June 2001

Lightweight .45 ACP Officer’s Models: Potent Carry Pieces

If it were our money, we’d buy the Para Ordnance P12-45 first. But consider Smith & Wesson’s pricey 945 semiauto, too.

The Para-Ordnance P12-45 emerged from this ûtest as the clear winner: Solid overall function, sensible price, and manageable carry profile.

Small semiautos that match the physical dimensions of two pistols we tested recently—the $1,695 Smith & Wesson 945 and Para-Ordnance’s $740 P12-45—are usually referred to as compacts or sub-compact. But when pistols of this size class are miniaturized 1911s, the tag of “Officer’s models” is hung on to them, even though they may not exactly fit the mold of the original Colt’s Officer’s model. In fact, the Smith & Wesson 945 stretches the designation even further by offering a variation on John Browning’s action lock up. Still, the physical operation the 945 affords is decidedly 1911 in nature, since it shoots the .45 ACP and can be carried cocked and…
 
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