My Most Accurate .45 ACP: A Shootout with the Lord's Chosen Cartridge! 

The 625 is an amazing revolver. I picked up one used back in the early 90s, and thanks to a friend, was able to get Ron Power to perform an action job on it shortly before he retired. That's one revolver I will never, ever sell!

Great video. I bought a 645 when I went out for the Sherrif's Office in 1990. My Corporal and neighbor that recruited me talked me into a Sig 220, wow was I impressed. My Sig 220 outshoots all my other .45s; Colt Gold Cup, Springfield 1911, Glock 30S. About 5 years ago I updgraded to a 220 Legion, and I am even more impressed with the 220. The 220 has been one of my main concealed IWB guns for the past 30 years. I bet my life on it.

In the beginning (of the 20th century) the Lord bequeathed unto mankind two cartridges of excellent quality. The .45 ACP and 9mm Luger were called the chosen and the people were satisfied for a time. The people grew restless over the years and called for a cartridge of perfection just as He is perfection. The Lord contemplated this for a time, and gave unto the people the .357 magnum and the people rejoiced and blessed Him forever and ever. Amen. I own a Remington R1 and I have been happy with it's accuracy. Great shooting!

Not a big surprise the 745 won. I think the quality and finish of S&W autos from that era are exceptional.

A long video about shooting is never boring Mr. Funk.😍

I’m not really a 1911 guy but thoroughly enjoyed this video. Reminds me that I need to get to the range more often before I can even come close to the kind of accuracy you demonstrated here. Good shootin’!

What a great video and competition. A few thoughts. I think your "best 5 of 6" scoring is a great idea. It allows one "do over" to account for human error. Your move back to 15 yards is also a good idea if you are testing service sized handguns. Back in the days of the gun magazines, we tested pistols mostly at 25 yards, but the precision needed at that distance was exhausting if you had to test more than one or two guns. I think 15 yards is where we would start to see meaningful differences in accuracy. I'd leave your distance at 15 yards even for subcompacts in the future, because it would show what, if anything, one gives up accuracy-wise in exchange for the convenience of a little gun. I would have lost big time on this one, because my money was on the S&W 625 to place first. In the past I've had excellent luck with .45 ACP revolvers, even shooting a Model 1955 Target in formal competition for a while. But I forgot that the great accuracy I have typically gotten with a .45 revolver was always with my 200 grain LSWC match handloads. Oh well. I did think that your Model 745 was going to end up near the top of the heap, and it did not disappoint. The M&P was a pleasant surprise. If I were back in uniform, I'd carry it as a duty pistol (its intended use) and feel very well armed. As for the 1911's, I think their performance speaks very well of the state of the art in this class of handguns. I'm a lot like you in that I don't shoot my best groups with fiber optic sights. For work on white paper targets, I like a plain black front sight with as square a top to the front sight as I can get. For speed work and dim light though, my old eyes appreciate some color. The Colt really didn't surprise me that much because its sight setup was intended for the action shooting sports where I'm sure that fiber optic front sight is a real plus when used on a dim day against buff colored IDPA/IPSC targets. Finally, the real surprise for me was the Tisas. What it showed me is how little practical difference spending an extra $1,000 on a 1911 makes, if what you want is a fighting handgun. If someone handed me the Tisas and told me it was my only defense pistol, I'd be fine with that. It also speaks to the genius of John Browning's original design for its intended purpose when the pistol has not been beaten to death by soldiers and Marines for over a half century. One could do a lot worse than to own this bare bones GI pistol for self defense. I can't wait for the next installment in this series of videos! What's next? I'm sort of hoping for 9mm service pistols like the Hi Power, the CZ75, SIG P226 and Beretta 92. Cheers.

You should pick up a Springfield Armory XDM in .45 acp. They have sharp tight gap sights that produce excellent accuracy with the match barrel. Mine is a tack driver.

