Reeder Custom Guns - Never looked at the .45 GAP.

I know it is a commercial flop of sorts. Actually it was to fill a specific law enforcement and perhaps military role. There have been some law enforcement sales and they are supposed to be happy. An oversimplification is the gun is essentially a G17 bottom and a G21 slide, for discussion purposes. The shorter case is NOT a short .45 ACP. The extractor groove is totally different and it takes a small pistol primer rather than a large. This is needed due to the ejector on the 9mm style frame being very close to the large primer if that were used. Not a safe condition and an easy primer case design solution.

So the slide is notable fatter and heavier than a 9mm/.40 version. I do hear it feels well balanced and suits what it was designed for, small hands. Performance is basically the same with factory loadings in 185-230 gr. standard .45 ACP.

The commercial market is very cool to "another" .45 and rightfully so. The .45 GAP is a solution to filling very small novice hands with regular .45 ACP power. I never see it lasting too long but the law enforcement types that opted or bought into it big are sticking with them. Maybe there is a foreign Asain etc. contract that was filled too. That has been done in the past.

On the used market I'd think you could find some dirt cheap examples but I have not seen any other than the rare one. I would be surprised if you could easily alter a 45 Gap to a smaller caliber as readily as some other of the G-gun platforms. This is due ot the fatter/heavier slide and unique extractor. It would be interesting to know for sure.

In today's CAD-CAM design world I guess it was feasible to whip out something comparatively easy for a specific Law Enforcement application and "hope" some residual commercial sales result. If you were not much of a gun guy, had no desires to reload, and wanted a better fitting .45 for small hands it would do fine. Glock and Speer went in cahoots on it. It filled a need, which it did, never designed to set the world on fire.

I found it interesting as a footnote in collecting knowledge. FWIW

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I just picked up a used G22 and i'm looking at getting a conversion barrel in 9mm[ I have several hundred rounds of 9mm and reloading componets but no 9mm guns at the moment]. I will be using it for both cast and jacketed bullets is one makers barrel better than others ? I've been looking at storm lake, lone wolf and KKM barrels. any suggestions thanks

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Wolf barrel for my Glock 27, very pleased.

I also picked up a Magpie magazine for the 9mm and it all works very well.

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down the road. Just like the "unsupported case head" in the Glock. The 1911 also has an unsupported case head and it has never been a problem. It is mostly an imaginary problem people came up with to sell replacement barrels. If the problem existed Glock would have changed their factory barrels years ago. The same goes with the 1911. In just the small amount of shooting I do, compared to lots of others, in over 70,000 rounds thru my AMT longslide in combat shooting and daily practice, I have never blown a case due to an unsupported case head. And during the heyday of combat shooting I was shooting 200 rounds every day rain or shine.

So I like to keep things simple. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, and don't replace it with some internet gimmick.

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should have never been talked out of.

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as I heard all the "experts" saying they were junk. I know for sure it has had 70,000 rounds thru it before I got out of combat shooting. Kase and Colleen were both big time into combat shooting so I decided to just enjoy watching them and helping out however I could. My gunsmith at the shop at that time was named Gary Case, which I thought kinda neat. He made extended slide release, extended safety, a bull barrel so no bushing was needed, and told me to not clean it except after about every 1000 rounds. I never shoot soft lead in any of my guns and try to stay with the cleaner ball type powders so cleaning is not a necessity.The gun has now been cleaned maybe 5 times since 1978.

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that enforcer I got from you shoots way better than I can. So I'm good with that. However, have you thought about a 7" longslide? The balance on those was great. I taught my ex to shoot a 45 starting with the AMT and 200 gr Speer JHP. The thing barely kicked. She liked it so much she eventually bought her own 45.

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but couldn't talk any of the companies that build slides into making them for us unless we ordered at least 500 of them at over $500 each, money up front. So that knocked that idea in the dirt.

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The main difference is the slide cut out width for the barrel hood. It is caliber specific, same width as the case head. You can turn a .40 into a 9 or .357 SIG simply by dropping in the barrel. The few thousandths on each sides of that hood do no harm. A .40 mag will feed 9mm but the latter are more snug. I feed 9mm Luger from a 10mm magazine in my custom G21!

Disan Industries used to make Lone Wolf barrels until just lately. The Alpha Wolf are supposed to be even better, fancy boutique finishes etc., more money too. Drop in is the way to go. Factory barrels are max size for reliablility. Many are weak support and bulge cases above the web. Bad for reloading. Polygonal rifling needs jacketed or overly large lead bullets to work best too. Wolf has been fine by me, tried a Firedragon too, good folks.

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Grendel and a whole bunch of WSM and WSSM cartridges were all on the same boat which sank shortly after leaving the dock. Don't get your bowels in an uproar over it. It was not a commercial flop, it was a D.O.A. big time flop. RIP

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Never looked at the .45 GAP.

WB a glock?

Scotty is the wizard, I talked to him and bought an Alpha

Gary is a certified armorer, I just do naughty things!

just to keep things simple. A lot less problems

AMT Longslide another one I loved and

I bought mine in '78 and kept a record of rounds thru it

here is mine..

I would go looking for another one, but

Kase and I wanted to build a series of 7" longslides

You don't need a "conversion" barrel unless you just want 1

Scotty, the 45 Gap and the 6.8, the 6.5