Grand Power P45

[SC Tiger]

Had the chance to shoot a Grand Power P45 last weekend.  My father bought one.

Could do a reasonably good review but here are my thoughts so far:

- Fairly accurate.  I'm not a great shot but I was able to shoot it pretty well.

- Trigger - Really good SA, so-so DA - it is a traditional DA/SA design (more on that in a bit) and the SA trigger is good for a 'service pistol.'  DA is long and heavy but what the hell - it's a DA trigger.

- Reliable through 40 rounds or so.  No malfunctions.  

- Recoil impulse - now that is where this gun shines IMO.  It uses a rotating barrel setup that seems to tame the recoil pretty well.  

- Sights - 3 dot.  A little small but servicable.

Now for the cons

- She's a fat little lady.  Wide in the slide area. 

- Ejection - now THIS is my only real problem with the gun.  The gun tends to hit you right in the face with the casings.  Reminds me of the old Glock brass-to-the-face issue.

About the DA/SA - from a design standpoint this is what confused me.  Near as I could tell it only has a thumb safety and no decocker, but it is DA/SA.  How am I supposed to safely get the hammer down? 

Overall pretty nice gun.  Would I buy one over a Glock/Smith/CZ/Sig?  Probably not.  But I certainly wouldn't feel underarmed with it.

 

For the TL/DR crowd:

Reasons to buy - trigger, low recoil impulse, was reliable

Reasons not to buy - cost, ejection pattern, DA/SA without a decocker

Edited October 9, 2020 by SC Tiger

[Fnfalman]

Thumb the hammer down like one would on a CZ75 without the hammer drop feature.  It's not that hard to do.  

[SC Tiger]

22 hours ago, Fnfalman said:

Thumb the hammer down like one would on a CZ75 without the hammer drop feature.  It's not that hard to do.  

Yeah - just seems kinda silly to have a gun that functions that way with no decocker.  Asking for an accident that way.

I mean - yeah, it is doable.  But just seems like there could be an obvious improvement.

[Fnfalman]

7 minutes ago, SC Tiger said:

Yeah - just seems kinda silly to have a gun that functions that way with no decocker.  Asking for an accident that way.

I mean - yeah, it is doable.  But just seems like there could be an obvious improvement.

No decocker function means less complicated trigger/safety mechanism - probably cleaner trigger pull.  

[SC Tiger]

11 minutes ago, Fnfalman said:

No decocker function means less complicated trigger/safety mechanism - probably cleaner trigger pull.  

Trigger pull is good on it - especially in single action.

[Huski92]

Pics? I’m not familiar with the gun.


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[DWARREN123]

If it has a external (thumb) safety it is meant to be carried cocked and safety on like a 1911.

[SC Tiger]

5 hours ago, DWARREN123 said:

If it has a external (thumb) safety it is meant to be carried cocked and safety on like a 1911.

Then why in the hell is it DA/SA?  That's what I don't get.

19 hours ago, Huski92 said:

Pics? I’m not familiar with the gun.


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[DWARREN123]

I have a few SA/DA pistols with a thumb safety, it is what it is.

[SC Tiger]

40 minutes ago, DWARREN123 said:

I have a few SA/DA pistols with a thumb safety, it is what it is.

I think Taurus did one (the PT92 or whatever it was) and there are others.

Personally I don't like Cocked-and-locked without a secondary safety of some sort - either a grip safety or even just a thumb strap on the holster that goes between the hammer and the rear of the slide.  I've seen safeties get flipped to the off position inadvertently.  

[Borg warner]

On 10/6/2020 at 10:35 AM, SC Tiger said:

Had the chance to shoot a Grand Power P45 last weekend.  My father bought one.

Could do a reasonably good review but here are my thoughts so far:

- Fairly accurate.  I'm not a great shot but I was able to shoot it pretty well.

- Trigger - Really good SA, so-so DA - it is a traditional DA/SA design (more on that in a bit) and the SA trigger is good for a 'service pistol.'  DA is long and heavy but what the hell - it's a DA trigger.

- Reliable through 40 rounds or so.  No malfunctions.  

- Recoil impulse - now that is where this gun shines IMO.  It uses a rotating barrel setup that seems to tame the recoil pretty well.  

- Sights - 3 dot.  A little small but servicable.

Now for the cons

- She's a fat little lady.  Wide in the slide area. 

- Ejection - now THIS is my only real problem with the gun.  The gun tends to hit you right in the face with the casings.  Reminds me of the old Glock brass-to-the-face issue.

About the DA/SA - from a design standpoint this is what confused me.  Near as I could tell it only has a thumb safety and no decocker, but it is DA/SA.  How am I supposed to safely get the hammer down? 

Overall pretty nice gun.  Would I buy one over a Glock/Smith/CZ/Sig?  Probably not.  But I certainly wouldn't feel underarmed with it.

 

For the TL/DR crowd:

Reasons to buy - trigger, low recoil impulse, was reliable

Reasons not to buy - cost, ejection pattern, DA/SA without a decocker

Good review.  but as far as -- "About the DA/SA - from a design standpoint this is what confused me.  Near as I could tell it only has a thumb safety and no decocker, but it is DA/SA.  How am I supposed to safely get the hammer down?"

That actually might be a good feature if it means that it could be carried cocked and locked if the thumb safety were reliable. And the way to safely put the hammer down would be the same as a  cocked and locked 1911.  Remove the magazine and eject the round from the chamber.

I'd actually prefer a 1911 to a gun like the P45. With a Wilson 8 round magazine and one in the chamber you aren't giving up a whole lot of ammo capacity and a 1911 has a flatter profile for easier carry and a better trigger. For a carry gun a Lightweight commander would be my choice. And I would even prefer the Glock trigger in a G21 to DA/SA if I wanted a higher capacity gun.

[SC Tiger]

On 10/13/2020 at 4:02 PM, Borg warner said:

Good review.  but as far as -- "About the DA/SA - from a design standpoint this is what confused me.  Near as I could tell it only has a thumb safety and no decocker, but it is DA/SA.  How am I supposed to safely get the hammer down?"

That actually might be a good feature if it means that it could be carried cocked and locked if the thumb safety were reliable. And the way to safely put the hammer down would be the same as a  cocked and locked 1911.  Remove the magazine and eject the round from the chamber.

I'd actually prefer a 1911 to a gun like the P45. With a Wilson 8 round magazine and one in the chamber you aren't giving up a whole lot of ammo capacity and a 1911 has a flatter profile for easier carry and a better trigger. For a carry gun a Lightweight commander would be my choice. And I would even prefer the Glock trigger in a G21 to DA/SA if I wanted a higher capacity gun.

The method you describe to get the gun into DA mode makes sense but makes double-action kinda useless.  

Maybe it's me getting older but the risk of an ND trying to get that thing into DA mode with a loaded chamber seems kinda stupid.  But I could be missing something.

Overall the gun was good but it's trying to get into a crowded market.  First thing I would do is change the name to utilize the connection to the Stribog, which is supposedly an excellent machine gun (plus 'Grand Power' is a stupid name honestly).  And lower the price.  Because who's gonna pick a Grand Power over a Glock at the same price point?