Well this is why I don't bet. 😂 I thought the S&W625 might do a bit better than that (and perhaps it would with different ammunition) but there you go. Really like this new series and I think the decision to go 'best 5 shot group' is the right one for an accuracy trial. Good shooting.

Nice! Cheers to the S&W. As to fatigue, I rarely shoot more than a box of ammo as I find I get a bit bored and my mind starts to wander. At 71, my wrists will remind me that's enough.

Thou shalt have no other guns before me.

Excellent presentation and magnificent shooting Thanks for the good work❤

The recoil on a 45 ACP pistol can certainly contribute to fatigue. I agree that by the end of the session, one could be tired indeed. The other aspect of these guns, is that they each have their favorite ammo that is most accurate, and furthermore, each lot of the same ammo can vary in accuracy as well. One has to find that "best" ammo by trial and error, then hope to find more of it with the same lot number. No one said it was going to be easy, or inexpensive. All in all, it looked like a fun day at the range though. "A bad day shooting beats a good day at work!"

Really enjoyed the video HR! Content like this is great! Keep up the fine work!

My first 1911 was a SW1911PD too! I love it!! And 45 acp is Gods caliber delivered by Gods handgun!! Keep up the great videos!

Well done. I expected the last 2 to be the M&P45 & the Tisas. While the winner to be one of the (3) 745, 625 or Colt. My dad had the 745 and it was absolutely one of his all time favorite to shoot. We all shot it better than any centerfire handgun we had. Though many others were close it definitely outshined all the many autos & revolvers we had. In fact, dad was so confident with it that it was has night stand home defense, ready to go gun with 230 (+p) XTP. Thanks for vid. Look forward to next installment.

In .45 ACP handguns my Colt Goldcup 1911 and a Browning BDA (SIG COPY) WERE the 2 most accurate .45 factory pistols I've used. I had a custom built 1911 Colt Combat Commander .45 that was extremely accurate but today do not have any of the above. I do use a 1971 era Colt LW COMMANDER and a 1911 Colt bright S/S 5" .45. My military original is a 1911A1 Remington Rand .45 WW2 date and probably beyond even Vietnam in excellent shape. For carry I like the Commanders in .38 Super, .357 SIG and .45 ACP.

Thanks for another great and informative video! Can’t wait to see what’s next!

If that is the "Lord's cartridge", then you are "Saint Howard" !!!

I agree with you, keep it fun, if they want to get more technical have them use the microscope but for the rest of us we are happy to see just a basic comparisons of your 45 collection

Thanks. I’m really enjoying this series.

7:08 Good point, and absolutely understand. I really appreciate the time you spend showing these tests. Such a fun series! Always looking forward for more! Be safe everyone. 🇺🇲👍🇺🇲✌️🇺🇲

Another great video, HR. Thank you for your hard work. Please keep it up!

Good Video ! Keep em coming ! My bestest .45 ACP item is Colt Series 70 Gold Cup. Almost anyone shoots it, says the same. Smooth light trigger, and most shoot pretty good groups.

A "by god forty-five"! Oops, I didn't see that spot was already taken. Oh, well! All hail St. John!!

I look forward to it. I had three of my 6 1911s out at the range today. 😁 All are .45s, of course. The High Power is for the 9mm.

Nice collection of 45s and great shooting! Really enjoyed the shootout!

Thanks, that was fun and pretty interesting.

That’s the second time the M&p put in a good showing, I like this series, keep them coming 👍

👍👍Appreciate the thorough job you do on all your firearm and ammo comparisons.

Nice work Sir!! You keep doing what YOU want , and how YOU want to do your videos. They’re all enjoyable and entertaining. Have a great, safe week.

45 cause John Browning said so. 1911 forever!!

Fun video. Thanks for making it!

Americans don't use ergonomic target shooting glasses for some reason. I can highly recommend them for accurate pistol shooting. Makes focusing on the sights much easier! I have a pair of Knobloch and would not even go the the range without them! Once you're around 50yrs old an adjustable iris is usually needed.

