.38/.45 Clerke

.38/.45 Clerke
Type Pistol
Place of origin United States
Production history
Designer Bo Clerke
Designed 1963
Manufacturer Armory Gunshop
Specifications
Parent case .45 ACP
Case type Rimless, bottleneck
Bullet diameter .357 in (9.1 mm)
Base diameter .470 in (11.9 mm)
Rim diameter .471 in (12.0 mm)
Rim thickness .050 in (1.3 mm)
Case length .880 in (22.4 mm)
Overall length 1.22 in (31 mm)
Primer type large pistol
Ballistic performance
Bullet mass/type Velocity Energy
130 gr (8 g) FMJ 1,245 ft/s (379 m/s) 445 ft·lbf (603 J)

The .38/.45 Clerke (pronounced "clark"), aka .38/.45 Auto Pistol or .45/.38 Auto Pistol is a wildcat semi-automatic pistol cartridge developed by Bo Clerke and introduced in Guns & Ammo in 1963.[1]

History and design

It is essentially a .45 ACP case, necked down to .357, resulting in a cartridge similar in form to the earlier 7.65×21mm Parabellum and 7.63×25mm Mauser cartridges. It was created to be a low recoil target cartridge that would function reliably with multiple bullet types, FMJ to cast lead wadcutters without the feeding problems that straight walled pistol rounds sometimes exhibit.[2] The cartridge can be used in standard .45 ACP magazines.[3]

The .38 Casull followed the same formula as the .38/.45 Clerke, but with thicker case walls as in the .45 Winchester Magnum.[4][5]

Ammunition and reloading

.45 ACP cases can be resized to handload .38/.45 Auto cartridges [6] using form and sizer dies still available from the RCBS Corporation, p/n 56468.

Nearly any M1911 pistol and pistols of the same pattern can be converted to the .38/.45 cartridge with a replacement barrel, from a 38 Super barrel reamed out to .38/.45 dimensions.[1][3] During the round's initial popularity, drop-in barrels were available from makers like Bar-Sto.

See also

References

  1. 1 2 "none". Guns and Ammo magazine. October 1963.
  2. ↑ Robert K. Campbell, The Shooter's Guide to the 1911: A Guide to the Greatest Pistol of All Time, p. 122, ISBN 1-4402-1434-4
  3. 1 2 Patrick Sweeney. Gun Digest Big Fat Book of the .45 ACP. pp. 329, 332. ISBN 1-4402-0219-2.
  4. ↑ John Taffin, "Flat-shooting trail gun: Casull 3800", Guns Magazine (February 2003 ed.)
  5. ↑ "1911 Hot Rods", Guns & Ammo- Handguns Magazine, archived from the original on 2009-06-17
  6. ↑ Barnes, Frank C. (2006) [1965]. Skinner, Stan, ed. Cartridges of the World (11th ed.). Iola, WI, USA: Gun Digest Books. pp. 140, 143. ISBN 0-89689-297-2.


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