert or gun afficianado or gun hobbyist is probably a better descriptive title.

You're assuming that the OP was referring to all people who could answer the question, it's entirely possible (however extremely unlikely), that they did only want people that love their guns too much and fire them randomly into the air answering.

Regarding .45 ACP: There is very little velocity difference between firing this cartridge from a compact pistol and firing from a rifle, so the specs mentioned are within a few percentage points whether you have a subcompact or are shooting from a Thompson or AR pistol caliber conversion.

I find the .45 far more comfortable to shoot than a 9x19mm, but caliber is a matter of personal preference. Before buying, see if you can try several models. I'd like to try a Para Ordinance Warthog .45 some time.

Minor nitpick; "gun nut" is a perjorative term. People who like guns are not crazy. Gun expert or gun afficianado or gun hobbyist is probably a better descriptive title.

Americans have a reputation for picking a particular subject and choosing a viewpoint that they pursue with extreme vigour. The fact that they're so passionate about these subjects, which often don't really have any significant impact on their lives, confuses the rest of us and ultimately results in us applying the 'nut' suffix to everything. Such as sci-fi nut, science nut, etc. Outside of America it's not really a pejorative term, just a statement of passion. For example, the kind of person (to us Johnny Foreigners anyway) who knows off-by-heart the amount of force exerted by a .45 calibre cartridge would be assigned the title 'nut'.

That said, I'm quite keen on firearms too, even though the kind of firearms that interest me aren't legal and I don't own any. I'd be called a 'gun nut' too.

However, we also refer to nutters who love guns so much that they'd kill to keep them as 'nutters'. So it's actually quite confusing.

On a completely different topic, I have to ask Nilpnt, why exactly do you need to know such specific information? I hope it's for a perfectly innocent and non-murderous purpose?

Americans have a reputation for picking a particular subject and choosing a viewpoint that they pursue with extreme vigour. The fact that they're so passionate about these subjects, which often don't really have any significant impact on their lives, confuses the rest of us and ultimately results in us applying the 'nut' suffix to everything. Such as sci-fi nut, science nut, etc. Outside of America it's not really a pejorative term, just a statement of passion. For example, the kind of person (to us Johnny Foreigners anyway) who knows off-by-heart the amount of force exerted by a .45 calibre cartridge would be assigned the title 'nut'.

That said, I'm quite keen on firearms too, even though the kind of firearms that interest me aren't legal and I don't own any. I'd be called a 'gun nut' too.

However, we also refer to nutters who love guns so much that they'd kill to keep them as 'nutters'. So it's actually quite confusing.

On a completely different topic, I have to ask Nilpnt, why exactly do you need to know such specific information? I hope it's for a perfectly innocent and non-murderous purpose?

Of course its is, its ment to help me design body armor for my IC nation and I need to know the amount of power certain rounds have, so that I know what I should use to stop these rounds. If it were for a merderous purpose I wouldn't be asking questions, I would be fleeing to Cuba.