.38 Special vs .45 Auto ACP Ammo Comparison - Ballistics Info & Chart
- Caliber Ballistics Comparison
- 07 Dec, 2018
The following ammunition cartridge ballistics information and chart can be used to approximately compare .38 Special vs .45 Auto ACP ammo rounds. Please note, the following information reflects the estimated average ballistics for each caliber and does not pertain to a particular manufacturer, bullet weight, or jacketing type. As such, the following is for comparative information purposes only and should not be used to make precise predictions of the trajectory, performance, or true ballistics of any particular .38 Special or .45 Auto ACP rounds for hunting, target shooting, plinking, or any other usage. The decision for which round is better for a given application should be made with complete information, and this article simply serves as a comparative guide, not the final say.
For more detailed ballistics information please refer to the exact round in question or contact the manufacturer for the pertinent information. True .38 Special and .45 Auto ACP ballistics information can vary widely from the displayed information, and it is important to understand that the particular characteristics of a given round can make a substantive difference in its true performance.
| Caliber | Type | Velocity (fps) |
Energy (ft-lb) |
|---|---|---|---|
| .38 Special | Handgun | 880 | 240 |
| .45 Auto ACP | Handgun | 940 | 400 |
Velocity
As illustrated in the chart, .38 Special rounds - on average - achieve a velocity of about 880 feet per second (fps) while .45 Auto ACP rounds travel at a velocity of 940 fps. To put this into perspective, a Boeing 737 commercial airliner travels at a cruising speed of 600 mph, or 880 fps. That is to say, .38 Special bullets travel 1 times the speed of a 737 airplane at cruising speed, while .45 Auto ACP bullets travel 1.1 times that same speed.
Various calibers
Energy
Furthermore, the muzzle energy of a .38 Special round averages out to 240 ft-lb, while a .45 Auto ACP round averages out to about 400 ft-lb. One way to think about this is as such: a foot-pound is a unit of energy equal to the amount of energy required to raise a weight of one pound a distance of one foot. So a .38 Special round exits the barrel with kinetic energy equal to the energy required for linear vertical displacement of 240 pounds through a one foot distance, while a .45 Auto ACP round exiting the barrel has energy equal to the amount required to displace 400 pounds over the same one foot distance. As a rule of thumb, when it comes to hunting, muzzle energy is what many hunters look at when deciding on what caliber of firearm / ammunition to select. Generally speaking, the higher the muzzle energy, the higher the stopping power.
Again, the above is for comparative information purposes only, and you should consult the exact ballistics for the particular .38 Special or .45 Auto ACP cartridge you're looking at purchasing.
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3 Comments
Who can confidently pick the best product among those listed on this site?
I managed to test this stuff already, and the general feel is that in a 4" barrel it does well but in a 2" barrel not so much. I use 4 layers of denim, 3" of 10% Clear Ballistics, 1/4" medium density fiberboard (ribs or sternum) and then more Clear Ballistics for my testing, and then I pull out the MDF and do the test without the MDF. With the 4" barrel (S&W 686) the average 5 shot velocity was 935 FPS for 252 ft lbs. In the 2" barrel I got 859 FPS and 213 ft lbs. With the 4" barrel and Clear Ballistics+MDF I got 14" penetration and .517" expanded diameter, and with no MDF I got 15" penetration, one petal larger than the rest and that one petal making the expansion .648", so overall the 4" barrel did good. Now onto the 2" barrel (Taurus 605) – With the MDF in place I got 10.75" penetration and a nose deformity but no expansion. With no MDF I got 11.75" penetration and no expansion. So my rundown is that the 4" barrel did alright and the 2" barrel totally failed, also neither of these rounds had any penetration that was “deep”.
A comment was made saying that people aren’t educated correctly anymore. The question was the difference between a .38 and a .45. And “obviously a .45 is larger because the number is bigger”! Well there are measures in things where the larger number is actually smaller. Like in medical items. So your statement wasn’t really correct. In the actual world numbers could run that way like .75 cents is more that .25 cents. But not every measure follows that rule