Why no .40 ACP?

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Looking at the series .25 ACP, .32 ACP, .380 ACP there is a nice progression of about a 50% increase in bullet weight and a diameter/frontal area increase each time. Then the jump to .45 ACP with a bullet weight increase of almost 250%. Seems like a 150 grain bullet in a case of around 10 mm x 20 mm would have filled in that gap nicely. Why did Browning skip this?

I guess the 9 x 23 also lands in that gap in bullet weight, but it misses the stepwise increase in diameter. Throws the music of the spheres out of tune! Troubling.
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Re: Why no .40 ACP?

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Buck13 wrote:Looking at the series .25 ACP, .32 ACP, .380 ACP there is a nice progression of about a 50% increase in bullet weight and a diameter/frontal area increase each time. Then the jump to .45 ACP with a bullet weight increase of almost 250%. Seems like a 150 grain bullet in a case of around 10 mm x 20 mm would have filled in that gap nicely. Why did Browning skip this?

I guess the 9 x 23 also lands in that gap in bullet weight, but it misses the stepwise increase in diameter. Throws the music of the spheres out of tune! Troubling.
I'm guessing there just wasn't a market for it. Police departments were using revolvers and the military demanded the 45. Plus, most self defense pistols were small caliber.

There was also the 38 super, which probably filled that very small.niche.
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Re: Why no .40 ACP?

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I imagine introducing a brand new caliber is risky business-wise.

From the Gospel of Wiki: Four state law enforcement agencies have adopted the .45 G.A.P. as a replacement to their current issue 9×19mm Parabellum (New York) or .40 S&W service handguns ( South Carolina, and Florida). The New York State Police, South Carolina Highway Patrol, and Florida Highway Patrol[2] have all adopted the Glock 37 and .45 G.A.P.

Initially, due to its acceptance by law enforcement and the popularity of subcompact handguns for concealed carry, a small number of manufacturers decided to produce pistols that were chambered in .45 G.A.P., but they no longer produce any pistols in that caliber. Only Glock continues to manufacture pistols in the 45 G.A.P. cartridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.45_GAP
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Re: Why no .40 ACP?

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Oops! I finally looked at the wiki chart to see what other old .40 cal rounds there were
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_h ... cartridges
and there is a line for 9.8 mm Auto Colt (aka 9.65 mm Browning). Shows a 23 mm case length.

Apparently a few demonstration pistols were made in both the US and Belgium, but never found any takers in the military market.
https://www.americanrifleman.org/articl ... or-965-mm/
I wonder what a Colt 9.8 mm pistol sells for? That is a hell of a collectors item!

So, Browning did see the next logical step here, but no one wanted it. I'm glad he agreed with my wise pre-breakfast suggestion! :roll:
IMR4227: Zero to 900 in 0.001 seconds

I'm only killing paper and my self-esteem.

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Re: Why no .40 ACP?

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There was a. 38acp, the same size as the. 38super, but without enough power, at least as judged by the military. So it became the. 38super with more powder in the case, unusual because it chambered fine in the. 38acp guns, although they were rare. For years the only guns chambered in. 38super were the 1911s.
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