Firing .45 GAP through a 1911?

[Toastfuzz]

So I bought a new Taurus PT1911 .45 yesterday, and wanted to take it right to the range afterwards. The woman who sold me the gun accidentally gave me GAP ammo instead of ACP ammo. We went to the range, I fired about 25 shots of the GAP (had a few weird jams/double extractions) but they fired seemingly well and accurately. I discovered later that night that I had the wrong ones.

My only question is, is it safe for myself and my new gun to fire the rest of the GAP through it? I have about 25 rounds left, not worth making a big deal over and I'd rather just shoot them off, but wanted to make sure with you guys first. Thanks in advance!

[ReconLdr]

I would recommend against it. I am not an expert on the .45 GAP but I am surprised it worked in your pistol at all. (without someone or something being injured/broken)

Is this your first gun? Dude, you need to stop thinking about the range and read your owners manual from cover to cover. I am certain in there you will find your answer. If it does not specifically state .45ACP/.45GAP do not do it.

I suggest you take some classes or go with a more experienced shooter.

[shooter357]

As far as I know you shouldn't shoot the GAP out of the a gun chambered in ACP. The lip on the base of the GAP is different from the ACP, which would explain the jams. The round is also shorter and might cause a problem when firing. I don't have any info in front of me now and if someone else doesn't post in the mean time I will post more details later.

[P-11 shooter]

I vaguely recall people blowing up their guns buy doing this.

I wouldn't do it. Not worth the risk even if it is minimal.

[ReconLdr]

Information from wikipedia:

The .45 GAP is the same diameter as the .45 ACP pistol cartridge, but is shorter than the .45 ACP and uses a small-pistol primer, instead of the large-pistol primer as found in most commercial loadings of the .45 ACP. Originally, the maximum weight of the .45 GAP was 200-grain (13 g), and in order to provide terminal ballistics on par with the standard 230-grain (15 g) .45 ACP "factory loads" the .45 GAP was designed to operate at a higher standard pressure – roughly equivalent to the higher pressure found in the .45 ACP "+P" rounds. The designer was only able to achieve the desired pressure and resulting velocity through clever powder selection, since the .45 GAP has a much smaller cartridge volume than the .45 ACP. Later development concluded that the .45 GAP could in fact fire 230-grain (15 g) ammunition just as the .45 ACP.

I bolded the most important section. If your pistol is not rated for +P ammo these pressures could injure you or the guy next to you on the range. It could also damage your brand new pistol. If you were to take it in for repair and they found out you shot the wrong ammo, you would have to pay for the repair or buy another pistol.

ETA: This is why reading your owners manual is so important....

[ScaredOnce]

LOOK at each round you load. You're responsible for every and any event resultant from your pull of the trigger.


I can understand the situation. As a family of hunters with 4 rifles that'll chamber each others' ammo, we've made it SOP to eyeball each round before placing it in the chamber/mag/etc. It's a good practice and also means you're inspecting each round...

[greener]

The bullet diameters are the same but the rest of the bullet is smaller or has a different geometry. I'm surprised you didn't get more than a few weird jams. The higher pressure could be very dangerous. It is never a good idea to fire a round the gun wasn't chambered or designed for. A few bucks in ammo is not worth the price of an injury.

[WhiteShadow]

.45 GAP:



.45 ACP:



Source:
http://www.genitron.com/Ammunition/Ammo.html


I think you need to read up on your manual and read up about calibers and what they look like. Take a look at that genitron hangun ammunition link above. I would of been able to tell right off the bat that i had been given the wrong ammo, the GAP is noticably shorter.


Regardless, like the rest have said...NEVER use any ammo other than the type suggested in your firearm's owners manual.

I also think you should go back and let that women you bought the gun from know that she made a mistake that could of ended in serious injury. Now, i know its always the user of the firearms responsibility to make sure the right caliber of bullet is going in the gun, but the fact that an employee of a gun store (i'm assuming it was a gun store) sold you a gun (which i'm sure she knew the caliber of when selling it to you), then sold you the wrong ammo for said gun, really concerns me. Thats just bad service and just shouldnt happen at any gun store.

[Pa. Patriot]

Do not fire 45GAP in 45 ACP autos.

1) 45ACP headspaces off the case mouth. As such, the shorter 45GAP will HS off the extractor/case rim which will be an issue (see 2)
2) the rebated rim of the GAP is different size and thickness than the ACP
3) Pressures for the GAP max at higher than 45ACP. Commercial loading vary from lightly under to slightly over 45ACP +P.

At best you'll get malfunctions due tot he dimentional issues. At wort you'll damage your firearm or your face.

My recommendation is...

Don't do it

45GAP in 45acp revolvers is a different story. Moon clips eliminate all factors other than pressure. So as I have not done sufficient research as far as I know the jury is still out on most modern 45ACP revolvers. I can not add input on 45GAP in modern revolvers until I see or do more research.

[Toastfuzz]

Thanks for the input. To answer alot of the questions and clear things up, no, this is not my first gun. Yes, I read the owners manual (which obviously will tell you not to load anything other than .45 ACP). No I didn't look at the cartridge before I loaded them up, because the saleswoman gave me the gun and box of ammo together. I can tell everyone assumes I'm an idiot, but with a ACP and GAP round side by side, the only noticable difference is the length. I did NOT know about the pressure difference, and will not shoot any more of these out of my gun. I went back to the gun store and talked to the same woman, who was extremely embarrassed at her mistake, and gave me a free box of high-end personal defense rounds as compensation.

Like I said, I fired ~25 rounds of GAP through it. The very first time I attempted to chamber a round, it jammed. About 15 rounds later it ejected a spent casing, an unshot round, and loaded the next round. Those were the only issues I had. But I am not going to risk the pressure issues, I take safety very seriously. People have actually been annoyed at my gun safety before.