For years "conventional wisdom" has told us that the .45 ACP cartridge requires a five inch barrel to get the "heavy, fat" bullet up to speed. Lately the reviews for one of the concealed carry specialty guns (manufacturer doesn't matter for this page) have shown that the four inch barrel will churn out virtually the same velocities as the five inch one. Obviously the four inch models are easier to conceal so I went looking on the Internet for published statistics on .45 ACP velocities at various barrel lengths.
The information below is from published reviews done by Shooting Times Magazine on different guns over the last eight or so years. Fortunately they included velocities for various commercially available ammunition types and those results are the basis of this page. I tend to believe the results more because they were not attempting to prove or disprove any given item. Rather they were out to show what a given gun did with various manufacturers ammunition offerings.
What I see is that a 3.5" or longer barrel will do a very nice job of getting that bullet up to an effective speed for self defense. The only down side that I see is the shorter sight radius reduces long range accuracy (DUH!). For personal protection, 3.5" or longer does VERY well and the shorter ones are easier to conceal.
I have seen this web page referenced in several firearms forums and it is amazing, at least to me, the number of people that read the material and do not understand any of it. THEREFORE, I have changed the table you see, and have removed the color coding and added spacing.
Gun | * * * Factory Load * * * | Velocity | Groups |
---|---|---|---|
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Black Hills 185-gr. JHP | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Les Baer 5" Barrel | |||
Beretta 3.6" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Cor-Bon 185-gr. JHP +P | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Federal 185-gr. JHP | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Hornady 185-gr. XTP | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
Ruger 4.2" Barrel | |||
Taurus 3.25" Barrel | |||
Kimber Ultra 3.0" | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Remington 185-gr. Golden Saber +P | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Ruger 4.2" Barrel | |||
Taurus 3.25" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Speer 185-gr. Gold Dot | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Kimber Ultra 3.0" | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Winchester 185-gr. Silvertip | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Les Baer 5" Barrel | |||
Beretta 3.6" Barrel | |||
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
Kimber Ultra 3.0" | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Speer 200-gr. JHP +P | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Black Hills 230-gr. JHP | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Les Baer 5" Barrel | |||
Beretta 3.6" Barrel | |||
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Cor-Bon 230-gr. JHP +P | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Les Baer 5" Barrel | |||
Beretta 3.6" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Federal 230-gr. Hydra-Shok | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
Kimber Ultra 3.0" | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Federal 230-gr. JHP +P | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Les Baer 5" Barrel | |||
Beretta 3.6" Barrel | |||
Glock 3.8" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Winchester 230-gr. SXT | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Ruger 4.2" Barrel | |||
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * | Speer 230-gr. Gold Dot | * * * * * | * * * * * |
Glock 3.8" Barrel |
I ran my own tests on three different loads (two factory, one reload) to see what the differences in velocity would be for a three inch barrel, a four inch barrel and a five inch barrel. All three were Kimbers and all testing was run within about an hour and one half.
I used a 230Gr ball, a 230Gr HP, with a 185Gr HP as the reload.
I found that the 5" had the highest velocity (DUH!) but only by about 75fps over the 4". The three inch was again about 75fps lower than the four inch.
TA-DAH! 150fps difference between the three inch and the five inch! I'll bet many would have said more.
As a P.S., I used a CEDM Chrono at fifteen feet from the muzzle.