Great info & thanx for posting!🇺🇸

Another great video. Enjoyed.

Loved this episode/post! I got a new 70-series Cold Gold Cup in college 1988. It took-up a good bit of student loans to get but it was/is beautiful. I ate cinnamon toast for a half a year before it won me a turkey at a shooting event. And then turkey sandwiches and turkey/veggie soup for a week :-) I haven't shot it in 20 years. A bunch of other .45s came around after I got to working and had paid off the student loans. One day I remembered a S&W 39 I shot when I was a kid. And the next collector-phase of my life started and the gun safe got full of 39s/59s. Great old firearms!

I like this series. Keep up the good work!

You always do a great job! Fun and educational! As for .45', I own: S&W 457, Ruger P90, Ruger 345, Glock 30, and a Ruger NM Blackhawk in .45Colt.

Thank you Funk. It's so nice to have finally found a channel with real accuracy testing. This was a great comparison. 😇

Nice comparison of different types of .45's, thanks for sharing!

Thanks for sharing. I have a 1911 that closely matches one of yours. It's my full size Remington R1 Enhanced 1911 and it's been a good shooter for me.

I enjoyed the video. Despite where it finished, I absolutely love my Tisas. I acquired it after watching your video on the Tisas 1911.

Making Elmer proud! Thanks for all you put into these videos!

After watching your previous videos on the S&W 745 I found one and made the purchase, I had one years ago and let it go but this one I intend to keep. Great video as always, Semper Fi

What a great idea for a video. I just got my Tisas yesterday and is my first 1911, can’t wait to try it out at the range.

A fun video! Thanks! Some comments: 1) I like how you did the test with throwing out 1 shot from the group. 2) You showed accurate shooting depends upon good lighting and good sights. 3) Small amount of Slide/Barrel length does not make a difference. 4) Interesting that the gun with the best group also hit closest to the center. 5) Guns like some ammo better than others AND point of impact varies with different ammo. I'd love to see more of these. They are fun to watch. Some ideas: Most accurate 38 Special, most accurate 22 rifle, and most accurate 9mm. Glad I don't have to clean all these guns afterwards! Thanks!😄

Very Entertaining Video! Good Shooting! I had your S&W 645's successor, the S&W 4506, and I found it to be nicely accurate. Could be me, but my .45's seem to like the 200 grain Bullet weight, which was the original Bullet weight that John Moses Browning chose, but the US Cavalry had him increase the Bullet Weight slightly.

I really like this comparison series. Can’t wait until you get to scoped rifles.

Great info, thank you:)

I love my Ruger convertible 45LC/45ACP with 5.5" barrel. It is a very accurate gun with either cylinder. My pet load is a 45acp with a 200gr lead FP at about 900fps. It has taken a few opportunity hogs over the years. (a hog I was not looking for but we crossed paths and he went in the freezer post processing). Mostly this gun is a plinker.

I had 645 S&W for bit. Clunky in my hands, but accurate. The HK MK23 had long sight radius. But it chewed the center out of bullseye target @ 50ft with normal Federal 230gr ball.

Always enjoy it Howard.

Good morning HR. Pretty impressive fireball on the left in the thumbnail. HOP must be using a slow burning powder in that load. Looking forward to the other calibers in this series.

The Tisas is one great pistol, love mine!

👍😊 by the end my eye strained. The muddy trigger .

I really do enjoy cheering on the competitors !

This was another fun one. I should try this with my own .45's.

Another great video

Gotta admit, I was pulling for that Colt, but also that Tisas A1 model. There is just something highly appealing to me about a bare bones government model 1911. I carry one often. Excellent video!

What a fun video. I love the 1911 and the 45 ACP. Really good shooting, you make it look so easy. I thought the Colt would win the day.

