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acp

waitentogo2
Hi. I know this may sound strange but here goes. a gun listed as 45acp what is the difference between 45 cal verses acp? is a 380acp larger more powerful that a 32 cal or 38 cal??
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  • waitentogo2
    i dont know much about guns but when something is listed as *acp* what exactly does that mean? also i purchased a firearm on here and i am lookin to sell? how do i go about selling this item??
    response would be appreciated.
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  • TooBig
    Automatic Colt Pistol[:D]
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  • nmyers
    ACP stands for "Automatic Colt Pistol", & describes a rimless case. (Well, actually, a case with a rim that is the same size as the base of the case.) This permits easy stacking in the magazine of a semi-automatic pistol.

    An acp cartridge is not necessarily more or less powerful than a rimmed version of the same caliber cartridge. It's just different.

    Neal
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  • He Dog
    Fishfinder is correct if terse. acp does mean Automatic colt Pistol and is an ammunition designation that has no real relationship to size or power. It simple means the cartridge was first marketed for a Colt Auto pistol. Unfortunately, with a lot of these ammuniton desginations about all you can do is memorize them, as many make no sense. .38 Special is really a .357" diameter slug, same as the .357 magnum. Here is a helpful guide: http://tinyurl.com/b6h3up
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  • beantownshootah
    quote:Originally posted by waitentogo2
    Hi. I know this may sound strange but here goes. a gun listed as 45acp what is the difference between 45 cal verses acp? is a 380acp larger more powerful that a 32 cal or 38 cal??


    There are multiple cartridges that use a .45 caliber bullet.

    The .45 ACP (automatic colt pistol) is one of them.

    Another relatively popular one is the .45 "long" Colt, which is a round popular in cowboy-type single action revolvers.

    Its the same diameter bullet, but the rounds are NOT interchangeable. You can't use the revolver rounds in the auto pistol or vice versa.

    In *general* the .380 ACP is a slightly WEAKER round than the common .38 special, though the most powerful .380 rounds are more powerful than the weakest .38 special rounds.

    And yes, the .380 ACP is more powerful than the .32 ACP.

    On the other hand, the .380 ACP automatic pistol round is ballistically similar to the .32 H&R magnum revolver round. With similar bullet weights, the .380 fires a fatter bullet, though the .32 H&R magnum fires it a teeny bit faster.

    The point is, there is usually more than one cartridge type in any given caliber (bullet size). There are some rounds that are more suitable to automatic pistols, and some to revolvers.

    As already mentioned, in some cases, the number associated with the caliber isn't actually the true bullet diameter.

    Again, the so-called ".38 special" cartridges actually fire bullets .357 of an inch wide. The ".44 magnum" cartridge actually fires a bullet that is .429 of an inch wide, etc.
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