John: You started it...

I'll just make mention of a few things as I have researched these issues quite a bit {spurred on due to my disappointing experience w/ .45 ACP many years ago}.

1} The referred-to Thompson-LaGarde Tests were a farce and should be studied by any student of handgun lethality and history of the .45 ACP cartridge. Their conclusions fly in the face of their own test results!

2} The "Charging Moros" line was also nonsense. I had my doubts and began to wonder about whether that was a myth as tho we read of the .45 being introduced as a result of handgun problems and lack of stopping power we do not read of much after that, meaning, "did the .45 work?". The answer to the latter is..."No". The gunwriter Jack Lott also was curious about this and he did research and wrote up a piece proving it did not and what is more, neither did the 12 ga '97 shotguns or Krags that were issued during the insurrection!

3} Gen Julian Hatcher {US Army Ordnance General of great fame} in his excellent c. 1935 tome on handguns explains the real reason the .38 Colts were dumped. They were mechanical abortions. Junk. Breakdowns occurred and the mechanism was improved {resulting later in the excellent Army Special and Official Police w/ essentially the same actions as the later Python}. The resurrected .45 Colts served reasonably well MECHANICALLY. He gets twisted around in his book, tho, first saying that the stopping power of the various big .45's was superior but then citing cases where there failed.

4} Development of the .45 ACP followed T-LaG's recommendations which the Army swallowed BUT, AS HATCHER NOTES...the end result was not what they really hoped for in that a round nose hard jacketed FMJ is a very poor creator of trauma {I don't like the term "stopper" as with hard service bullets, it really doesn't apply}. Indeed, the gun shooting ammo developed as a result of experience in the Filipino conflict was the special 255 grain loading for the Colt New Service. At 900+ fps it is just about the most powerful service round ever loaded, maybe bested a bit by the huge Montenegro wheelgun round. That semi-pointed bullet penetrates! But again, as for trauma in little folks like people, well...

Remember, all of this applies to round nose lead or hard FMJ bullets.

I was a devoted .45 ACP fan for many years until my experience and research demonstrated flaws in the storyline and terminal reality of the ".45" service rounds. I daily carry a 9mm due to one more reason among others; modern JHP loadings have made all the standard service/carry rounds virtually equal, and...the 9mm holds more of them in the handle.

John, it is a really interesting topic, so I guess starting another thread could be interesting?

Back on topic; the Webley was/is a mechanically sound revolver. It works. THAT is its greatest feature, and when you think about it, that is the greatest feature of many of the sterling performers of yesteryear; during a time when many service weapons were "iffy", the Colt, smith and webley revolvers chambered in .455 were dead nuts reliable, excellent under most conditions and superior to the "competition".