Great video and shooting. The .45 acp is my favorite cartridge.

Very good video, Thank You

Another good one. Keep it up.

I especially enjoyed this one 👍🏻 I’m a 45 guy. All of my auto pistols are chambered in 45 auto and my revolvers in 45 colt. It seems this video was made for me! Definitely the 1911A1 GI 5” model is my favorite all time pistol. Thanks HR! 👍🏻🇺🇸

I have a Caspian Arms 1911 (very rare) but accurate as hell. Love it.

I commented earlier about the fatigue by the end, but I'm REALLY curious to how it would of went if you fired the last one first. 🤔 I'm looking so forward to seeing more of these series! Be safe, love y'all!🇺🇲👍🇺🇲✌️🇺🇲

I have an early Remington Carry Commander and the Springfield Armory 1911A1 (MilSpec). Both of these guns are capable of at least duplicating the comparable results you obtained. I don’t have the M&P 45 but I do have an HK45C that is also very accurate at 15 yards, on par with either of my 1911s. You are correct about maintaining your accuracy after firing that many 45 ACP rounds even from a supported position. I sometimes try a similar experiment with the 357 Magnum collection I have. Great video.

Really stellar shooting with that 745!

Good video my friend. If I lived up in the frozen north where you do, I would love to put my Springfield Armory models against your Colts. Semper fi!

That S&W 1911 with the white grips is a beauty!

My first handgun was a Colt Series 80. I have not shot it years but after watching your video I will take it next time.

I did a test like this on my 1911s. Surprisingly (or maybe not), the winner was my GSG 1911-22LR. A good trigger, no recoil, and good ammo helped it a lot. Of my God's Caliber 1911s, My RIA Defender finished last as expected, my new mfg Springfield USGI replica came in 3rd, The BIG shocker was my 6 Benjamin Sig XO beating out my 16 Benjamin Colt Gold Cup Trophy. Go figure!

Thanks for including a revolver in your .45-acp experiment. Shooting revolvers is different when compared to semi auto's. I say it's the long and hard double action trigger. I'm working on solutions. One is to put the crease of the trigger finger on the revolver trigger. It seems to give me more leverage. The other is to keep both of my thumbs along the frame. I tried the tea cup hold, no success. Tried cupping the shooting hand around the trigger area with the off hand, no success. Tried comparing a square butt to a round butt. No conclusive results. So my revolver improvement will hard slog to perfection.

Very impressive to hold sizes like that over a long corse of fire, interesting about the fiber optic site, I have one one a colt custom shop competition, but have yet to shoot it. See how that goes. Probably the biggest surprise to me was the striker fire gun, I can’t shoot ‘em or even an sa/da like I can a 1911, it just the trigger for me with bullseye. Once again great video man. Enjoyed it.

Good shooting indeed !

I have a S&W Model 745 and it is one of the most accurate .45 ACP handguns I own. Like you, I have owned this pistol since the mid-1980s and it has always been a good shooter.

Just like your Tisas my Rock Island 1911 9mm has the same sights. Didn't take long for me to paint the front sight bright orange! I call it Hillbilly High-Vis!

Can’t wait, with my H&K USP Tactical at hand (I despise saying this, but it’s more accurate than any of my Springfield or Kimber 1911A1s, my Sig P220, or my G36).

My favorite .45acp handgun is the US Army Model 1917 Smith & Wesson revolver made during America's early involvement in WWI

Makes me want to get out and shoot but it's been so darn cold and windy here in Eastern WY. Good video, thank you.

Did almost same test, ww OLIN 230gr ball, 5 shots, 7 yds. Off hand. Using Colt custom Gold Cup NM, Colt series 70 Government model, Colt officers ACP, ATI FX , S&W 1917 ARMY model, and SIG P-220R. Sig won. Surprisingly ATI FX 3.5" came in close 2nd!

