Best 45acp Pistol - When it comes to maximizing stopping power, many serious gun owners opt for the .45 ACP (.45 Auto) for self-defense and concealed carry needs. In this guide, we will explain the pros and cons of these popular handgun calibers and give you our selection of the best .45 ACP pistols.

For those of you looking for the 1911, the rifle that made this caliber what it is today, you really won't find it here. That's because we've devoted an entire article to our picks for the best 1911 pistols, so check them out if that's what you're looking for.

Best 45acp Pistol

Best 45acp Pistol

Unlike most of our articles, we think those looking for .45 ACP pistols are likely to be sure of what they are looking for, so we jump right into our selection for the best option.

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We start this off with one of the most expensive pistols on our list. But if you can afford it, the FNX-45 Tactical is also worth the money. It is available in Flat Dark Earth (pictured left) and black. As the name suggests, they come from the factory with threaded (cold hammer) barrels, allowing suppressors and other accessories to be attached.

A tactical…or “tactical” (depending on how you plan to use it) feature of this pistol is that it includes two mounting bases, allowing you to easily mount a variety of red dot sights. This can be installed without having to remove the night sights on the gun, making it possible to sight it. Speaking of sights, they are raised high enough to allow them to be easily used with most suppressors attached.

The FNX-45 Tactical comes with three 15-round magazines, which means it has the largest capacity of any of the pistols on our list. However, that's to be expected, as it's also the largest firearm on our list. Overall, the Tactical FNX-45 is more suited to competitive shooting, target shooting, home defense, and used as a combat handgun, car gun, or as a SHTF sidearm… as opposed to carrying a concealed firearm.

This double action/single action pistol has a great trigger. The only minor problem is that the reset takes longer than necessary, which may slow you down a bit. Trigger pull is listed at 8.8-12.1 pounds (DA) and 3.96-5.06 pounds (SA).

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Overall, I found the FNX-45 Tactical very easy to shoot accurately, which I believe is a result of its relatively light weight, low bore axis, and natural grip angle.

For red dots, the Trijicon RMR Type 2 3.25 MOA would be my favourite, although it is more expensive. You probably don't want to spend another $500+ after shelling out over a thousand bucks for the gun itself. For about half the price, you can get a Vortex Venom 3 MOA. To be honest, I have no issues with Vortex products; So don't feel bad about going cheaper here if need be. Both options can be easily installed in the FNX-45 Tactical.

Now to take advantage of the threaded barrel and subsonic nature of the .45 ACP. The Osprey by SilencerCo is an impressive suppressor, advertising an average of 131.3 dB at the muzzle.

Best 45acp Pistol

Finally, what about lasers or lights? Or why not get something that does both? The Streamlight TLR-2 is our pick for the best handgun light and laser range.

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For those who don't care about a suppressor or red dot, you can opt for the regular FNX-45. It offers nearly everything you'd want about a tactical counterpart, but at a much cheaper price. It comes with three 10-round magazines, but can also be used with FNX 15-round magazines.

Now unlike our first choice, the Kahr CW45. This pistol is the cheapest .45 caliber ACP pistol you can find for concealed carry, without giving up on reliability. It's basically a cheaper version of Kahr's P45, costing about half the cost. It's also one of the smallest rifles on our list, which makes it easy to conceal.

Naturally, corners were cut when trying to make this cheap firearm, but the Kahr made those cuts in all the smart places. Some are literally basic chip pieces and cheaper manufacturing practices. Other noteworthy downgrades from the P45 include the lack of a polygonal barrel, no telescoping sights, and you only get one magazine (6 rounds) with purchase.

As we mentioned above, quality seems to not be an issue, despite the cheap price. Overall, Kahr makes good firearms. If you're looking to see if it's worth paying more for a P45 versus a CW45, you'll find countless forum threads with CW45 owners saying they prefer the cheaper CW45.

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Although I don't own a CW45, I've been able to shoot one on several occasions. The trigger is incredibly smooth, though in my personal preference I can complain about trigger bend and travel distance. Still, it's pretty cool, especially if you remember what the gun pays for.

One improvement I would like to make is the addition of this TRUGLO night sight. I always opt for night sights on any handgun I plan to use for self-defense and the CW45’s factory sights leave little to be desired.

Almost all of our best handgun lists include Glocks, and our list of best .45 pistols is no different. I'm even starting to get irritated writing about Glock pistols, because the rationale for including them is always the same.

Best 45acp Pistol

Glocks are the most trusted and reliable semi-automatic handgun manufacturers out there. If you know someone who carries a gun in .45 ACP, it's probably a Glock 21, 30 or 36.

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With the popularity of Glocks as it is, they also have the most popular parts available on the market, including sights and magazines.

Choosing between Glock's .45 ACP offerings comes down to what you plan to use it for and what size you want it to be.

In the table below, you can compare the size and capacity of these options. The Glock 21 is a full-size (standard) .45 ACP pistol, while the Glock 30 is a double sub-stack and the Glock 36 is a single sub-stack. One note I would add is that if you plan on getting a Glock 30, I would recommend the 30s version, as it has a slimmer slide and a shorter frame for easier carrying.

As usual with all handguns without night sights, I recommend the Trijicon set of tritium night sights. You can also see our full list of the best night sights for the Glock.

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The most unique feature of this pistol is its grip safety, which requires a firm grip around the pistol to fire. Opinions differ on the safety of the handle. Some consider it just another part of the gun that has the potential to fail, while others feel it reduces the chance of an accidental discharge. Both arguments have their merit, but I have personally fired thousands of rounds from various XD series pistols without any issues stemming from the grip safety.

For me, the biggest deciding factor in choosing an XD pistol over a Glock is the grip angle.

In addition to the grip safety, the XD pistols share the same grip angle as the 1911, which I find incredibly intuitive for quick shooting. On the other hand, Glocks have a more extreme angle—which takes a while.

Best 45acp Pistol

As for concealed carry, Springfield has also made all of the pistols extra small in the compact XD-S and XD-M. The narrow width in particular allows them to hide more comfortably.

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Although these pistols are not as popular as the Glocks, they are still very popular, which means that they still have massive support in the market.

Heckler & Koch's HK45 Tactical is the closest competitor to the FNX-45 Tactical. Both come from the factory with a threaded barrel, so the Suppressor is ready.

As you would expect from Heckler & Koch firearms, the HK45 series pistols are extremely well made. My biggest complaint when shooting this pistol is that the DA trigger pull is very long and heavy. Having said that, the HK45 makes up for this with its consistent SA trigger pull.

With so much (justified) hype around this gun, I'd like to focus on the reasons why I personally would choose another option over the HK45 Tactical or HK45.

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For starters, the HK45 Tactical and HK45 Compact Tactical are the most expensive pistols on our list, currently costing more than the FNX-45 Tactical. Even a regular HK45 (non-threaded barrel) costs more than $1,000.

About the same size and weight as the FNX-45 Tactical, the HK45 Tactical holds 5 fewer rounds. Given that many of you are likely looking for a great compact .45 ACP pistol to use in home defense, there is no reason not to pick up 5-plus rounds in my opinion.

Speaking of size, you are unlikely to plan on using a full-sized HK45 Tactical for concealed carry. Even the compact versions (HK45 Compact and HK45 Compact Tactical) are still on the larger side. It is also much more expensive and holds fewer rides than many other rides

Best 45acp Pistol

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