just a note on the question about recoil and punch. not quite true as proven by the US military during the spanish american war. I dont know of a .45 knocking the shooter down, I know when I qualified with it I stayed on my feet. Might not knock someone down when hit but will stop most forward movement.
During the 1890’s the US Military issued revolvers that fired the .38 Colt. The rimmed .38 Colt came in two flavors, long and short, with the same 150 grain lead bullet driven to 770 feet per second, with 195 foot pounds of muzzle energy.
The Moro Rebellion after the Spanish American War demonstrated the fact that the .38 Colt was an unsatisfactory man stopper. The Moros would take a cylinder of .38 Colt’s and keep on coming. With the result that many American soldiers were either seriously wounded or killed by the Moro’s knives.
The Army replaced the .38’s with .45’s, first with the .45 Long Colt, and then with the ballistically similar .45 ACP in the 1911 “Government Model.” One of the .45 ACP’s standard 230 grain “balls” at 855 feet per second and 405 foot pounds of muzzle energy often did what six of the .38 Colt’s bullets could not do. Stop a charging Moro cold.
