Tuesday, February 21, 2006
Boomsticks: I wonder...
It'll be interesting to see what the new Springfield Armory XD in .45 ACP does to sales of the GAP model. If it really puts a dent in them, will Springfield pull the plug on the GAP XD's? I notice that despite the launch of a couple of high profile plastic popo guns lately (the Smith M&P and the Beretta PX-4 Storm) not a peep has been heard about a .45 GAP version of either one. Is Gaston's cartridge getting snubbed? I guess we'll have to stay tuned to find out...
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4 comments:
I got an XD .45 ACP Tactical last weekend, and the grip is small enough to be comfortable and controllable even in my small hands. The whole point of the .45 GAP was to provide .45 caliber ammo in a smaller, higher capacity frame. The .45 ACP XD pretty much negates this advantage in that the grip is almost as small, and carries 14 rounds as opposed to the XD .45 GAP's 10 rounds. I wouldn't be surprised if you start to see a flood of used .45 GAP XDs on the market.
Being cynical by nature, I have been doubting the commercial viability of all of the new rounds that have been introduced over the last ten years of so, both pistol and rifle, and especially the GAP .45.
I never quite understood the rationale for all of this fiddling with perfectly good cartridge designs, but after reading Glock's reasoning for the proprietary round, it did make some sense.
bitstreamer is probably correct with the prediction of a flood of lightly used GAP models being available after the novelty thing wears off. New handgun cartridges are notorious for taking big hits in sales after about 5 years on the market. Which ones in the last 30 years have actually survived? The .40, sure, but it is the exception. The .357 Sig, maybe? The .41 is available, but moribund. The 10mm is the same. 9x23?
If someone wants a for-small-hands .45, JMB designed it already, and hit the mark almost perfectly. You want it DAO, get a new Kahr, or the G36, I guess. As for the GAP, I am surprised it has made it this far, and even more shocked that it wasn't DOA.
Just my .02
I am not a traditionalist, and believe that when things can be improved they should be. I applaud Glock for engineering a solution to what may not necessarily have been a problem, but a limitation of .45 ACP. However, I applaud Springfield even more for engineering their XD .45 ACP to retain all the benefits of .45 ACP (wide user base, ballistic range, etc.), as well as reduce some of its limitations.
So the 5" Tactical is on the market already? Blast!
These shops in my area have yet to see one XD45 as of yet. I was hoping to hold out for the 5", which I didn't think had hit the shelves yet. Now I have to find money somewhere...
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