At the 2012 SHOT Show, I spoke with Mike McNett of DoubleTap Ammunition and suggested he consider offering a lightweight bullet load for the .45 ACP at a velocity of about 1,050 to 1,100 fps. I told him I thought an ideal .45 ACP load would penetrate about 13 inches, expand at least 1.5 times its original diameter and have an impact velocity at 10 yards of around 1,000 fps.
A month later, this load arrived at my door. It is loaded with a 160-grain Barnes TAC-XP bullet specifically designed for DoubleTap at McNett's (and my) request. This particular load is a +P load and will push this bullet well in excess of 1,200 fps from a 5-inch barrel. Performance in gelatin was as expected and probably as optimal as you can get with a .45 ACP. I've asked McNett to offer a standard-pressure version of this load, specifically for aluminum-frame guns. Hopefully, he'll turn that request around just as fast. If he does, I'll stuff the magazine of my Commander full of them.
| Load | Handgun | MV (fps) | PEN (inches) | EXP (inches) | RW (grains) |
| .45 ACP +P DoubleTap 160-grain Barnes TAC-XP | Colt Commander (4.25-inch barrel) | 1,248 | 14.0 | .63 | 160 |
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