Great Shooting and some Great Pistols...Smith and Wesson Make Some Fantastic Firearms, Never been disapointed With any of their Guns. Gotta Love a Real Colt the Turkish Guns seem to be good performers for the Price, Really like this Video...Semper Fi

Thanks for the video was fun. You have a lot of S&W firearms I don't own a single S&W yet. See I knew there was a reason I shouldn't buy a wheel gun besides having a bad hammer ha! You did a great job!

Thanks for sharing. Beside being over cast, the temperature seemed fairly cold that is less than ideal as well. Two of the most important attributes of a handgun to accurate shooting are the trigger and sights. Without these it is hard to really determine the inherent accuracy of a gun. The 45 ACP has the ability to be a very accurate round. The best group that I measured was 1.5" at 25 yards with a commander.

Once again, enjoyed the video HR, keep 'em coming.. I thought it'd be between the S&W 745 and the Colt Competition 1911, all were fine guns. An idea for your 9mm's, pit 7 of your favorite metal guns and then in a 2nd video pick 7 of your favorite poly guns against each other. What do you think?

An interesting video as always. Seven pistols, seven different triggers & seven different sight pictures. Factor in fatigue and IMO you did very well. I agree about the fiber optic sight being difficult to acquire a precision sight picture. Like the 3 dot sights, they are more for combat shooting than precision but are still an improvement over standard 3 dots. For precision though, it's hard to beat a Patridge front sight held even with the top of the rear sight.

The M&P 45 2.0 4" compact really surprised me when I shot a friend's gun. Very good accuracy with 230 gr. FMJ ammunition at 16 yards.

Interesting comparison. I think under your conditions about 1 3/4" at 15 yards is the best you can expect out of most of those, and you had several that did better. It can be hard to predict beforehand what will do the best, and the occasional polymer gun can do well too, at least something other than 9mm.

I was really pulling for that S&W 1911PD, but was most surprised by the Remington 1911. Great shooting!

When I go to an official range I do so to bench rest to check my loads and the gun for acccuracy.... Which to me can be tedious but is neeeded Two 1911's I have kept is a A1 Colt and a very early and modified Kimber. the kimber with my 200 grain cast swc load will shoot a bit over 1" at 25 yards. This is right in line with my best revolvers which include and early Python and a Dan Wesson. It is also fun to take a Uberti SAA (Colt clone) in .357.. We do a version of your 'tack driver' We shoot at quarters.. this thing never fails to deliver.. LOL

yep

Critics are critics. I love watching your videos because you remind me of my old man. I'm getting him a 625 for his birthday this year; he wants my Smith 1917 but I'm still having too much fun with it

My Marine Corps issued 1911 back in the 1970s was manufactured by Remington Rand Typewriter Company sometime back in the 1940s, rattle like a box of nuts and bolts but I still qualified Expert 3 outta 4 years. Loved the power of it but that was the last 1911 45ACP I 'owned'.

Now that’s a difficult decision - “let’s see, what gun should I shoot today?” (that’s sarcasm) Excellent mix of 45s. Tisas’ are intriguing. I might buy one if I can find the model I’m interested in locally.

My first ccw was a Smith & Wesson M&P 45 compact. It was okay. Nothing to write home about. Someday, maybe I'll shoot it again.

Accuracy is not just the mechanics of the pistol barrel and ammo. It includes the whole pistol as configured. So you seem to be making comments, especially about the M1911A1 clone from Tisas, that you could do better with differing weather conditions, or you have a preference for non fiber-optic sights on your Colt. Concerning the Tisas, the weather may have in impact, but only since the simple sights it included to be period correct are no longer the best or better option for a 1911, to achieve better accuracy. This means that pistol is less accurate. Would like to see you run another test like this but with red dot sights on pistol. Thanks for the great video!!!

Definitely adjust the sight

Good results with the HOP .45 ammo across all those pistols.

Great video still like my long slide Semper fi. H. R. Thanks from. Sc